A Manual Handling Risk Assessment looks at the risk of injury when people lift, lower, push, pull, carry or hold loads. It follows the HSE's TILE approach: the Task, the Individual, the Load and the Environment, plus Other Factors.
Before you start
Manual Handling has to be switched on for your company before anyone can see it. If you can't find it, ask the person who manages your account, or talk to us on Live Chat.
Once it's switched on, the built-in Super User, Administrator, Manager and Risk Assessor roles can use it straight away. If your company uses its own custom roles, an administrator needs to turn on Manual Handling under RA Type Access for each role that should have it.
Creating a Manual Handling assessment
Click Create New at the top of the screen.
Hover over Assessments and click Manual Handling Risk Assessment.
Enter a Task Title and pick a Location.
The assessment starts saving once it has a task title and a location. Anything you fill in before then stays on the page and is saved with the first save. General Controls, Linked Documents and the logo show Save assessment first until that first save.
Choosing a layout
Use the Layout toggle to work Step by step or on a Single page. Both layouts hold the same assessment, so you can switch at any time.
The steps
Assessment Details: reference, owner, assessed by and review date. If you leave the reference blank, one is generated when you save.
Task Details: the task title, location, the people affected, the method statement and the before/after risk rating.
Risk Factors: 28 questions in five sections:
The Task (11 questions), for example twisting, stooping, carrying distance and repetitive handling
Individual Capability (5), including people with a health problem, new or expectant mothers, and new or young workers
The Load (5): heavy, bulky, difficult to grasp, unstable or harmful
The Environment (6): posture constraints, floors, levels, temperature, air movement and lighting
Other Factors (1): clothing or PPE that gets in the way
For each question, pick Low, Medium or High, and add further details if needed. Each section also has Additional Comments. The Risk Level Summary shows how many questions you've answered and how many are at each level.
The Heavy? question has an HSE guideline weights button showing the HSE lifting and lowering guideline weights. These are guidelines, not safe limits. Links to HSE guidance (INDG143, L23, and the MAC, RAPP and ART tools) are under Useful HSE resources.
General Controls (general and emergency controls)
Health Surveillance
Actions
Linked Documents
Review & Publish
Publishing and the PDF
On Review & Publish, the Assessment Checklist shows anything still missing. Items with a red symbol are mandatory. Use View Draft to preview the PDF. Then add a Reason For Publishing and click Publish. You can include a Sign Off Sheet with the published PDF.