The costs to an employer of injuries caused by manual handling are significant. A review of occupational injury and disease statistics for 1994-1995 calculated that the estimated direct costs of disorders related to manual handling averaged around $6,500 per case (Straker, M. 'An overview of occupational injury/disease statistics in Australia'. Curtin University of Technology, Perth, 1997). The average duration of injuries and diseases related to manual handling was around 10.5 working weeks.

While on-going income support and medical expenses will be covered by workers compensation payments, your workers compensation premiums can increase as a result of any injuries to your workforce.

The indirect costs of a manual handling injury have been estimated at around five to 10 times the direct costs. Indirect costs include such things:

à        down-time and loss of productivity

à        replacement labour and training costs

à        penalties/prosecution costs

à       rehabilitation/retraining costs for the injured employee

à        damage to plant/replacement costs

à        inspection/investigation and report writing costs

à       damage to customer relations/delivery contracts/corporate image.

(Source: 'Lifting and Carrying' web module, WorkCover Corporation of South Australia)