Saying No To Heavy Lifting?

[ShaneB192]

Hi, Are you allowed to say no to lifting things you deem to heavy for you to carry as it is causing pain?

 

[tony84]

You are, but if you are a removal man or something that requires a lot of lifting in your job you could find yourself out of a job.

 

[Paul Norman]

There are rules laid down about what is deemed too heavy, and training in how to lift safely is ought to have been provided. They are fairly precise, and when I reviewed them, I was surprised how low the limits in fact are.

Outside of that, if a job involves heavy lifting, and you are unable to lift, you need to consider a new career

 

[Mr A P Davies]

From memory, 25 kilo is the maximum, providing it's not an awkward object.
A bag of cement, at 25 KG, is a lot easier to lift than a table, at 15KG.
If it's a greater weight, or awkward, then it's a two man lift, or a mechanical lift, or some such term.
Anyway, that's all well and good if who your working for does it all by the book.
If your working for your average builder, and you refuse to lift, he'll probably tell you to take a high jump.

If it's causing you pain, get stronger or stop doing it.

I go to an osteopath every month, if I don't I can hardly walk.
They didn't pay me enough.

The HSE will give you guidance, but it may well fall on deaf ears to your employer.

Regardless of whether or not you have a right to refuse, if your happy to trade part of your future health and mobility now, for your excellent wages, and your hero of a boss, and a job that your happy to make the sacrifice for, then that's fine, do it.
You better make sure your getting enough in return though.

 

[Dediport]

Of course, but as mentioned, if your job requires it, unfortunately you may find yourself out of work.

 

[FutureM]

depends on your training, what was expected of you when you were given the job description etc. If your job is based around lifting then i am sure you would have had training and told what you are required to be able to lift on your own? Anything else you should be able to refuse without consequence

 

[Mark T Jones]

I'm not up to speed on regs, but last time I looked it was up to the individual to decide what was reasonable.

However, as others have said. Dependent on the nature of your role, your employer an decide whether you are suitable for the Job

 

[paulears]

There are no rigid rules on weights - it's clearly possible for one person to lift heavy weights safely, while another would hurt themselves lifting the litter bin. The weights you see bandied about are limits set by companies or individuals. The HSE simply expect the weights to be lifted to be suitable and not detrimental to health.

I regularly (and in my mid 50s) load and unload items up to 60Kg on my own. Been doing this kind of thing for years and while I have been to the physio with back trouble from lifting a toolbox badly, I can use technique to manage the loading and unloading of my van with my own equipment. Most of my equipment is big, square, and has proper flight cases, so they also have handles and wheels. Works fine. None of the guys I work with cannot do this - and I use a few girls too, and they have no problems doing the same thing. Anyone who cannot lift is no use to me!

 

[UKSBD]

I seem to remember 26kg was considered the safe working limit for a man and 17kg for a woman

I worked on the building in early 80's when bags of cement were 50kg
They later reduced the size to 25kg to make them safer to lift, but all it did was meant you carried 2 or 3 rather than 1

 

[paulears]

Had to smile - this topic finally convinced me to buy the aluminium ramp I've been meaning to buy for the van for years!

 

[Stefler]

Of course. The only down side is that if the lifting is an essential part of the job, you can probably be let go for it too.

 

[beasty]

I seem to remember 26kg was considered the safe working limit for a man and 17kg for a woman

I worked on the building in early 80's when bags of cement were 50kg
They later reduced the size to 25kg to make them safer to lift, but all it did was meant you carried 2 or 3 rather than 1

I used to deliver flour in the early 90s sacks were 32kg then and half sacks were 16kg the max women could lift. so flour was 99% in 32kg sacks unwritten rule was you take 2 sacks at a time which required a certain amount of skill to get them properly balanced. If you were not physically capable of doing this work, you would not get the job.. we also had to walk with these things from parking space to bakers stores.. the worst being in the centre of glasgow that involved a good 100m walk then 3 flights.. FREE PIES.. WOOHOO...

 

[roydmoorian]

Way back in the 50's and 60's farm labourers regularly carried 16 stone (that is 100 kg) sacks up flights of stairs into first floor granaries. They did have mechanical assistance to lift the sacks to shoulder height though.

 

[Mark T Jones]

When I was 12 I had to carry half a ton of lead from church roofs every night

If a didn't I'd be thrashed with a breadknife.

Do I win?

 

[Paul Norman]

When I was 12 I had to carry half a ton of lead from church roofs every night

If a didn't I'd be thrashed with a breadknife.

Do I win?

You were lucky.
Etc

 

[woodss]

Luxury...

 

[GraemeL]

 

[Deleted member 59730]

When I went into this a lot of it came down to what height the weight was. Lifting from the floor is a lot harder than lifting off a table. So my packing was done on a high table where the smaller components of an order were put in the larger boxes. The boxes were designed to fit into our carriers weight to price contract. Lifting even a fully packed box was fairly easy from the table to a high trolley.

 

[MBE1]

When I was 12 I had to carry half a ton of lead from church roofs every night

If a didn't I'd be thrashed with a breadknife.

Do I win?

Not really, if you had been clever you would have dropped them to the floor like everyone else does, quicker and easier. The guy who picks the lead off the ground and put's it onto the lorry has the harder job.

 

[Newchodge]

Did you see the story this week of a group who stripped the lead from a church roof, placed it in their van which thy had parked in the graveyard, and then had to leg it when the van sank into the mud and could not be moved, following the recent downpours. I think it was in Cambridgeshire.

 

[HighProxies]

Perhaps a doctors excuse would help with this? I know that some people can not lift heavy things and they get a doctors note to say they can not .

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Hi, Are you allowed to say no to lifting things you deem to heavy for you to carry as it is causing pain?

You can do what you want