HOW IS IT DIFFERENT TO OTHER METHODS?

Manutention is skills based training. This means that workers are shown how to do it, then they practice under supervision. They learn new ways of using their body and corrections are made so that they learn what the correct way of moving feels like. With repetition, these skills can become a lifelong habit. Occupational safety and health risk assessments and development of control measures are also taught and practiced, using a variety of real life scenarios. Emphasis is placed on problem solving and applying principles rather than recipe based training which doesn’t translate to the real world.

Manutention in the health and aged care industries relies heavily on the study of spontaneous movement of people and the independent movement of the elderly. The workers analyse the components of normal movement so they can ensure when they help the sick or elderly person, they provide assistance to facilitate and support normal movement. In moving through normal movement, the participation of the sick, disabled or elderly person is maximised, without placing demands upon the sick, disabled or elderly person to have to consciously think about helping.

Manutention uses Ergomotricity. This is the worker integrating a set of psychomotor habits in order to work with maximum comfort, safety and efficiency (M. Gendrier).

This ergo-motor approach dovetails with ergonomic design / adaptation of the work place, biomechanics and risk management approaches. It recognises that whilst tasks can be redesigned or mechanised there are still variations in individuals or components of tasks that require manual handling which will involve adaptation from the worker.

These concepts are explored under other tabs on the New Visitors Page. Competency is a key component of Manutention training. As applies for any skill, “learning is by doing” and the opportunity to practice and receive feedback is fundamental to becoming competent.

Feedback from courses is consistently that the training is fun, practical, useful and will definitely lead to changes in the way a person works.