30 August 2004 - Weight Restrictions on Baggage at Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport has now imposed restrictions to the weight of baggage presented to handlers. The restriction must not exceed 32 KG on individual items.
Manual handling injuries within airports account for 40% and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) strongly supports this action.
Heathrow Airport applied this new restriction 3 months ago which has resulted in handling injuries being reduced by 17%, but so far, only Edinburgh Airport is the first in Scotland to implement the new restrictions.
Christine Barringer, HSE, commented at the Heathrow restriction:
"Manual handling injuries account for around 40% of total airport injuries reported to HSE. The majority of these are related to baggage handling activities, particularly airport staff handling heavy bags. HSE strongly supports the actions being taken by Heathrow Airport and we continue to work in partnership with the air industry to see if a further reduction in the maximum bag weight can be achieved. HSE and industry are encouraged by the 17% reduction in reported injuries among baggage handlers by Heathrow based, British Airways who started operating this maximum single bag limit 12 months ago. This demonstrates that real improvements can be made in this area for the benefit of both airport workers and industry."
Article by Alexandra Johnston
