at the moment our depot allows us to lift parcels up to a maximum weight of 25kg’s.i have a manual handling video to watch tomorrow morning for 15mins which is going to show me how to lift a parcel( as if i intend to lift anything)
now according to some of the lads that have saw this video already,the branch has taken it upon themselves to remove this 25kg limit and put it down to the driver’s discretion. now that tell’s me if someone injure’s themself through lifting a parcel, then our depot is going to take no responsibility for this driver or warehouseman.
now i will be asking a couple of questions tomorrow 1.is this come from head office 2.are the rest of dhl depots being shown the same video 3.and has it been run past the gmb union
now if none of the above get sufficent answers then i’ll be seeking advice from the union myself on how i and the rest of the work force stand if anyone of us do get injured.
i am almost 99.9% certain that it is only our depot that is being informed of this and taking this course of action.but i’ll find out tomorrow for sure.
what is your company policy on maximum weight lifting limits
i also know that the weight on lifting a parcel depends on where you lift the parcel from,ie if you lift the parcel from chest height then it can be maximum weight,if you lift it from above head height then the weight drops,and if it’s from ground level it changes again.so if any of you know these weights for various lifting positions please feel free to put them up here so as i have more ammunition to through at them.
Sorry, but bags of Crisps arn’t entirley heavy, although some drivers moan about them . As a for instance I once took a widescreen telly (less than 25kg) back to the yard as if I dropped it whilst lifiting (with no help) then it’d cost the gaffer £3500 - he moaned about it when I 'phoned him, but agreed with me when I got back. I think I’ve heard the 25kg limit before, so it’s your choice, but it’s your body. If it were me, I’d take everything I thought I couldn’t get off safely back to the yard, then refuse to deliver it when they put it on you the following day. That’d ■■■■■■■■ 'em nicely .
If it’s come from head office, then get them down here and lift the ■■■■■■■ (I’m feeling particuarly bolshie after a bottle of nice wine ).
i am almost 99.9% certain that it is only our depot that is being informed of this and taking this course of action.but i’ll find out tomorrow for sure.
And I thing the above’s answered the rest of your questions .
They’re trying it on to see if they can get it past the drivers at a particular depot befor they go national with it .
As someone who can both remember, and have handled, coal, cement, plaster, etc, in 1cwt sacks/bags, then 25kg is for wimps.
Seriously, 25kg seems to be the accepted ‘norm’ in the current environment. Have a look on the HSE site and you may be able to find some useful ammunition.
Krankee:
As someone who can both remember, and have handled, coal, cement, plaster, etc, in 1cwt sacks/bags, then 25kg is for wimps.
Seriously, 25kg seems to be the accepted ‘norm’ in the current environment. Have a look on the HSE site and you may be able to find some useful ammunition.
yes krankee.i also can and know how a bag of coal felt when lifting them especially in the rain, they seem heavier in the rain
kitkat:
now according to some of the lads that have saw this video already,the branch has taken it upon themselves to remove this 25kg limit and put it down to the driver’s discretion. :
They can’t remove this limit as its written into Health and Safety At Work. What they are doing instead is turing a blind eye and not fulfilling their obligation as an employer by either providing mechanical lifting equipment or enough bodies to lift it.
Also you may like to know that they’re supposed to have a set of steps for you to use to climb on/off trailers. The only places I’ve seen these at are MFI RDCs because they got fined £10,000’s by H&SE.
I think you may find that the 25kg limit has been changed. I’ve posted on here about it before (can’t remember where).
In a nutshell, we had a manual handling course earlier this year where we were told that the 25kg limit had been scrapped and it was now at the individual’s discretion. Coincidentally, shortly after this course, I was delivering to a bloke who worked for the HSE so I asked him about it. He said that they (HSE) weren’t happy abput it and they still recommended 25kg limit for men/16kg limit for women.
The important thing to remember is this - lifting any load is at the discretion of the person doing the lifting and they take full responsibility for their actions. So if you say 10kg is your limit then no one can tell you otherwise.
I’m with Simon, if it ain’t on a pallet then either they take it off or it goes back (unless I’m in an extrememly good mood ). The exercise I’m sure would do me a world of good but I’ve had too much of an easy life on container and RDC work .
i was working for argos not long back on a double manned vehicle. The other driver took offence that i wouldn’t carry by myself a piece of flat pack furniture marked at 59kg his quote was " All the drivers that work here can lift them"
Now thats as maybe but how many will have shafted backs and what’s the point when there is two of you anyway!!
Boots O’Lead:
I think you may find that the 25kg limit has been changed. I’ve posted on here about it before (can’t remember where).
In a nutshell, we had a manual handling course earlier this year where we were told that the 25kg limit had been scrapped and it was now at the individual’s discretion. Coincidentally, shortly after this course, I was delivering to a bloke who worked for the HSE so I asked him about it. He said that they (HSE) weren’t happy abput it and they still recommended 25kg limit for men/16kg limit for women.
The important thing to remember is this - lifting any load is at the discretion of the person doing the lifting and they take full responsibility for their actions. So if you say 10kg is your limit then no one can tell you otherwise.
cheers
Jules
I sometimes wish I were in my old job, just so’s I could have had some fun with that .
well still being a bit green at all of this, i didnt know there was a limit of 25kg…on nettos when i unload ontyo taillift i am pushing and pulling pallets of up to a ton in weight especially the six ft plus pallets of dog food and beer of which one crushed my hands the other night so i think i am going to have to ask a few questions whenever i get back to work
We deliver Office furniture, and it has wrote on the back of the delivery note, ( luckily ) we deliver to ground floor only and must be provided with free assistance, ok so we use a bit of common sense, if it is something that we can handle we will take it upstairs for them but if we say no we are backed up 100% by the TM, who still remembers he was a driver, and we take it back, and they get charged redelivery
Under Health and Safety ALL manual handling tasks have to be risk assessed. Sounds a simple excercise but many firms fall into the trap of conducting such an assessment only as a paperwork exercise.
The assessment must be 'suitable and sufficient (HSE terminology) and reduce any risks of damge to health to the absolute lowest possible levels. by the introduction of what are called ‘control measures’ such measures for example could include assistance or instructions not to handle anything at all (pallet work).
It could also be a control measure to provide traning in lifting techniques but such training has to be understood by the person recieving it. A short session watching a video probably would not be deemed suitable training.
You need to ask DHL how these new procedures ‘fit in’ with The Manual Handling Regulations 1992 and The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992. The merest whisper of the names of these bits of law may well make them drop any proposed chages like a hot brick.
I am a Safety Rep for the URTU and represent drivers in one of Safeway’s RDC’s. My advice to my colleagues is unless its on a pallet leave it. At all times exercise common sense.
now that tell’s me if someone injure’s themself through lifting a parcel, then our depot is going to take no responsibility for this driver or warehouseman.
2.are the rest of dhl depots being shown the same video 
. As a for instance I once took a widescreen telly (less than 25kg) back to the yard as if I dropped it whilst lifiting (with no help) then it’d cost the gaffer £3500 - he moaned about it when I 'phoned him, but agreed with me when I got back. I think I’ve heard the 25kg limit before, so it’s your choice, but it’s your body. If it were me, I’d take everything I thought I couldn’t get off safely back to the yard, then refuse to deliver it when they put it on you the following day. That’d ■■■■■■■■ 'em nicely 
.
). The exercise I’m sure would do me a world of good but I’ve had too much of an easy life on container and RDC work 
.
of which one crushed my hands the other night