H&S Training

Manual Handling Awareness Training

Lifting heavy boxes, stacking shelves, or moving items across a workspace might be part and parcel of an employee’s role, but these tasks can result in injury if not carried out correctly and with an awareness of the risks.

Make sure employees can work safely, comfortably and productively with our Manual Handling training course.

Submit your details and one of our team will be in touch.

Who should attend?

This one-day course is suitable for anyone that needs to ‘transport or support a load by hand or bodily force’ in the course of their work, as well as those involved in assessing and controlling such manual handling in the workplace. It can be delivered as a half or full-day training session depending on your organisation’s needs.

What will I learn?

Delegates will develop a working understanding of manual handling risks, regulations and strategies, and will leave equipped with the vital knowledge needed to reduce the potential for injury when undertaking these tasks in the workplace.

Why we manage manual handling
The impact of injury – moral, financial and legal
The requirements of the Manual Handling Regulations 1992
Assessing manual handling risks and what to consider
Effective control measures
Specific safe manual handling techniques as relevant to your business

Price and registration

This is a closed one-day course delivered exclusively to your organisation at a cost of £1,260 for up to 12 delegates. Additional delegates are charged at £55 each.

Who will deliver the training?

All of our Health & Safety training courses are designed and delivered by time served safety practitioners with significant hands on experience.

When you take our core Health & Safety service, any training will be delivered by your named consultant, enabling us to tailor the course to you for maximum impact.

“

Ellis Whittam have both been extremely helpful and understanding throughout and beyond the four-day course. It has been a pleasure to learn from them.”

Zest 4 Leisure

Submit your details and one of our team will be in touch.

Manual handling is defined by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations (MHOR) 1992.

The act describes manual handling as the transporting or supporting of a load by hand or bodily force. This means human effort is involved rather than mechanical handling by devices such as powered hoists.

However, using a mechanical aid may only reduce (rather than replace) manual handling, as human effort is still required to move the mechanical aid or position the load on the aid. Manual handling includes lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving a load, which can be an object, person or animal. Human effort may also be applied indirectly, such as by hauling on a rope or pulling a lever.

The manual handling regulations were developed to reduce the number of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) associated with manual handling. MSDs are said to account for around 40% of all work-related ill health. The Health and Safety Executive reported that 469,000 workers suffered from work-related MSDs in 2017/18 and that 197,000 MSDs were in the upper limbs or neck.

Workers suffered manual-handling-related injuries in 2017/18

Employer Duties around Manual Handling

Under the MHOR, manual handling must be avoided wherever possible. In dealing with the risks from manual handling, there are clearly ranked measures that employers must take:

Avoid hazardous manual handling so far as reasonably practicable;
Assess any hazardous manual handling that cannot be avoided; and
Reduce the risk of injury so far as reasonably practicable.

As an employer, this means you must first try and avoid the need for employees to manually handle loads if there is a risk of them being injured.

For instance, it may be possible to provide some form of mechanical equipment to assist with the movement, such as a trolley or hoist. You must be able to show that ways of avoiding manual handling tasks have been considered.

Questions to ask include:

Do loads actually need handling?
Could loads be handled in a different way, for example, can a process be carried out without lifting loads?
Could mechanical aids be used to remove the manual element?

If manual handling cannot be avoided i.e. it is not reasonably practicable to remove the need for manual handling that poses a risk, then employers must:

Conduct thorough risk assessments for the manual handling tasks;
Reduce any identified risks as much as possible – to the lowest reasonably practicable level; and
Provide affected employees with sufficient training on how to carry out the manual handling as safely as possible.

This could be achieved by:

Splitting heavy items into more manageable loads;
Providing employees with precise information about the load’s weight, heaviest side and, if asymmetrical, the centre of gravity; and
Making sure employees receive training on how to safely lift items and how to use any provided lifting equipment.

Any changes made to work to avoid or reduce manual handling must be monitored to ensure they are working satisfactorily. If not satisfactory, alternatives must be considered.

'Reasonably Practicable' Measures

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut definition of what ‘reasonably practicable’ means.

A judgement will have to be made as to whether something is reasonably practicable. You can do this by weighing up the level of risk posed against the measures you would need to control those risks whereby measures refers to the time, money or trouble involved.

For example, if an employee in performing a manual handling task could potentially seriously damage their back, and the solution is to provide a hand truck, the cost involved would be reasonable.

However, measures do not need to be taken if grossly disproportionate to the level of risk.

As an employer, you must first try and avoid the need for employees to manually handle loads if there is a risk of them being injured.

Risk Assessment

All risk assessments must be carried out by a competent person and cover all manual handling operations and relevant factors. Any risk assessments must be reviewed if it’s suspected they are no longer valid, for example, because the person or process has changed.

The regulations do not set specific requirements such as weight limits. While weight is an important risk factor, there are many other factors that employers need to consider. In assessing the risk of injury from manual handling, Schedule 1 to the regulations provides the following should be taken into account:

The manual handling task (does it involve bending, twisting, reaching, moving, etc?);
The load to be manually handled – its weight, shape, size and nature;
The working environment and equipment provided; and
The capability of the individual who is to carry the load.

In turn, the following should be considered:

Does the task involve:

Are the loads:

Is the working environment:

Is the provided equipment:

Does the job:

Does the task involve:

Are the loads:

Is the working environment:

Is the provided equipment:

Does the job:

Toolkit

The Appendix to the MHOR contains useful risk assessment filters that will help you decide the right level of detail needed in the risk assessment process. Recognised tools from the HSE’s MSD Toolkit. These include:

The MAC Tool (Manual Handling Assessment Charts) to assess lifting, carrying and team handling;
The RAPP Tool (Risk Assessment Pushing and Pulling) to assess pushing and pulling operations; and
The ART Tool (Assessment of Repetitive Tasks of the Upper Limbs) for tasks requiring repetitive movement of the arms and hands.

Other tools not published by the HSE may also be chosen.

After evaluating the risks, you must decide whether your existing precautions are adequate or whether more should be done. Record your findings and tell your employees about them. Review your assessment and, if necessary, revise it.

Manual Handling Policy

Manual handling policies are important in removing, reducing or controlling any risks. Effective policies should set out:

What manual handling is;

Why manual handling safety is important;

Associated hazards; and

Employees’ responsibilities.

Under the regulations, employees are required to make full and proper use of any provided work equipment or system. Employees also have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and to co-operate with their employer.

Manual Handling Top Tips

Lifting and moving objects is a common cause of musculoskeletal disorders among workers, particularly when proper lifting procedures and assists are not in place.

It is therefore important to make sure workers receive training in competent manual handling. Well-designed work stations and tools can also reduce bending and twisting.

To reduce injury:

Use mechanical lifting devices or break loads down into smaller manageable units;
Have a co-worker help if no mechanical device is available;
Avoid awkward twisting and turning postures while carrying loads; and
Bring objects up to a comfortable height.

The weight of the load, how far and how often it is to be moved, its stability, shape and size all affect the risks involved. Cramped storage areas, unstable racking, unsafe ladders and poor planning, e.g. putting heavy loads on top shelves, also increases the risk of injury.

To further limit risks:

Arrange storage areas so that employees do not have to reach or twist when lifting loads;
Avoid storing heavy or awkward items above shoulder height;
Provide safety ladders and steps; and
Make sure deliveries are as close as possible to the location where they will be stored or used.

If heavy loads must be manually lifted, make sure they are carried by at least two properly trained people.

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