Guidance for manual handling activities of cylinders
EIGA Doc 229/20
Manual handling is an important issue for the industrial gases sector (including all areas such as medical, food etc.). Many activities of the industrial gases industry involve manual effort which have the potential to cause harm if not properly managed.
Manual handling related injuries are a major cause of lost workdays.
National or local regulations shall be considered separately. If such regulations exist, they shall be followed as a minimum.
This publication covers the ergonomics and occupational health of manual handling activities in the industrial and medical gas sector. Included specifically are ergonomic principles that can be adopted to reduce likelihood of musculoskeletal issues.
The scope of this publication covers manual handling of industrial and medical gas cylinders during:
- carrying small cylinders;
- loading and unloading cylinders on pallets;
- moving cylinders with trolleys;
- strapping, ratcheting cylinders; and
- handling the pallet ramp.
Guidance and good practices for tasks when filling cylinders will be covered in a later edition of this publication.
The following activities / situations are not covered by this publication:
- dewars and concentrators;
- specific tasks in retest centres and during cylinder maintenance; and
- manual moving palletised cylinders / packs / bundles.
The working environment (such as lighting, humidity, cylinder stability, flooring, temperature etc.) is not specifically addressed in this publication however they can impact manual handling activities and should be considered in manual handling risk assessment.
Although customer activity and premises are not within the scope of this publication, guidance in this publication can be applicable from to end users.
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Scope and purpose
2.1 Scope
2.2 Purpose
3 Definitions
3.1 Publications terminology
3.2 Technical definitions
4 Ergonomic principles
5 Health effects
6 Risk assessment
7 Hierarchy of controls
7.1 Elimination and substitution
7.2 Engineering controls
7.3 Administrative controls
7.4 Personal protective equipment
7.5 Information, instruction and training
8 References
9 Additional references
Annex 1: Guidance and good practices for tasks when manually handling cylinders
Figures:
Figure 1 Guidance on cylinder size (dimensions in cm)
Figure 2 Hierarchy of controls
Tables:
Table 1 Guidance on cylinder weight
Table 2 Example Tools for assessing manual handling tasks
Fonte: EIGA
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