Every year in NSW more than 380 people are seriously injured or suffer illness related to manual handling in schools. This represents about 22 per cent of all injuries in the schools education sector.
This costs the NSW education sector about $8.6 million a year in direct costs.
Generally manual handling injuries in the education sector affect the back, knee, shoulder and neck. The most common injuries are sprains and strains of joints and associated muscles.
Black spots
Manual handling injuries in the education sector are often caused when carrying boxes and stationery items, and when using computers.
Occupations that are black spots for manual handling include:
- secondary and primary school teachers
- teachers aides
- cleaners
- school clerical staff.
WorkCover is currently conducting an intervention to reduce manual handling in the schools sector.
|