Manual handling covers a wide variety of tasks including lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling and carrying. If any of these tasks are not carried out safely then there is a risk of injury. Health and Safety Executive statistics show that manual handling causes more than a third of all reported injuries, which result in staff being off work for more than three days.
Under the 1992 Manual Handling regulations, it is every employer’s responsibility to provide safe and sufficient training for any employee whose job involves manual lifting. Equally, it is sound business practice to provide such training in order to avoid unnecessary claims or industrial injury on past and/or present employees
Responsibilities imposed by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations