Following the recent death of a childhood icon, Barry Elliott, also known as Barry Chuckle, manual handling has been indirectly in the news.
Together with his brother Paul, Barry provided entertainment for countless millions of children, largely due to their slapstick manual handling techniques and their immortal catchphrase "To me to you", which I am sure many have used when carrying bulky items in pairs.
But behind the comedy, there is a serious message.
According to the HSE statistics, in the year 2016/7, 8.9 million working days were lost in this country through musculoskeletal injuries. Most of these were lost through poor manual handling technique.
All toddlers know how to lift and carry correctly - just watch them in action - but as we get older we learn bad habits, and inevitably this leads to injury.
Simple risk assessments and training is all it takes to reduce the risk in your business. KSH Safety Services can offer help and assistance with risk assessments and also face-to-face or online training. These can be purchased stand-alone or as a part of one of our good value health and safety retainer packages, aimed at ensuring compliance for small and medium sized businesses.
Remember health and safety is a legal requirement - as is good manual handling. Find out more contact us today.
And to the Chuckle Brothers - thank you for being a big part of my - and many others- childhood. RIP Barry.