For workers who lift, push, pull, carry or hold: what makes a manual task hazardous, and why changing the task works better than lifting technique.
Musculoskeletal disorders such as back, shoulder and neck injuries are among the most common serious work injuries in Australia. They come from hazardous manual tasks: tasks involving repetitive or sustained force, high or sudden force, repetitive movement, sustained or awkward postures, or vibration. In Victoria this is called hazardous manual handling.
This talk teaches workers to recognise the characteristics that make a task hazardous, explains why controls that change the task (eliminating, redesigning, mechanical aids) work better than training in lifting technique, and encourages early reporting of discomfort.
After the session, participants will be able to:
Yes. The slides, handout and guide are editable, and the facilitator guide marks the places to add your own procedures, contacts and photos of your workplace.
No. It is there if your business wants a record that each worker understood the key points. The attendance record on its own shows who attended and when.
Yes. Presentations, guides, workbooks and templates are supplied in editable formats so you can adapt them to your workplace. The copyright notice must stay.
Yes. The hazards and the controls in each toolbox talk apply in any workplace. The duties slide and the facilitator guide's "check before you deliver" table refer to Australian WHS and OHS laws, licences and standards, so a business elsewhere should swap those for its own country's rules. Everything is editable.
Yes. The package includes an editable certificate template, an attendance record (Word, plus an Excel register) and an optional 10-question multiple-choice assessment with an answer key, so you can record who attended and, if you choose, that each worker understood the key points. It is a certificate of completion issued by your business, not a nationally recognised qualification.
Yes. The packages are designed for face-to-face sessions and work over a video meeting platform. The facilitator guide notes where an activity needs adjusting for online delivery.
Yes, as many times as you like, for your own organisation's workers.
Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected. See the Refund Policy for how we handle a package that is faulty, not as described, or not what you ordered.
You keep the version you bought for as long as you use it, and corrections to that version are made available to you. A new edition, for example following a significant change in the law, may be sold separately.
More answers on the home page, or contact us.
For every worker, and especially shift workers and long-hours workers: what causes fatigue, how it affects safety, and what the business and worker each do about it.
For workers who use or work near machines: how moving parts injure, how guards work, and why a guard is never removed or bypassed.
For every worker who wears PPE: where it sits in the hierarchy of control, and how to choose, fit, wear, look after and replace it so it actually protects.
All 28 toolbox talk awareness packages in one purchase: a year of toolbox talks and more.