Tuesday, June 11, 2013

NIOSH Addresses Manual Materials Handling in Home Construction

NIOSH has released "Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers: A Basic Guide for Preventing Manual Material Handling Injuries," which is also available in Spanish.

According to the agency, the publication was written especially for young and less experienced home building workers. It uses original drawings and nontechnical language to describe manual materials handling injury risks and how these risks can be reduced and/or eliminated for certain activities.

"Home building is physically demanding work and manual material handling may be the most difficult part of the job," NIOSH explains. "These activities increase the risk of painful strains and sprains and more serious soft tissue injuries. This booklet provides basic information about readily available work practices and equipment that can help both new and experienced workers, contractors and builders prevent serious manual material handling injuries."