Myth 1: The human spine has not adapted to the upright posture – Wrong!

The spine has adapted or has been designed (depending on your point of view) for the upright posture – one example of this is the change in size that occurs between the bones (vertebrae) that make up your back. Look at the picture above and you can see that the vertebrae at the top of our spines are much smaller than those at the bottom of our spines. This is because the bones at the top of the spine do not carry as much weight as those at the bottom and so do not have to be as large as the ones at the bottom that have to carry the whole weight of the trunk. The contrast in size between the vertebrae at the top and bottom of the spine is quite unique to humans.

The anatomical construction of inter-vertebral discs is such that they are simply physically too stiff to absorb shock. The real shock absorbers for the spine are actually the large muscles at the front of our thighs – the quadriceps muscles.

We now know that there is a better load distribution in the discs of the spine if the low back is maintained in a flat or slightly flexed position than in a hollow position.

When the tissues that make up our spines are loaded optimally, they respond by strengthening. If you do not use your back, it will weaken!

Twisting movements carried out to the extreme of range should be avoided – but avoiding twisting altogether weakens the muscles that control this movement, making the spine more vulnerable.

1. Before even thinking about training:

• Build management support
• Conduct a Manual Handling risk assessment
• Adopt a participatory ergonomics approach

• Needs visible commitment
• Managers need to be familiar with course content
• Suggest including managers in training session

• Task
• Load
• Working environment
• Individual capability
• Work organisation

4. Training should be viewed as an on-going process, not a ‘one-off’

• Build and maintain knowledge and skills (refresher courses)
• Discourage ‘tick box’ mentality, often just focusing on legal compliance
• Consider ‘cascade’ training

• At induction
• As a planned on-going process

6. The trainer should have:

• Charisma
• Credibility
• Experience
• Breadth of knowledge
• Ability to engage and communicate

7. Qualifications and competencies

• Those commissioning training should establish that trainers are appropriately qualified and competent.
• Onus is on the trainer to demonstrate their competence.
• Experience of training is insufficient of itself.

8. Understand the audience

• Level of awareness
• Literacy/language skills
• Physical fitness
• Establish if employees have pre-existing injuries

9. Training style

• Make it relevant
• Use a mixed approach to learning
• Consider different learning styles
• Include a practical element – ideally task specific practice
• Equip workers to risk assess for themselves

10. The optimum group size

• In relation to training, ideally 8 – 12 people
• Too many people can lead to distractions
• Too few people can result in poorer discussion quality

11. The ideal length of a manual handling course

• A half day, up to one day
• Include regular breaks – this aids concentration

12. Manual handling training should be viewed as an on-going process and be structured accordingly

• Formal refresher components
• At least every 12 months

13. Core content should cover:

• Why Manual Handling matters
• Statutory requirements
• Anatomy and physiology
• Care of the back
• Handling principles
• Hands on experience
• Risk assessing situations
• Dealing with problems

14. Aim to improve physical fitness (work hardening)

• Evidence that physical fitness reduces injury
• General strength training better than training specific muscle groups
• Improved worker fitness also beneficial for morale