Full Manual Handling Risk Assessment

Lifting, carrying and team handling.

This full manual handling risk assessment has been developed with reference to the HSE’s Guidance on the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (.pdf) and the HSE’s toolkits for musculoskeletal disorders.

It can be used in conjunction with the HSE toolkit and you can any necessary information to ensure adequate coverage of the risk factors. Otherwise, you can use this assessment as a standalone full risk assessment.

To get the most out of the assessment we recommend complete section 1, followed by the assessment that cover your type of manual handling activity. You may need to complete more than one section if you activity has lifting, carrying or team handling components.

Section 1: Individual capabilities

Section 2: Lifting and lowering

Section 3: Carrying

Section 4: Team handling

Section 5: Action

Remember

The purpose of the assessment is to identify the whether you have done enough to control the risk, and if not, what needs to be put in place to achieve that.

First of all…

Spend some time observing the task. Photographs or recording it may help. This ensures you have a reasonable idea of what is normally done and by whom.

Consider whether the task has lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling or team lifting components to it. If it does, you will need to risk assess each part.

Speak to the people who do the task. They have a valuable insight into what it is like to do it and what the problems could be.

Look back at your incident records or speak to Health and Safety Advisory Service (HSAS) to find out what the issues could be and if there is industry good practice for your area of work.

Always assess the ‘worst case scenario’ – they pose the greatest risk of harm.

If it helps, use photos and drawings to record findings and include them in your risk assessment. They are a useful reference to compare the controls you put in place to reduce the risk.

Do read the information referenced in the Information Reference column. It will help you make an informed decision on the risk level.

Still unsure? Please call HSAS on ex. 2944 or email ‘safety’ for further advice and support.

Assessment reference
Overall risk of injury	LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH (highlight the appropriate risk category after completing the assessment)
Task name and description. Include the manual handling operations covered by this assessment
Location(s) it is carried out
Department responsible for the task
Job titles of staff involved
Name and signature of assessor (s)	Assessment date: Review date and reason:
Name and signature of the manager responsible for the task	Date:

Add diagrams/photos of existing control measures:

Risk evaluation

Green	Low Monitor activity.	Red	High Prompt action is required.
Amber	Medium Examine activity and reduce risk where possible	Purple	Very high Stop. Needs close scrutiny and action. Potentially a serious risk of injury

Section 1. Individual capabilities

Information reference	Detail	Green	Amber	Red	Purple	Problems occurring from the task and the risk level	Changes that need to be made to reduce the risk
Guidance on the MH Regulations Regulation 4(3)(e) employees especially at risk	High risk groups	Procedure for identifying high risk groups and individuals and individual risk assessments completed, where appropriate.	Individuals identified and actions taken but no documented evidence available.	Procedures for individual RAs but none completed. OR Action not implemented. OR Task requires unusual strength or height.	No procedures for identification of high risk groups and no individual RAs completed.
Section 4(3)(e)	Women of child bearing age	No women employed	Women Employed	This task is probably high risk for women who are or have recently been pregnant. Assess the risk as part of the pregnancy risk assessment. Guidance on the Pregnancy website
Section 4(3)(c)	Knowledge and training	Suitable manual handling information (eg Is your back safe?) and suitable departmental on-the-job training, including regular refreshers.	Suitable manual handling information and suitable departmental training. Some staff overdue refresher training.	Suitable manual handling information. No departmental on-the-job training or refresher	No information or training been provided. Operatives feel they have not been given enough training or information to carry out the task successfully.
Section 4(3)(b)	Clothing, footwear, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other personal effects	PPE is not required and footwear is suitable. OR Suitable PPE is provided and worn for the task. Movement or posture not hindered by clothing/PPE	Moderate restriction due to wearing PPE.	Restricted movement and dexterity due to wearing PPE. OR PPE provided but not worn.	PPE required but not provided.
Part 3 paragraphs 138-143	Work organisation (Psychosocial factors) Eg Rest breaks and rate of work imposed by process.	Staff fully consulted on work. Rest breaks scheduled and breaks taken. Job rotation. Good communication with managers and sudden changes in workload/new tasks well-managed	Staff occasionally consulted on work. Rest breaks scheduled but not always taken. Limited job rotation. Communication with managers. Changes in workload adequately managed.	No staff consultation. OR No rest breaks or job rotation OR Poor management communication. OR Frequent periods of high workload not managed. OR Tight deadlines

Section 2. Lifting and lowering

Information reference	Detail	Green	Amber	Red	Purple	Problems occurring from the task and the risk level	Changes that need to be made to reduce the risk
If you have already used the MAC Tool you can use the information gathered as the basis of this full risk assessment.
Part A, page 3	Load weight and frequency of lifting and lowering	As per chart	As per chart	As per chart	50kg or more or as per chart
Other load risk factors	Bulky, unwieldy unstable, intrinsically harmful e.g. hot or sharp edges	None	One factor	Two factors	Multiple factors
Part B, page 4	Hand distance from the lower back	Upper arms aligned vertically and upright torso.	Upper arms angled away from body. OR Torso bent forward.	Upper arms angled away from body and torso bent forward.
Part C, page 4	Vertical lift region.	Above knee and/or below elbow height.	Below knee and/or above elbow height.	Floor level or below. OR At head height or above.
Part D, page 4	Torso twisting and sideways bending	Little or no torso twisting. OR Sideways bending.	Torso twisting. OR Sideways bending.	Torso twisting. AND Sideways bending
Part E, page 5	Postural constraints	No postural constraints. Movement are unhindered.	Restricted posture during lift because of space available.	Severely restricted posture.
Part F, page 5	Grip on load	Good grip. Well-designed handles or Handholds. Fit for purpose. Loose parts enabling comfortable grip.	Reasonable grip. Containers with poor handles or handholds. Fingers able to clamped at 90 degrees under the container.	Poor grip. Containers of poor design, loose parts, irregular objects, bulky or difficult to handle. Non-rigid sacks or unpredictable loads
Part G, page 5	Floor surface	Dry, clean and in good condition.	Dry floor, but in poor condition, worn or uneven.	Contaminated with wet. OR Dry slip hazards, steep sloping floor. OR Unstable surface or unsuitable footwear.
Part H, page 5	Environmental factors i.e. extreme humidity, temperatures, lighting, air movements	No factors	One factor present	Two or more present

Section 3. Carrying

Information reference	Detail	Green	Amber	Red	Purple	Problems occurring from the task and the risk level	Changes that need to be made to reduce the risk
If you have already used the MAC Tool you can use the information gathered as the basis of this full risk assessment.
Part A, page 7	Load weight and frequency of lifting and lowering	As per chart	As per chart	As per chart	50kg or more or as per chart
Other load characteristics	Bulky, unwieldy, unstable, unpredictable, intrinsically harmful eg hot or sharp	None	One factor	Two factors	Multiple factors
Part B, page 7	Hand distance from the lower back	Upper arms aligned vertically and upright torso.	Upper arms angled away from body. OR Torso bent forward.	Upper arms angled away from body and torso bent forward.
Part C, page 8	Asymmetrical torso/load	Load and hands symmetrical in front of the torso.	Load and hand asymmetrical, upright body position.	One handed carry to the individual’s side.
Part D, page 8	Postural constraints	Movement unhindered and no postural constraints	Restricted postures	Severely restricted posture.
Part E, page 8	Grip on load	Good grip. Well-designed handles or handholds fit for purpose. Loose parts enabling comfortable grip.	Reasonable grip. Containers with poor handles or handholds. Fingers able to clamped at 90 degrees under the container	Poor grip. Containers of poor design, loose parts, irregular objects, bulky. OR Difficult to handle, hot/very cold, unstable loads.
Part F, page 8	Floor surface	Dry, clean and in good condition.	Dry floor, but in poor condition, worn or uneven.	Contaminated with wet. OR Dry slip hazards, steep sloping floor. OR Unstable surface or unsuitable footwear.
Part G, page 8	Environmental factors ie extreme humidity, temperatures, lighting, air movements	No factors	One factor present	Two or more present
Part H, page 9	Carry distance	2m -4m	4m – 10m	10m or more
Part I, page 9	Obstacles on route. E.g. steep slopes, up steps, through closed doors or around tripping hazards, ladders	No obstacles and carry route is flat.	Steep slope or up steps. OR Through closed doors. OR Trip and slip hazards.	Ladders. (enter ladder height data and/or angle in here).

Section 4. Team handling

Information reference	Detail	Green	Amber	Red	Purple	Problems occurring from the task and the risk level	anges hat need to be made to reduce the risk
If you have already used the MAC Tool you can use the information gathered as the basis of this full risk assessment.
Part A, page 11	Load weight	2 person <35kg 3 person <40kg	2 person 35 – 50kg 3 person 40 – 75kg 4 person 40 – 100kg	2 person 50 - 3 person 40 – 75kg 4 person 40 – 100kg	2 person >85kg 3 person >125kg 4 person >170kg
Part B, page 11	Hand distance from lower back	Close: upper arms aligned vertically and upright torso.	Moderate: upper arms angled away from body. OR torso bent forward.	Far: upper arms angled away from body and torso bent forward.
Part C, page 11	Vertical lift region.	Above knee and/or below elbow height.	Below knee and/or above elbow height.	Floor level or below. At head height or above.
Part D, page 12	Torso twisting and sideways bending	Little or no torso twisting or sideways bending.	Torso twisting or sideways bending.	Torso twisting and sideways bending
Part E, page 12	Postural constraints	Movement unhindered and no postural constraints	Restricted postures	Severely restricted posture.
Part F, page 12	Grip on load	Good grip. Well-designed handles or handholds fit for purpose. Loose parts enabling comfortable grip.	Reasonable grip. Containers with poor handles or handholds. Fingers able to clamped at 90 degrees under the container.	Poor grip. Containers of poor design, loose parts, irregular objects, bulky or difficult. Non-rigid sacks or unpredictable loads
Part G, page 12	Floor surface	Dry, clean and in good condition.	Dry floor, but in poor condition, worn or uneven.	Contaminated with wet. OR Dry slip hazards, steep sloping floor. OR Unstable surface or unsuitable footwear.
Part H, page 12	Environmental factors i.e. extreme humidity, temperatures, lighting, air movements	No factors	One factor present	Two or more present
Part I, page 12	Communication co-ordination and control between the operatives when lifting as a team.	Good	Reasonable	Poor

Section 5. Action required

Action No.	Actions required to reduce the level of risk	Priority	Date action required by	Who is responsible for ensuring the action has taken	Completion date and signature

Add more rows if necessary.

The term department should be understood to include school, section or unit.

If the task is carried out by others eg students, contractors etc. please include here

Insert information about your manual handling activity in this column.

High risk groups are or have been recently pregnant; known to have a history of back, knee or hip trouble, hernia or other health problems which could affect their capability; have a disability which may affect their manual handling capability; previously had a manual handling injury or are young workers <18 years of age.

Insert information about the task in this column.