Workers may be exposed to a large and mixed group of factors that are quite specific.
Those are called “mechanical factors”, which are factors of physical nature, able to cause injuries or even death.
Mechanical hazards arise from interaction between parts of human body and items from the working environment: tools, machines, equipment, materials used in production process, etc.
You may be exposed quite frequently to mechanical risk factors at your work as a municipal cleaner due to characteristics of your work: using equipment with moving parts (e.g. chainsaws), risk of injury from items moving out of control (e.g. pieces of woods or stones being catapulted by equipment, or objects that may fall from buildings or vehicles passing by), working on mixed surfaces (e.g. uneven, or slippery), being exposed to sharp objects (e.g. broken glass, sharp sheets or shards of metal), performing work in proximity of road traffic (producing risk of being hit by vehicle passing by).
Manual handling of loads is any of the following activities carried out by one or more workers: lifting, holding, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving of a load.
Manual handling of loads may cause:
cumulative disorders due to gradual and cumulative deterioration of the musculoskeletal system through continuous lifting/handling activities, e.g. low back pain
acute trauma such as cuts or fractures due to accidents
The risk of back injury increases if the task:
is too strenuous, e.g. it is carried out too frequently or for too long a time
involves awkward postures or movements, e.g. a bent and/ortwisted trunk, raised arms, bent wrists, over-reaching
Manual handling of loads in the workplace - Let’s see an example!
Do you observe any incorrect work practices?
The MUC in the picture is:
Not wearing all necessary personal protective equipment (PPE)
Handling loads without opening the relevant door in the vehicle in order to reduce the height he needs to lift the load. This way, he is burdening his muscles, bones and joints.
What you need to do?
First, wearing all PPE, you need to reduce the height by opening the relevant door of the vehicle.
This way, you reduce the burden in your muscles, bones and joints.
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