Whose back is it?

This is a question that every nurse should consider as it could be a major factor in their nursing career. Indeed if training needs and education at all levels of the National Health Service are not reviewed and brought up to date, nursing could be heading for serious difficulties in the near future. Fortunately for nursing, the European Community has decided to bring manual lifting and handling to the forefront by issuing directives which they hope will 'harmonise health and safety standards throughout the European Community such that competitive advantage cannot be gained by lowering costs as a direct result of lowering standards'. The most important of these as far as nursing is concerned is Directive 90/269, especially articles three to four which state employers have 'an existing duty to prepare and revise as necessary and bring to the attention of their employees, a written Health and Safety Policy'. It also expects employers to provide equipment which will allow workers to avoid manual handling and to ensure that a full assessment of all manual lifting tasks is carried out prior to their commencement, whether there is a risk of injury or not to the employee.