Navigating manual handling regulations: The complete employer’s guide  

Manual handling is the act of moving or supporting an object using your hands or body and includes lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, and carrying. It forms a vital part of training for any organisation, especially in the healthcare sector, as improper techniques can lead to a vast range of related injuries.  

An estimated 33.7 million working days were lost in 2023/24 due to work-related illness and workplace injury. Out of the 1.7 million workers in Great Britain suffering from a work-related illness, 543,000 workers reported musculoskeletal disorders, with 61,663 injuries to employees reported under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).  

To promote and maintain the safety of you and your staff it’s important to understand the risks and regulations around manual handling at work. This can include ensuring that employees take the most appropriate manual handling approach when it comes to correct carrying, lifting, and other techniques. 

The fine-tuned skeleton  

There’s estimated to be over 650 named skeletal muscles in the human body. They work with bones to help an individual move, helping maintain posture and flexibility. In an average day, every muscle in our body comes under astonishing pressure.  

Unlike smooth muscle and cardiac muscle, skeletal muscles are voluntary: we control them. The more we take care of them, the longer they’ll last, and the better they’ll function; but unfortunately, it’s only too easy to fall into incorrect manual handling habits.  

 Incorrect manual handling can cause:  

• Neck pain  
• Discomfort, pain, and lack of function in the upper back or lower back – short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic)  
• Swelling and aches  
• Mental health conditions including depression. 

The lower back, or lumbar region, is a particularly vulnerable spot, typically accounting for just under half of manual handling injuries.  

What qualifies as a manual handling task?  

Manual handling refers to any activity requiring the use of force by a person to lift, lower, push, pull, hold or restrain something. Putting boxes on shelves, gardening, cleaning, operating machinery or handling animals and even typing are all examples of manual handling tasks.   

The law  

It’s been over 30 years since the Manual Handling Operations Regulations legislation , along with several other important laws, came into force in 1992 as part of a major review by the Health and Safety Commission. It sets out the responsibilities of employers towards their staff, clearly stating that employers have a duty to protect employees from “risk of injury and ill health from hazardous manual handling tasks in the workplace”.  

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations legislation was amended and updated in 2002, and the law requires employers to ensure that employees within their sectors are working as safely as possible. Other relevant legislation includes the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).  

Apart from the potential impact on the health of employees, incorrect manual handling techniques can risk financial, reputational, and operational damage to your organisation. Employers have been fined substantial amounts for not ensuring that their employees were trained in the appropriate manual handling techniques, as mandated in the MHOR Regulations.  While most manual handling accidents don’t result in legal action, it’s always worth taking steps to safeguard your business from similar lawsuits.  

4 common manual handling hazards 

Hazards can occur in any workplace and for healthcare staff, pose a risk to increasing injury to themselves, their colleagues and even patients.  

Lifting heavy objects 

Incorrectly lifting, handling, or carrying objects at work can result in musculoskeletal injuries such as sprains and strains. Often, the risk of sustaining an injury increases when an individual’s posture is incorrect, or they attempt to lift a heavy load at a difficult angle.  

Repetitive movements 

If you perform the same movements and motions overtime, this can lead to repetitive strain injuries such as tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome or epicondylitis, pain on the outer or inner elbow. 

Poor posture 

Because manual handling tasks often place pressure on the back, having a poor posture when carrying out these activities increase the chances of slipped discs, lumbar strain and spinal injuries.

Slips, trips and falls 

Sometimes this relates to having an uneven footing, causing you to lose balance, like using a latter to reach for medicine in a storage facility but only standing on one leg. Other times, this can be related to obstructed walkways and wet surfaces. 

Manual handling in the workplace  

In the healthcare sector, it’s vital to safeguard the health of those offering care, and those being cared for. Carers, nurses, and those in the physiotherapy field, for instance, need to be especially alert to any work-related safety hazards when looking after patients. This applies whether a patient is a fit and healthy adult, or requires more specialised aged care or childcare.  

Manual handling techniques  

 DO  

• Bend your knees to lift without curving your back and grasp the object as close to your body as possible.  
• Avoid twisting your body by turning your feet to position themselves. 
• Use a kick stool to reach items on higher shelves.  
• If possible, divide the task into micro-tasks: you may need to move an item or a person in increments, rather than all at once.  
• Ask for help if you need it and encourage your workers/peers to do the same. 
• Take particular care if you or your colleagues are handling hazardous materials.  

DON’T  

• Try to move an item or an individual that is too heavy or difficult for your capacity. 
• Use equipment you’re not familiar with.   
• Try to move items over long distances or upstairs.   
• Attempt to handle loads in a small or restricted working space.   
• Ignore any signs of pain or discomfort your body may send you – this built-in early warning system is here to help you.   
• Ignore the legislation – it’s there to protect employees and help employers understand their responsibilities.