26/06/2007
Holland’s Supreme Court recently made it illegal for workers to lift loads weighing more than 23 kilograms by hand. If they do, and injure themselves, the employer will be liable for the financial costs.

The Dutch Federation of Trade Unions FNV sees this as a major break-through. The ruling will have a far-reaching impact, as up to 2.6 million workers in the Netherlands regularly have to lift loads heavier than 23 kg. Musculoskeletal disorders like severe back strain from heavy lifting account for 39% of sick leave and work-related health care costs. The FNV welcomes the ruling, but is pressing for a health-based upper limit to be added to the Dutch Working Conditions Act.

The Act already includes similar specific occupational exposure limits for noise, radiation and vibrations as enacted in EU legislation. But the FNV will continue lobbying for more evidence-based health-related upper limits in the form of specific OELs. This will require such limits to be incorporated into EU legislation for the main risks. These can be designed using the NIOSH formula for calculating limits for the manual lifting of loads. Having a statutory limit for manual lifting will avoid workers having to sue individually for back injuries, and get business to put a major focus on prevention.

Even with a statutory health-based limit of 23 kg, however, situations will still arise where that maximum is bound to be exceeded. An obvious example is taking a washing machine up to, say, a fourth-floor flat by the stairs because there is no lift in the building. Where employers put workers in these situations, they have a legal duty to make other specific arrangements. So this kind of argument, often used by employers to claim that no such limit can be set, does not hold water.

Whatever else, workers now at least have legal backing in this Supreme Court judgement. Previously, there were no written provisions addressing this health risk other than arrangements in the odd collective agreement, like that for the building industry.

The case took a full ten years to get to the Supreme Court. It started when a restaurant employee was asked by the owner to help in removing an oven.

The employee lifted a 200 kg oven with three co-workers. Some time later, he began to experience severe back pains and became incapacitated for work. He claimed against his employer, but the employer refused to pay, so the matter went to law. A long legal battle ensued, ending in the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the Dutch Working Conditions Regulations contain a reference to the NIOSH formula which can be used to assess whether a particular work situation harbours a potential risk from manual lifting.

The NIOSH formula is a scientific method developed in the United States for designing a safe situation where manual lifting has to be done; the maximum weight is 23 kg. The Supreme Court based its finding of a health-based scientifically-validated upper exposure limit on this.

Source: FNV