What Is Considered Heavy Lifting at Work

Heavy
Lifting
at Work

What Is Considered Heavy
Lifting at Work?

Consider Heavy Lifting L-R
at Work 01 — Roxborough House, 1997
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If you are looking for any legally defined limit of
weight lifting at work, let us tell you that there isn’t
any. However, there are a set of rules and guidelines
for both employers and employees to consider
before heavy lifting at work. If you have faced an
accident at work UK because of heavy lifting, you
must know that 35% of employees faced some kind
of musculoskeletal disorders after lifting heavy weight
between 2017 and 2018. You do not want to be in
the same scenario again, which is why you must know
what your limits are and what will be considered as
heavy weight lifting.

Weigh Limits for Lifting

The maximum weight lifting limit for a man
in 20 to 25kgs. If a woman is lifting weight
at elbows height with closed elbows, it
should not be more than 13kgs. If a man is
lifting a weight at elbows height where
elbows are extended, the weight should
not be more than 10kgs. Whereas, a
woman in the same situation should not
carry weight more than 7kgs. These limits
should be followed and made mandatory
in all businesses to reduce injuries.

Factors Determining
the Weight

Packaging, transporting, and
labouring staff are usually
responsible for lifting and moving
heavy weight objects from one place
to another. Whether it is about
loading a truck or moving the
furniture in the office for renovation,
several factors should be
considered. Following are some
determiners that tells how much
weight you can lift.

The frequency of the task, the distance to
cover, and the movement required for a
task can make even a normal weight lifting
task difficult. For example, if you have to lift
20kg box at a time, but there are 10 boxes
of the same weight the frequency of the
lifting and movement during the task will
put stress on your body. This can lead to
various injuries as well.

The Frequency of the
Task

Individual Potential

Every person has a different body type, structure, and weight lifting capabilities. You cannot
expect a 50year old man to lift as much weight as a 25 years old can. Companies are obliged to
consider the physical capabilities of their weight lifters so that chances of any accidents and
injuries are minimized.

Read more: Why do injuries happen at work?

Load Size

If the load is not so heavy but the size is bulky and slippery, you will have to struggle
more to grip it properly. The more you will struggle, the higher are the chances that
you can get a muscle sprain. Not only that, but the load can also slip from your hand
leading to dual damage to your health and the company’s property.

Environment

Manual weight lifting is not so difficult if
the environment is perfect along with
the weight limit. If there is a hustle
around or you cannot have enough
space to take the load, you will find
yourself in a problematic situation. You
won’t be able to see properly, which is
why you can fall and injure yourself.

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