Introduction - a bit about your presenter

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Introduction - a bit about your presenter

• Ken Haig Treasurer of Levenmouth Communities
  Regeneration Group

- Council Tenant
- Married with a 9 year old son
- I work at Carnegie College in Dunfermline
- I am a Health Safety
Representative for Unison _at_
Carnegie College
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Aim of the Group

• To work towards ensuring the interests of all
  people living and working in the Levenmouth area
  are taken into account and to aid the involvement
  and participation of Levenmouth or other
  interested people in the process of regeneration.

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• Local voluntary body, Levenmouth Communities
• Regeneration Group (LCRG), was set up seven
• years ago to provide a forum for Levenmouth
• residents to express their views and influence
• regeneration policies and practical measures.
• LCRG comprises individuals and representatives
• from local community organisations.

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Objective of LCRG

•    To promote, provide, or assist in providing
  training in skills of all kinds,
• particularly such skills as will assist
  residents of the Operating Area towards obtaining
  paid employment

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Levenmouth
According to all available indicators,
Levenmouth is among the 10 most deprived areas in
Scotland.

• In Fife, Levenmouth is one of the four most
• disadvantaged areas which are the target of
• co- ordinated regeneration efforts involving Fife
  Council, other statutory agencies and community
  bodies, and supported by the Scottish Executive.

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Why do we have so many kids that have never been
taught manual handling, yet do it all of the time?
I saw a tall school kid putting things into the
bottom locker, whilst a few feet away a saw a
short school kid struggling to get his books in
the top locker.
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What can be done

• Well our idea seems a simple one, but for it to
  work I need to ask for your help

• What we would like to do is to develop a pilot
  course that could be taught in High School,
  targeted at the school kids.

• Safety Group - Fife , together with other
  partners would provide members to deliver the
  course to the chosen High School.

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Where are the benefits?

• Employers would be reimbursed for the loss of
  their employee.

• The person delivering the course would receive
  expenses and a set fee

• They would be all using set course material,
  which would be drawn up by the partners

• The individual lecturing would benefit from
  delivering to a younger audience

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• The kids learn to undertake manual handling
  safely.
• They also learn skills useful for employment.
• The NHS benefit from a reduction in bad backs and
  associated cost in treating this ailment.
• Employers benefit as the can build on the
  training the kids have received, thus reducing
  their costs.
• The schools benefit from having kids doing things
  in a safer manner.
• Basically everyone benefits

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How would this work?

• Basically it would be made up of four parts, with
  each part adding to the next part. 1st Years
  would be taught a certain level with incremental
  changes building on the basic level.
• Each year would get a certificate indicating
  their achievement
• These certificate would bear the names of the
  partners and could be presented to employers.
• By working together the various partners will be
  able to provide an array of resources, manpower,
  access to teaching and training resources etc.
  The course material could then bring the best
  elements from all the partners and achieve best
  practice through a partnership approach.

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• There is currently no training of this nature
  being offered. Youths are not shown the correct
  way to lift until they enter employment.

• Child carers, the reality is that they are
  currently undertaking a range of tasks and may be
  putting their own health at risk.

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• By using a Partnership Approach, other agencies
  could help deliver this training. The main idea
  is not to replicate existing training but to
  enhance and focus it in a meaningful and fun way.

• The project can help with employability skills,
  introduce risk assessments and improve health and
  well being through a working partnership approach
  to prevention.

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Key Outcomes
Indicator Percentage of youths stating that they
currently have no knowledge of correct manual
handling lifting procedures.
Outputs No. of youths participating in the
programme
Outcomes Reduce the risk of injuries mostly
affecting the back, but also severe problems to
the limbs, muscles, tendons and the heart.
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What will this pilot do?

• By participating in the pilot project the youths
  will be increasing their chance of employment
• The pilot project will result in additional
  skills being learned thus making them a more
  attractive proposition to potential employers
• By implementing the skills learned the youths
  would hopefully reduce their chances of future
  injuries.
• The pilot will increase knowledge and
  understanding and hopefully remove the barrier of
  lack of appropriate manual handling lifting
  experience/training for each youth.

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Plus

• By participating in the pilot project and
  implementing the skills learned the youths
  improve their own health and well-being, as well
  as that of their families and friends, through a
  mixture of peer pressure and sharing skills and
  knowledge.
• By participating in the pilot project the youths
  will learn how to perform all manner of physical
  activity safely.
• By making the project attractive and varied we
  hope that this will lead to a high participation
  level and will end with the youths completing
  their courses and achieving a meaningful
  certificate that will not only boost their
  confidence but increase their aspirations.

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Manual Handling

• Manual handling Manual handling means more than
  simply lifting or carrying something. The term is
  used to describe activities including lifting,
  lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying, moving,
  holding or restraining an object, animal or
  person. It also covers activities that require
  the use of force or effort such as pulling a
  lever or operating power tools.

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• Over 30 per cent of all accidents reported to the
  HSE are connected with manual handling. Every
  year 300,000 people are forced to endure the
  agony of back pain resulting from a manual
  handling incident. UNISON

• British businesses lose an estimated 4.9 million
  days to employee absenteeism through work related
  back pain - with the North East suffering more
  than most, with 2 people in every hundred having
  to cope with the condition. With each affected
  employee taking an average of 19 days off work
  this is clearly a problem that needs to be
  addressed.

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Back injuries

• The charity Backcare estimates the overall cost
  of back pain - to the NHS, business and the
  economy - at a staggering 5 billion per year.

• Northern TUC Regional Secretary, Kevin Rowan,
  says, ' Preventing back injuries should be a
  major concern for employers and workers in our
  region given the scale of the problem and the
  consequences of not dealing with it.

• 'Back injuries are extremely debilitating to
  individual victims and their families, as well as
  very costly to employers and the economy. And yet
  the solutions that would prevent injury are often
  extremely simple.'

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How will this be paid for?

• Good Question
• Funding for this pilot project could potentially
  come from both the Fife Regeneration Outcome
  Agreement, the Scottish Executive via Prevention
  2010 Strengthening Primary Care in Deprived
  Communities or from other funding available to
  the NHS.
• Additional funding could come from some of our
  bigger companies, like Diageo, Silberline, BiFab.
  

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Where to go now ?