S.L. 646.10 Art. 4General duties.

(1) It shall be the general duty of an employer to take appropriate organizational measures, or to provide the appropriate means, in particular the mechanical equipment, in order to avoid the need for the manual handling of loads by workers whenever there exists a risk of injury, including injuries to the back, as a result of such operations.

(2) Where the need for the manual handling of loads by workers cannot be avoided, the employer shall take the appropriate organizational measures, use the appropriate means or provide workers with such means in order to reduce the risk involved in the manual handling of such loads, and in so doing, shall give due regard to the contents of Schedule I: Provided that where the need for manual handling of loads by workers cannot be avoided, the employer shall organize workstations in such a way as to make such handling as healthy and safe as possible and, in particular, shall -

(a) assess, in advance where reasonably practicable, the health and safety conditions of the type of work involved, and in particular shall examine the characteristics of loads, giving due regard to the contents of Schedule I;

(b) take appropriate measures to avoid or reduce the risk particularly of back injury to workers, taking into consideration the characteristics of the working environment and the requirements of the activity, and in so doing, an employer shall be guided by Schedule I.

(3) Where an employer assigns work which involves manual handling to any worker, and in carrying out the required risk assessment, the employer shall take into account the nature of the activity and the worker’s capabilities as regards health and safety, as well as the worker’s medical fitness to carry out the assigned task:

Provided that in so doing, the employer shall take into consideration all relevant individual risk factors, a non-exhaustive list of which is laid down in Schedule I.

(4) When assigning work that involves manual handling to a worker, an employer shall make the necessary arrangements for the health surveillance of the worker as is appropriate to the health and safety risks involved during the assigned manual handling tasks, and in so doing, shall consider all relevant individual risk factors, a non-exhaustive list of which is laid down in Schedule II: Provided that the employer shall allow a worker the possibility, if the worker so wishes, to undergo health surveillance at regular intervals.

(5) An employer shall take all measures and precautions so as to protect particularly sensitive risk or vulnerable groups against the dangers which specifically affect them, and in so doing, shall consider all relevant individual risk factors, a non-exhaustive list of which is laid down in Schedule II.