If you are working in the healthcare industry, manual handling is a part of your daily routine. Whether you are a doctor, nurse, facility cleaner, or a health care assistant, you handle patients day in and day out. Pushing, lifting, holding, moving, or carrying patients pose a major risk of manual handling injuries to health care professionals. Healthcare workers suffer the highest rate of musculoskeletal injuries globally. That is precisely why manual handling training is more important to healthcare workers as compared to any other profession.
Common Injuries suffered by Health Care professionals:

Healthcare professionals need to deal with people with limited mobility every day. Handling injured or sick people with utmost care is quite different from handling heavy loads. Some of the major injuries suffered by healthcare professionals due to faulty manual handling include:

  • Muscular strain, aches, and pain
  • Damage to tendons and ligaments 
  • abdominal hernia 
  • Nerve damage 
  • Fractures 
  • Bruises and cuts
  • Occupational overuse syndrome

Manual handling injuries not only impact the quality of life of the healthcare professional, but it also challenges their ability to work in the healthcare sector post-injury. Ergonomic Specialists in Melbourne impart training to healthcare workers on:

  • Safe manual handling of patients using slides and hoists
  • Transferring patients from sit to stand and vice versa without causing injury to self or the patients
  • Maintaining overall wellbeing in the workplace with the right approach to manual handling
  • Assessment and rectification of poor manual handling techniques

Benefits of Manual Handling Training In Melbourne for healthcare workers

As per Safe Work Australia, body stressing was the leading reason for workplace injuries in the health and social assistance industry, which amounted to 51% of the accepted claims during the years 2000-2001 to 2014-2015. Ergonomic specialists in Melbourne suggest that manual handling training will help healthcare workers and medical facilities in the following ways:

  • Reduction in workplace injuries
  • Reduced absenteeism 
  • Improvement in productivity
  • Boosts employee confidence
  • Reduction in workplace compensation claims

Manual handling training for healthcare workers creates a safe working environment and mutually benefits the workers as well as the organization. Reach out to ergonomic specialists in Melbourne today to train your healthcare workers!