From strain to strength: MSDs in the warehouse
‘Putting your back into it’, applying ‘elbow grease’ and ‘pulling your weight’ are just some of the terms used to mean working harder. However, does your warehouse team need to instead ‘use their brain’ and work smarter to avoid musculoskeletal risks?
Despite growing awareness of the long-term health issues related to manual tasks, there is still not enough being done to prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in workplaces. This includes modern warehouse environments, where even advanced automation is still leaving operatives exposed to potential harm.
Yet with the right safety product supplier and a clear plan, it is possible to find effective ways to manage warehouse MSD risks.
How likely are MSDs in warehouse settings?
The top cause of workplace injuries in the UK is trips, slips and falls, but handling, lifting and carrying, and pushing and pulling, are still giving rise to far too many health problems. This means that your warehouse team faces a serious peril every day, as their job requires significant manual tasks, including reaching, bending and even repetitive movements to operate warehouse machinery.
In 2023, cases of work-related musculoskeletal disorders reached an eye-watering total of 473,000 employees, leading to 6.6 million lost working days.
Do you think that, as an SME, your risk of creating MSD issues in your team is much lower? Official statistics show that, in fact, smaller workplaces produce a statistically higher rate of musculoskeletal disorders.
Construction trades account for a significant proportion of MSD statistics in the UK, but it’s still a topic that every employer needs to take seriously – particularly as the high incident of work-related MSDs illustrates that knowledge about the dangers of bending, lifting and carrying is not always translating into real change.
So, what more can employers do to protect employees doing manual or repetitive tasks?
What sort of MSD issues are warehouse staff prone to?
Reviewing MSD prevention strategies starts with being up to date on the potential risks.
Musculoskeletal disorders are injuries that cause medium to long-term problems with muscles, joints and tendons anywhere in the body.
The term could make you think of long periods at a computer, creating repetitive strain injury (RSI), in the health and safety and legal world these are referred to as wrulds (work related upper limb disorders), and other MSD problems related to posture. Or, you could imagine that it’s largely confined to improper lifting and handling, which may damage a worker’s spine.
However, an MSD can arise from many other forms of repetitive movement, and fixed or constrained body posture. For example, a warehouse operative who is charged with transferring boxes from pallets to a conveyor, or who stands for long periods, could suffer from musculoskeletal harm.
Awkward movements to reach up or down can create injury, and even exposure to vibration can damage muscles and tendons. A high-pressure routine in a busy warehouse can also result in workers not taking sufficient recovery time between a series of manual tasks.
Even sitting still in tiring or awkward positions has its dangers.
So, the risk of creating an MSD in a warehouse clearly covers anything that puts unnatural strain or stress on a worker’s limbs or torso.
The key to avoiding MSD issues in any workplace is to find a reliable supplier of handling supplies, including safety items designed to enforce your company’s policies and procedures surrounding MSD avoidance.
The cost of equipment to support and improve staff posture and movement can be negligible. Yet you stand to pay a high price if you don’t meet health and safety rules on this topic and your duty of care to staff engaged in manual tasks.
More advantages of MSD risk management
Investing in systems and products to protect warehouse staff from injuries, including musculoskeletal issues, is not just about compliance.
It can be a way of showing your commitment to your team’s health, and part of your measures to keep warehouse staff engaged, productive and loyal.
Also, investing in ways to avoid warehouse MSDs can reduce employee absenteeism, and may also decrease your warehouse staff churn.
Uncomfortable and underperforming warehouse operatives could be more prone to errors or could inadvertently damage goods through poor handling techniques or mistakes.
Keep in mind that some of the best warehouse handling aids and systems serve a double purpose. They not only help protect staff from injuries and accidents, but also optimise their contribution. This makes them even more efficient and effective, boosting warehouse performance.
How to avoid MSD injuries in warehouses
Products that improve the way that manual tasks are performed are all part of the risk management equipment that’s essential to make warehouses much safer and more pleasant work environments. The list of products you need is largely framed by legislation.
The laws on managing the risk of MSD issues are extensive, and being compliant is a journey, not a destination.
The most obvious starting point for protecting warehouse staff from harm is to do a regular risk assessment, and use this as the basis of avoiding and reducing handling dangers covered by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. It was amended by the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002.
This is a framework surrounding tasks such as pushing and pulling, as well as lifting, lowering, moving and carrying a load (defined as any movable object). It demands constant training and refreshers in proper lifting and handling, to minimise the risk of back injuries, for example. There is a specific need to conduct a manual handling risk assessment under the Manual Handling Regulations and these set out a clear hierarchy of measures to prevent and manage risks from manual handling:
• Avoid hazardous manual handling operation, ‘so far as reasonably practicable’
• Assess the risk of injury to workers from any hazardous manual handling that can’t be avoided
• Reduce the risk of injury to workers from hazardous manual handling to as low as reasonably practicable.
Remember that any movement – especially a repetitive one – that strains or stresses a worker’s torso or limbs may well fall under your general obligations within the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
You also need to be conscious of the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 for warehouse staff who work at computers.
Lastly, you may need to take steps to comply with the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, which covers staff who regularly drive across rough surfaces, for example (leading to long-term exposure to whole-body vibration), or who use machinery that could lead to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
Once you have your list of obligations mapped out, you need to source compliant products that support posture and manual tasks. This must then be supported by constant training and education for warehouse operatives in their use and importance.
One often overlooked tip on helping to reduce warehouse MSD problems is to encourage staff to warm up, stretch and take enough breaks, to protect their muscles.
Creating a safer work environment
Choosing the best MSD warehouse products depends on the nature and scope of your operations, as there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to keeping your operatives safe and productive.
As it is a ‘top to toe’ priority, everything from sturdy footwear that supports the legs and spine of workers, to compliant steps, stools and ladders can appear on an MSD risk checklist. There are other items of PPE that provide support for manual labour, such as gloves to create a better grip and knee and elbow pads to guard against impact injuries.
Your checklist may also include ensuring that equipment used in warehouses – such as pallet trucks, scissor lift tables and skip trucks – are compliant and engineered to operate smoothly and efficiently.
Have you got sufficient numbers of trolleys designed for warehouse operations, and other well-designed means of transporting boxes, crates and other items to avoid excess physical effort?
Are work surfaces and computer stations at the optimal height to support good posture for staff tasked with taping and labelling boxes or inputting data, for example? Do you have ergonomic chairs and desks available?
This sort of detail runs alongside having warehouse racking systems that make manual tasks in warehouses as physically effortless as possible. Remember, this is about efficiency and productivity, not just MSD prevention.
The sort of equipment you need for MSD prevention can vary from individual to individual, depending on their role, age and health status, for instance. Asking staff for feedback about what they need to make tasks comfortable can supplement your overarching risk assessment.
It’s an issue that you can’t ignore. Fortunately, our website is a rich source of information on warehouse and industrial handling products, and other equipment to reduce MSD risks in your workplace.
