Manual Handling of Loads. Cable laying
5. Load limits
The Technical Guidebook for the assessment and prevention of risks related to the manual handling of loads, drawn up by the Spanish Institute of Health and Safety at Work (INSHT), aims to facilitate the interpretation and application of Spanish Royal Decree 487/1997, of 14th April, establishing the Minimum Health and Safety Regulations regarding the manual handling of loads that entails risks, in particular dorsolumbar risks, for workers.
Said guidebook considers a load to be any weight over 3 Kg that may entail a risk of non-tolerable dorsolumbar injury due to the fact that, in spite of being a fairly light load, it could generate a risk if handled under unfavourable ergonomic conditions (away from the body, employing unsuitable postures, very frequently, under unfavourable environmental conditions, on unstable floors, etc.).
The manual handling of loads of less than 3 Kg could also generate the risk of musculoskeletal disorders in the upper limbs as a result of repetitive strain, but these would not be contemplated in the aforementioned Royal Decree.
Loads that weigh more than 25 Kg most probably constitute a risk in themselves, even though unfavourable ergonomic conditions do no exist.
The recommendations included in the following chart are taken from the aforementioned guidebook .
| LOAD (KG) | RECOMMENDED THEORETICAL WEIGHT UNDER IDEAL LIFTING / HANDLING CONDITIONS |
%POPULATION PROTECTED |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 3 | May generate musculoskeletal injuries in the upper limbs due to repetitive strain, but these would not be contemplated in Spanish Royal Decree 487/1997 | |
| 3 | May entail a risk of non-tolerable dorsolumbar risk, as it could generate a risk if handled under unfavourable ergonomic conditions (away from the body, employing unsuitable postures, very frequently, under unfavourable environmental conditions, on unstable floors, etc.) | |
| 15 | Women, young or elderly workers or if the aim is to protect the majority of the population | 95% |
| 25 | In general | 85% |
| 40 | Trained, healthy workers (sporadic situations and under safe conditions) | Figures not available |
| > 40 | This load should not be exceeded under any circumstance whatsoever | |
| Due to the fact that jobs must be accessible for the entire workforce, exceeding the limit of 25 Kg must be considered an exception |
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