Lifting heavy stuff

[Guest frances]

I have been in my present job a year and I have never had any training in lifting heavy items like 17 inch CRT monitors.

 

Anyway I am pregnant and although I can still lift PCs am really struggling to pick up a 17" CRT monitor. I seem to have lost all strength in my stomach muscles. Our caretaker who has done the lifting course is refusing to help me.

 

I am still able to do all other parts of my job. Do you think I am reasonable to refuse to lift a 17" monitor. Have other techs had training in lifting heavy objects?

[somabc]

At every job I have had I have been promised manual handling training and never received it. This includes jobs that involved actively moving large bulky objects for most of the day but anyway I digress ...

 

I would have thought generally it was reasonable to move a 17" monitor without specific training.

 

However as you are having difficulty (and more importantly are pregnant) I think you should raise the subject with your Line Manager / SMT. Don't lift anything you are not comfortable with for now, and seek medical advice to protect yourself and your baby. If at all possible use a trolley or other lifting aid to prevent injury. It's simply not worth the risk.

[EduTech]

yh i think i can basically 100% agree with the above, i would highly recommend you just speak with ur line manager or the SMT so that they understand.

 

Shame that the Site Manager wont help, i know if i was one i would in this situation least i anyone could do is help you.

 

anyhow congrat's and dont do anything you feel is uncomfortable.. u and ur baby are more important then a 17" monitor thats for sure!

 

James

[SteveB_NI]

I have been in my present job a year and I have never had any training in lifting heavy items like 17 inch CRT monitors.

 

Anyway I am pregnant and although I can still lift PCs am really struggling to pick up a 17" CRT monitor. I seem to have lost all strength in my stomach muscles. Our caretaker who has done the lifting course is refusing to help me.

 

I am still able to do all other parts of my job. Do you think I am reasonable to refuse to lift a 17" monitor. Have other techs had training in lifting heavy objects?

 

 

What are the caretakers reasons for refusing the lift out of interest? I think two can play that game though - next time his computer monitor breaks & he / she needs a replacement .... lol!

 

 

I HATE lifting those 17" CRT monitors - especially when for some unknown reason they are stored on the floor so it's even more strain lifting them up. I barely touch them if I can help it these days let alone if I were pregnant.

 

I've not been given heavy lifting training - but I do the usual basics like bent knees etc - but even still I would sometimes get twinges in my lower back for a few days after lifting these monitors or base units.

[somabc]

Found this info out, basically notify them in writing you are pregnant and require an assessment of the risks to your health due to work tasks.

 

New and expectant mothers - Frequently asked questions

 

Notification of Pregnancy

 

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require that potential risks to women of child bearing age, new or expectant mothers which arise from work processes be assessed and controlled. In general, the risk assessment for all workers should sufficiently address such risks but, employers have a duty to undertake additional risk assessments when a woman informs them that she is pregnant. New or expectant mothers are defined as those women who are either pregnant, have given birth within the previous six months, (including still births after 24 weeks), or are breast-feeding.

Edited September 10, 2008 by somabc

[strawberry]

it's pretty unreasonable to expect you to lift crt monitors if you physically cant, and very ungallent of the staff to expect a pregnant lady to lift heavy stuff.

[FN-GM]

Dont tell them you wont, that you can't. You are struggling so you shouldn't be doing it. If you drop one on your toe you will know about it

 

Congratulations as well great news!

[JJonas]

as SOMABC says you are entitled to a risk assessment talk to your line manager/union rep

[tech_guy]

Your caretaker needs a kick in the goolies - miserable git.

[ICT_GUY]

Pregnant, being made to lift a heavy object?

 

Basically you should not be doing ANY heavy lifting. Anyone who makes you do heavy lifting is going to be in a world of pain should you damage the baby (or more likely damage your back, get a hernia or some such).

 

You can also get a note from your doctor that will forbid you from lifting anything over a certain weight, and no employer would dare go against this.

 

Remember your employer has a duty of care, which means they have to do everything that they can to make sure you do not come to harm whilst at work.

[6Foot2]

No training here either.

 

Our Site Support Staff are generally very good [helpful] However I would not ask them to lift or move any items I am not willing to move myself [or assist with the move] I certainly do not ask my Technician to move any heavy items. I prefer to do this myself or assist the Site Support Staff. I can say this because I am male and as a result unlikley to fall pregnant.

 

I certainly would not expect someone who is pregnant to be lifting items which are heavy or oddly shaped so that they are difficult to support.

 

I my opinion your school/caretaker may be adopting a position which is quite unfair/unreasonable, regardless of the legality of the situation which has been pointed out in an earlier post.

[tom_newton]

Wouldn't it be a shame if you "tried to lift" one of the monitors and it fell, leaving your pal the caretaker with millions of shards of horribly sharp glass to pick up?

 

Yes, that would be awful.... oops

[CyberNerd]

Your line manager should have done a risk assessment the moment you told them you were pregnant. Ask personnel for a copy of the risk assessment - in it there will be a section about lifting. It is a legal requirement to do this risk assessment, if they haven't done it you should report them to HSE so that they can be fined.

[Hightower]

Wouldn't it be a shame if you "tried to lift" one of the monitors and it fell, leaving your pal the caretaker with millions of shards of horribly sharp glass to pick up?

 

Erm, have you ever tried to smash a monitor? It takes a little more than dropping it on the floor from 4 foot up.

[tech_guy]

Erm, have you ever tried to smash a monitor? It takes a little more than dropping it on the floor from 4 foot up.

 

We had a monitor 'fall' off a bench from only around 3' and it literally exploded when it landed front first on to a carpeted floor....made a big bang too. Scared the kids.

Edited September 11, 2008 by tech_guy

[Sirbendy]

I have very limited lower body strength..17" monitors I can do. Ish. Not up/down stairs or long periods mind. Had to move a 22" and 25" CRT the other day. Sod that.

 

What I do is nab a wheelie chair and dump it on that, then push that across the building.

 

I would say pregnancy moves the goalposts though, and you should refuse to do it on a safety viewpoint. No reasonable person should refuse that!

[Hightower]

We had a monitor 'fall' off a bench from only around 3' and it literally exploded when it landed front first on to a carpeted floor....mad a big bang too. Scared the kids.

 

I remember when we were ditching a few old monitors (before all the rules of how to ditch that came into place) so we decided to drop them in the skip from about 12 foot high (little IT experiment - no where near the scale of the LHC ) and nothing happened. It wasn't just one, we dropped about 7.

 

We must have bought some pretty reliable kit...

[tallan]

I have been in my present job a year and I have never had any training in lifting heavy items like 17 inch CRT monitors.

 

Anyway I am pregnant and although I can still lift PCs am really struggling to pick up a 17" CRT monitor. I seem to have lost all strength in my stomach muscles. Our caretaker who has done the lifting course is refusing to help me.

 

I am still able to do all other parts of my job. Do you think I am reasonable to refuse to lift a 17" monitor. Have other techs had training in lifting heavy objects?

 

Well to start with yes that caretaker sounds like a right a** also i would plain out refuse to move the monitor not only are you pregnant you havent been given basic manual handling training so even if you wernt pregnant you will still be putting yourself in danger

[enjay]

Firstly, congratulations!

 

As others have said, RISK ASSESSMENT. When one of the teachers here was pregnant, she was told she couldn't escort her class up a steep staircase in case one of them fell onto her (seriously!), so I'd be amazed if yours permitted lifting a 17" CRT.

 

Personally, I would happily pick up a 17" CRT although I do always make sure that I bend properly and hold it with the screen facing me. And of course, I am not pregnant!

 

I don't think you need specific training in order to lift monitors - I *think* that applies at >25kg. One place I worked before gave all staff heavy lifting training as standard in case we ever needed to do it.

 

As for my thoughts on someone refusing to carry a 17" CRT for a pregnant woman.....

[muppet]

I've attached a couple of PDF's for you and your line manager / H&S Manager to have a look through.......

The first is direct from the HSE and the second is the NUT's recommendations for pregnant workers!!

 

I'm the Manual Handling Instructor for my school and I can tell all of you that it is the School's / Governors / H&S Managers statutory obligation to provide annual training for anyone moving heavy or outsized loads. If they fail to offer you the training and you subsequently injure yourself then they have opened themselves up to litigation.

 

Feel free to pm me if you want to discuss anything in the pdf's any further......

HSE.pdf

NUT_Maternity_matters7.pdf

[witch]

As someone else said, just say NO and read the docs from Muppet.

 

Good luck!

[b4bob]

As a follow on I work under North Yorks County Council (ish) rules. on their manual lifting training handout matrix, for a woman the threshhold loads for lifting from the floor is 7kg at your feet, 3.5kg if you have to reach/stretch. ( 10kg/5kg males.) Doesnt say you cant but you need assessment. Post the training weighed my site to site toolkit for a laff!

[mattx]

made a big bang too. Scared the kids.

 

Good.

[enjay]

for a woman the threshhold loads for lifting from the floor is 7kg at your feet, 3.5kg if you have to reach/stretch. ( 10kg/5kg males.)

 

Those seem a little low? A 3.5kg limit when reaching would prevent you doing most things, as even a slim desktop PC is over that.

[conehead]

A risk assessment will probably conclude.

 

A trolley for moving a heavy bit of kit any distance should be available and it needs to be specified that for the lifting of a heavy monitor or printer two people lift together. That's regardless of sex or fitness.

 

I would say you are well within reason to not lift anything while you are pregnant. And congratulations:)