Body stressing injuries are sidelining more than 5000 South Australian workers every year, resulting in average annual compensation costs in excess of $90 million.

The injury category, which includes muscle stress while lifting or carrying objects and repetitive stress injuries, has accounted for 36 per cent of all ReturnToWorkSA compensation claims since 2018.

Research has found that lifting technique training is not effective in preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

There is also no requirement under WHS legislation for businesses to train staff in lifting technique.

A SafeWork SA survey of 150 participants following a hazardous manual tasks webinar in October found that:

• 72 per cent of attendees reported using lifting technique (how to lift) training in their workplace, through means like videos, posters, or stretching exercises.
• 70 per cent believe that lifting technique training is a requirement under the WHS legislation.

The most effective way to prevent workplace lifting injuries is to conduct a risk assessment of the hazardous manual task and where possible eliminate the risk.

If this is not possible, then other control measures to minimise include:

• substituting heavy items for lighter ones or hand tools with electric tools or machinery to reduce force
• design the work to limit double handling or remove unnecessary work
• redesigning the workplace to limit how far items are carried, or need to adopt awkward postures
• implementing engineering controls such as lifting aids, trolleys, hoists.
• administrative controls such as safe work procedures, task rotation, breaks, and training
• personal protective equipment (PPE).

SafeWork SA is running an educational campaign to raise awareness about hazardous manual tasks and how to prevent body stressing injuries.

The campaign includes a series of new pages(external site) on the SafeWork SA website dedicated to the issue and a series of online workshops.

The resources include general information on musculoskeletal disorders, information specific to duty holders, risk management tips and training advice.

Online workshops will be held monthly until June 2025 to help businesses understand the risks associated with musculoskeletal disorders and how to mitigate them.

Once a business attends one of the workshops, they are eligible for a visit from a SafeWork SA WHS or a ReturnToWork SA advisor who will provide practical guidance on how to reduce body stressing injury risks at your workplace.

Register for one of the workshops here(external site)

SafeWork SA’s HMT training checklist(external site)(PDF) can assist you in reviewing and meeting the minimum information that should be included as part of your hazardous manual task training.

Industry, business, unions, health and safety professionals and training providers should not promote, provide or use ‘how to lift’ training as a sole or primary strategy to meet legislative requirements or to control HMTs.

Further guidance can be found in the national position paper on ‘how to lift’ training(external site)(PDF) and FAQs(external site)(PDF) by the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA).

Quotes attributable to SafeWork SA Director, Compliance and Enforcement Brett Pfeffer

The best way to avoid a lifting injury is to avoid lifting altogether.

There is often a better way of performing a hazardous manual task that eliminates or significantly reduces the risk of injury.

Training has its place, but it should be focused on how to identify hazards, assess risks and eliminate them rather than how to lift.

Further links:

• Hazardous manual tasks