This Briefing Note Sets out NUT Guidance on Health and Safety Issues and the Ergonomic

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This briefing note sets out NUT guidance on health and safety issues and the ergonomic implications relating to lifting and handling of loads and pupils.

Ergonomics relates to the study of workspace design and its effects on the worker.
Many aspects of good ergonomic practice are referred to elsewhere in NUT documents – in particular the briefings on Classroom Ergonomics, Working with Computers, Health and Safety When Using Computers at Home, Women’s Health and Safety and guidance on Tackling Teacher Stress. All of these briefings are available on the NUT website at www.teachers.org.uk.

The Legal Framework

·  The Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HASAWA) 1974 places general duties on employers for the health and safety of their employees and anyone else on the premises such as, in schools, pupils and visitors.

·  The Management of Health and Safety at Work (MHSW) Regulations 1999 set out the legal requirements for “risk assessment” under which employers must make an assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees while at work and to the health and safety of persons not in their employment.

·  The Manual Handling Operations Regulations (MHO) 1992 (as amended 2002) set out further legal requirements for “risk assessment” relating specifically to risks from manual handling. The MHO Regulations’ requirements must be applied wherever general risk assessments indicate possible risks arising from the manual handling of loads.

The MHO Regulations require employers to assess risks to employees involved in handling activities but not risks to individuals being moved or lifted. The MHSW Regulations, however, require employers to assess the risks to such individuals as well. Arrangements for assessing any risks to individuals being moved or lifted should therefore sensibly be included as part of all manual handling risk assessments.

For schools, manual handling risk assessments should cover movement of furniture, bulk movement of text books and transport of equipment between classrooms. They should cover not only lifting of loads but also lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving them. They should also cover lifting and handling of pupils with special needs or with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Employers’ Duties under the MHO Regulations

The HSE’s Guidance on the MHO Regulations identifies the following seven key duties for employers in discharging their legal responsibilities with regard to lifting and handling.

1. Avoidance of Hazards

Employers must avoid the need for hazardous manual handling operations at work so far as is reasonably practicable. This may be done, for example, by redesigning the task or by using automated or mechanical assistance.

2. Risk Assessment

Where this is not reasonably practicable, a risk assessment of any lifting and handling operations must be undertaken, taking into account such factors as the frequency of the operation, any excessive pushing/pulling involved, known pregnancies, back problems among staff etc.

The principles of risk assessment for manual handling should centre on four key and often interrelated factors:

·  the task itself (e.g. the way it is carried out; the handler’s posture);

·  the load (e.g. the size and shape of the load);

·  the working environment (e.g. is it cramped or hot?); and

·  individual capability (e.g. is unusual strength required?).

3. Reduction of Risk

Appropriate steps must then be taken to reduce the risk of injury to the lowest level practicable e.g. by adopting an ergonomic approach using mechanical assistance such as hoists, making a load lighter or easier to grasp, or team handling where this is appropriate.

4. Information and Training for Employees

Employers must provide employees with information and training on manual handling risks and prevention. The provision of information and training is just part of the process of reducing risk and is not a substitute for a safe system of work. Nevertheless, training plays an important role in reducing the risk of manual handling injury.

5. Assessment of an Individual’s Capabilities

Employers must, in carrying out risk assessments, include an assessment of the individual’s capabilities to do the job. The operation should be designed to suit the individual. The individual should not be expected to adapt him/herself to the operation.

6. Review of Risk Assessment when appropriate

The assessment must be reviewed by the employer when there is reason to suspect that the assessment is no longer valid; or there has been a significant change in the manual handling operations to which the assessment relates;

7. Employees’ Duties

Employees must make full and proper use of any system of work provided by the employer concerning steps taken to reduce the risk.

HSE Guidance on the MHO Regulations includes fuller advice on the above areas.

The HSE also advises that Safety Representatives should be involved in the development and implementation of manual handling training, the monitoring of its effectiveness and any redesign of work systems and should be given the opportunity to contribute to the development of good practice.

NUT Guidance on Lifting and Handling by Teachers

The foregoing sections on employers’ duties apply to the employers of teachers in the same way as to all other employers. The following paragraphs set out the NUT’s guidance relating specifically to lifting and handling by teachers. This deals firstly with teachers’ obligations with regard to lifting and handling. It then looks separately at lifting and handling heavy objects and at lifting and handling pupils, particularly those with special educational needs or emotional and behavioural difficulties.

The Limits on Teachers' Involvement

The lifting and handling of loads, whether objects or pupils, is not a professional duty scheduled in the Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document. Lifting and handling of loads should not therefore be regarded as part of any teacher’s job or professional obligations. This applies both to teachers in mainstream education and to teachers who work in special schools or specialist EBD units.

The handling of loads which carry the risk of injury should, of course, be distinguished from the carrying and moving of light items of equipment around the classroom during teaching. Nevertheless, even such light carrying and moving may be problematic for some individuals e.g. teachers who are pregnant or teachers who have particular disabilities or who may be suffering from short or long term conditions which this might exacerbate. Advice on lifting and handling by such teachers is contained separately below.

Teachers should also recognise the possible existence of emergency situations in which the lifting and handling of pupils for safety reasons might be necessary as part of the teacher’s general duty of care.

Lifting and Handling Objects

Teachers should not become involved in lifting, handling and carrying heavy loads. Injuries to NUT members resulting from these activities, such as back injuries, injuries due to slips and falls or injuries due to dropping heavy objects onto the body, are extremely common. A survey of primary and early years members of the NUT and Voice carried out in 2011 by the ‘Jolly Back’[1] consultancy found that 68.4 per cent of respondents experienced discomfort as a result of moving equipment in the classroom, whilst 35 per cent identified carrying bags as a further problem. Injuries resulting from lifting and handling objects can result in pain, time off work and sometimes permanent disablement. These are very good reasons for teachers to recognise their right to decline to be involved in inappropriate lifting and handling, whether this involves the carrying of large quantities of books without assistance between classrooms on a daily basis or the less frequent carrying of heavy loads such as boxes of equipment or furniture on occasions such as classroom moves at the end of term.

Lifting and carrying work should be the responsibility of premises staff, for whom it is likely to be a contractual duty, or of contracted staff such as removal company staff. The employer is required to carry out a risk assessment for premises staff who are entitled to be given the appropriate training, assistance and equipment to help them in this work. Teachers, however, should not become involved in such work. Reluctance by heads or governors to employ such staff should not lead teachers to become involved in such work. Pupils should not be asked to carry heavy loads under any circumstances.

On the question of whether pupils should be allowed to assist in assembling or putting away a trampoline, we would refer to advice published by the Association for Physical Education ‘Safe Practice in Physical Education and Sports 2012’, see ‘Further Guidance’ below, which states that positioning, assembling and folding a trampoline should always be undertaken by at least two trained staff. As to the role of students, the guidance goes on to say that older students who are sufficiently responsible, who have the physical strength and who have been trained, may help fold or unfold the trampoline. The NUT view is that only older secondary students should assist in this way and they must be closely supervised. If younger children, lacking the necessary strength are left to carry out the task without direct staff involvement, this could lead to accidents.

In circumstances where it might be impractical to involve premises staff, such as in carrying books between classrooms at the end of each lesson, employers should provide means of assistance, such as trolleys, to teachers. Where storage arrangements in offices or storerooms require lifting and handling of loads stored on shelves, employers should provide stepladders or kick-stools to avoid the risk of injury caused by stretching or standing on chairs or tables. Where employers refuse to provide such assistance, teachers should not become involved in such lifting, carrying and handling.

Lifting and Handling Pupils

The risks of injury from lifting and handling pupils are greatest with regard to pupils with special educational needs or emotional and behavioural difficulties. Lifting and handling pupils is an unavoidable part of working in special education and teachers working with such pupils are at particular risk since the “load” involved is human and can move. Common situations involving pupils which are potentially hazardous include lifting into and out of vehicles; lifting wheelchairs up steps; toileting, washing, bathing and changing; hydrotherapy; and emergency evacuation (including drills).

The NUT will protect members by ensuring that all employers meet their responsibilities for risk assessment, assistance and training with regard to lifting and handling pupils.

NUT members are therefore entitled to expect that:

·  the employer carries out risk assessments for all staff, including support staff, involved in lifting and handling pupils;

·  the assessments take into account the nature of the situation, the size and weights of pupils involved, the degree to which they may either assist in a lift or actively resist lifting, and the individual capability of the member of staff;

·  appropriate support staffing is provided in order that assistance is available whenever a teacher requires such help and further assistance is provided in the form of appropriate mechanical equipment such as hoists[2] etc;

·  training in lifting and handling techniques and in using mechanical aids is provided to all teachers and support staff; and

·  all cases of injury, in particular back injury, are recorded and investigated by the employer and suitable assistance is offered to facilitate the return to work of injured members of staff.

Where any employer fails to meet its responsibilities in the above ways, then it may be necessary for NUT members to decline to become involved in lifting and handling pupils until the employer does so.

The NUT advises members that, as with heavy objects, they should not undertake lifting and handling of pupils if they believe that they are likely to be injured by doing so.

School space standards

Lifting and handling is always more hazardous in cramped conditions. Risk assessments for lifting/handling operations should ensure that there is enough space for procedures to take place safely. Some types of equipment, such as hoists, are bulky and should not be used where there is insufficient space for the operation to be performed with safety.

Regrettably the government is proposing to make reductions to the space requirements in new special schools by up to 20 per cent, 15 per cent in secondary schools and 5 per cent in primary schools.

Restraint and Child Protection

Where teachers are frequently involved in teaching pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties, the legal provisions relating to restraint are particularly relevant. DfE guidance `Use of Reasonable Force’ advises on the legal provisions relating to restraint[3]. The NUT’s guidance on this issue is set out in the Union’s guidance document, “Pupil Behaviour”, available via the NUT website at http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/11054.

There are times when physical contact with children is appropriate and necessary. Young children and pupils with special educational needs in particular may need physical support or help. Physical contact may be necessary to demonstrate PE or sports techniques or when administering first aid. Teachers need to be confident that well-intentioned physical contact will not be misconstrued. School policies should therefore cover restraint, touching and handling in order that teachers and parents are aware of guidance on these issues.

Lifting and Handling by Pregnant Women

The MHSW Regulations require employers to carry out a specific risk assessment with regard to the risks facing new and expectant mothers at work and to take steps to eliminate those risks. Employers must therefore consider the risks facing pregnant teachers at work. This should include, in particular, lifting and bending since back strain is top of the risk league for pregnant women as their backs are vulnerable to injury during pregnancy. Employers should also consider the fact that manual lifting by expectant mothers may well endanger the health of their child as well as their own health.

“New or expectant mothers” include pregnant women, mothers who are breastfeeding, mothers who have given birth in the past six months and women who have miscarried after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The risks to health and safety of the worker and unborn child must be assessed in accordance with her duties. If the risks cannot be eliminated, the woman should be offered suitable alternative working arrangements. If none is available, she should be suspended on her normal remuneration for as long as necessary. The employer must keep the risk assessment under review as the potential risks may vary at different stages of pregnancy.