Health and Safety Regulations
Manual Handling Operations Regulations
1992
Overview
The incorrect handling of loads causes large numbers of injuries and can result in pain, time off work and sometimes permanent disablement. In fact, more than a quarter of all accidents reported each year to the enforcing authorities are associated with manual handling.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 do not, as is often believed, set legal limits for weights that can be lifted. Nor do they explicitly require training in manual handling techniques to be given - in fact they are one of the few sets of modern Regulations without an explicit training requirement contained within them.
Rather, the Regulations require, where reasonably practicable, that manual handling is eliminated. Where it cannot be eliminated, then a risk assessment must be carried out where there is a risk of injury due to the manual handling operation.
"Manual handling operations" are defined in the Regulations to mean "any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or by bodily force". "Injury" is defined to exclude "injury caused by any toxic or corrosive substance" . Whereas, "load" is defined to include "any person and any animal". (Regulation 2).
The Regulations require employers to carry out the following 3 key steps:
• Avoid hazardous manual handling operations where reasonably practicable.
Consider whether the load must be moved at all. And if it must, whether it can be
moved mechanically, for example, by fork-lift truck.
• Assess adequately any hazardous operations that cannot be avoided. An
ergonomic assessment should look at more than just the weight of the load. It
should consider the shape and size of the load; the way the task is carried out (eg
the handler's posture); the working environment (eg is it cramped or hot?); the
individual's capability (eg is unusual strength required?). Unless the assessment is
very simple a written record of it will be needed.
• Reduce the risk or injury as far as reasonably practicable. A good assessment will
not only show whether there is a problem but will also point to where the problem
lies. That is the starting point for improvements. For example, if the load is bulky
or heavy it may be possible to use mechanical handling aids or break down the
load. If handlers have to adopt an awkward posture it may be possible to
rearrange the task. Additional training may be required.
The main requirements of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations can be briefly outlined as follows:
• Employers, so far as reasonably practicable, shall avoid the need
for employees to
undertake any manual handling operations at work
which involve a risk of their
being injured. (Regulation 4).
• Where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the need for employees
to
undertake manual handling operations at work which involve a
risk of their being
injured, the employer shall carry out a suitable
and sufficient assessment of all
such manual handling operations.
The assessment needs to consider the following:
Task, Individual,
Environment, Load and any Other Factors which might affect the
manual handling operation. The assessment shall be reviewed
where there is
reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or
where there has been a significant
change. Where the review suggests
changes to the assessment, the employer
shall make them. (Regulation 4).
• The employer shall take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of
injury to
employees undertaking manual handling operations to
the lowest level reasonably
practicable. (Regulation 4).
• The employer shall provide employees undertaking manual handling
operations
general indications and, where reasonable practicable,
precise information on the
weight of each load and the heaviest
side of any load whose centre of gravity is
not positioned
centrally. (Regulation 4).
• Employees, while at work, shall make full and proper use of any
system of work
provided for their use by the employer. (Regulation 5).
Brief Guidance Concerning The Manual Handling Operations Assessment
While deciding whether or not a risk of injury exists with regard to a particular manual handling operation, the following guidance may prove helpful.
Where the operation is well within the guidance figures, a simple checklist will suffice. Where the operation is close to the guidance figures, a more detailed assessment will be needed. Where the operation exceeds the guidance figures by twice as much, the operation should be subject to close scrutiny.
Put simply, a 10kg load carried close to the body between shoulder and knuckle height is well within the "boundary condition" given by the above diagram (20-25kg) and a very simple assessment would be enough. The same load carried outstretched at shoulder to elbow height would be close to the boundary condition and require a detailed assessment. The same load carried outstretched at either above shoulder height or below mid lower leg height would be twice the boundary condition (5kg) and require close scrutiny.
In addition, the following factors have to be taken into account when comparing the actual manual handling operation with the boundary conditions illustrated in the diagram above.
• Lower the guideline figures by 10%
where the handler twists through 45o and by
20% where they twist through 90o
• Reduce the guideline figures by a
third to offer same degree of protection to
nearly all women as to nearly all men
• The guideline figures are for
infrequent operations (up to 30 operations per hour),
reduce by 30% where repeated once or twice per
minute, by 50% where
repeated five to eight times per minute and by
80% where repeated more than
about 12 times per minute
• Reduce guideline figures where the
load is carried further than 10m without a rest
• Where a load involves pushing or
pulling, the guideline figure for starting or
stopping the load is 25kg (10kg for keeping the
load in motion)
• The guideline figure for lifting
while in the seated position is 5kg, close to the
body, between the lower trunk and shoulder height
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