Help reduce accident, injury and ill health at work - try iHasco training
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics for last year (2010/2011) recorded 1.2 million people suffering from ill health they thought was work related - an estimated 26.4 million working days were lost last year due to work-related illness and injury.
Looking closely at the statistics it’s clear that an incredibly high proportion of accident, injury and ill health is down to things that could be easily avoided with a little training -
- Around 2 million working days lost were attributed to poor manual handling and slips, trips injuries;
- Manual handling injuries were the most commonly reported kind of accident;
- Slips, trips and falls made up more than half of all reported major injuries and almost a third of over-3-day injuries.
- Musculoskeletal disorders (which includes bad backs, necks upper and lower limbs) accounted for the greatest amount of ill health and around half of all reported absence.
Musculoskeletal disorders are not only due to poor manual handling techniques but can also be due, amongst other things, to poor seating position, especially when regularly sitting in front of a computer.
Manual handling, display screen equipment and slips, trips training is essential for everyone. And iHasco is so confident that our training is perfect to keep staff up-to-date and help combat these health concerns that we are offering free trials of all training programmes.
Manual Handling in the Workplace includes a step-by-step guide to lifting and lowering properly, to and from floor or table height and emphasises the importance of planning a route and not taking on something that’s too heavy or too dangerous.
Slips, Trips and Falls concentrates primarily on preventing slipping and tripping, looking at common causes and simple solutions and emphasising the importance of employees taking responsibility - dealing with problems and avoiding creating hazards themselves. The training includes a full section about using ladders and stepladders, highlighting the importance of using the correct equipment, checking the safety of the equipment, its use, its positioning and the competence of the user.
Display Screen Equipment training is concerned with everything to do with how your workstation is set up – looking at sitting posture, how your screen is adjusted, how you type and the conditions around you. It includes a section on portable devices, an individual DSE risk assessment (which is completed as part of the training) and a set of simple exercises designed to counter any stresses and strains at work.
Taking around 30 minutes each to complete, these training programmes can’t help but increase the health and safety of everyone at work.