Manual Handling Operations are defined by the Health and Safety Executive as 'any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or bodily force.' A load can be an object or person.
Manual Handling can cause musculoskeletal injuries, which account for a third of all workplace injuries in the UK.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 cover manual handling activities at work. The key points to consider are:
- Avoid - the need for manual handling as far as is reasonably practicable
- Assess - the risk of injury from any manual handling activity that can't be avoided; and
- Reduce - the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable
Manual Handling Risk Assessment
Manual Handling operations which involve a significant risk of injury should be avoided so far as is reasonably practicable.
Where Manual Handling operations involving a risk of injury cannot be avoided, a risk assessment should be completed. The choice of template to be used to do this is dependant on the level of risk. Our procedure outlines the decision-making process on how to risk assess the activity.
Find out more about Manual Handling and Guidance on the HSE website: