Best Practices for Manual Handling Compliance: Manage Hazardous Manual Tasks
Table of Contents
Manual handling compliance is required across Australian workplaces to address the significant risks to workers’ health and safety. Hazardous manual tasks can lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and other serious injuries, affecting both workers and business productivity.
The regulatory landscape in Australia requires those conducting a business or undertaking to manage risks associated with hazardous manual handling as far as is reasonably practicable. Compliance with these regulations isn’t just about avoiding penalties—it delivers real business benefits including reduced injury rates, improved productivity, and lower workers’ compensation costs.
Understanding your obligations and implementing effective control measures is the most cost-effective way to manage hazards in the workplace while ensuring you comply with work health and safety legislation. This guide will help you identify potentially hazardous manual handling tasks and develop strategies to eliminate or minimise the risk of injury to your workers.
Hazardous Manual Handling Tasks
Manual handling compliance begins with understanding hazardous manual tasks, which are those that require a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, hold or restrain any person, animal or thing. Manual tasks are hazardous when they involve high force, awkward postures, repetitive movements, sustained positions, or exposure to vibration.
Common high-risk manual handling activities include:
- Moving heavy or awkward objects
- Handling unstable or difficult-to-grasp loads
- Working in confined spaces
- Performing repetitive tasks for a prolonged period
- Activities involving sudden or jerky movements
These tasks are particularly hazardous because the body must suddenly adapt to the changing force or load, increasing the risk of injury. When workers perform manual tasks in suboptimal conditions, the risk is well known to increase significantly.
Health and Safety Code of Practice: The Regulatory Framework
Achieving manual handling compliance requires understanding Safe Work Australia’s Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice, which offers practical guidance on how to manage the risks associated with hazardous manual handling. This compliance code provides a way to achieve compliance with your legal obligations.
Employer duties under the legislation include:
- Identifying hazardous manual tasks
- Assessing the risks of hazardous manual handling
- Implementing control measures to eliminate or minimise risks
- Consulting with workers about health and safety matters
- Providing appropriate training and supervision
- Reviewing the effectiveness of control measures
Risk Assessment
Manual handling compliance depends on a systematic approach to identifying and assessing manual handling risk, which is essential for effective risk management. The risk assessment process should identify all tasks that involve hazardous manual handling and evaluate the level of risk they present.
When conducting a manual handling risk assessment, consider:
- The nature, size, weight and number of items handled
- The layout of the workplace
- The systems of work used
- The environment in which the manual task is performed
- The skills, experience and age of workers performing the task
Risk evaluation techniques include:
- Direct observation of tasks
- Consultation with workers who are affected
- Review of injury records related to manual handling
- Use of risk assessment tools specific to manual handling
Implementing the Hierarchy of Control Measures
Proper manual handling compliance requires applying the hierarchy of control measures when managing the risks associated with hazardous manual tasks. This systematic approach prioritises elimination of the hazard as the most effective control.
Where it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk, you must minimise the risk as far as is reasonably practicable by:
- Elimination: Remove the hazard completely, such as automating a process to eliminate the need for manual handling.
- Engineering controls: Modify equipment or workplaces, such as:
- Providing mechanical lifting aids
- Redesigning workstations to reduce reaching or bending
- Altering the height of work surfaces to reduce awkward postures
- Administrative controls: Change the way work is done, for example:
- Rotating workers between different tasks
- Scheduling regular breaks
- Developing safe manual handling techniques
- Ensuring workers know how to control risks through proper training
- Personal protective equipment (PPE): This is the least effective control measure but may be necessary for residual risks, such as gloves for improved grip or knee pads for kneeling tasks.
Manual Handling Equipment and Aids
Manual handling compliance often requires selecting and implementing appropriate manual handling equipment and aids as an effective control measure for reducing the risks associated with hazardous manual handling.
Selection criteria for mechanical aids should consider:
- The specific task requirements
- The weight and dimensions of loads to be moved
- The environment in which the equipment will be used
- Ease of use and ergonomic design
- Maintenance requirements and durability
- Compatibility with other workplace systems
Mechanical aids such as trolleys, hoists, conveyor systems, and adjustable workstations can significantly reduce the force required to perform manual tasks, making them a valuable component of your risk control strategy.
Manual Handling Training Programs
Effective manual handling compliance requires implementing training programs to ensure workers understand the risks of hazardous manual handling and know how to implement control measures correctly. Training should be practical, task-specific, and reinforced regularly.
Essential components for compliance include:
- Information about the musculoskeletal system and how damage occurs
- Identification of risk factors in manual tasks
- Specific hazards in the workplace and associated control measures
- Proper use of equipment and aids
- Safe manual handling techniques appropriate to the workplace
- Procedures for reporting hazards and injuries
Documentation and Record-Keeping
Manual handling compliance requires maintaining comprehensive documentation to demonstrate adherence to work health and safety obligations relating to hazardous manual tasks.
Required documentation for compliance includes:
- Risk assessments for manual tasks
- Control measures implemented
- Consultation processes with workers
- Training records and competency assessments
- Incident and injury reports related to manual handling
- Equipment maintenance logs
- Review and evaluation outcomes
Good documentation not only supports compliance but provides valuable data for evaluating the effectiveness of your manual handling risk management program and identifying opportunities for improvement.
Monitoring and Review Processes
Ongoing manual handling compliance depends on regular monitoring and review processes to ensure control measures for hazardous manual handling risks remain effective over time.
Schedule for regular risk assessments:
- Conduct routine inspections of manual handling activities
- Review risk assessments when processes or equipment change
- Reassess after incidents or near misses
- Schedule comprehensive reviews at planned intervals
- Respond to concerns raised by workers or health and safety representatives
Industry-Specific Workplace Manual Handling Solutions
Manual handling compliance strategies must be tailored to different industries which face unique challenges when it comes to managing hazardous manual tasks. Industry-specific approaches that address specific risks provide the most effective way to manage these hazards.
Construction sector considerations:
- Handling heavy building materials and equipment
- Working in confined or awkward spaces
- Managing changing site conditions
- Coordinating with multiple contractors
- Solutions including mechanical lifting devices, team lifting protocols, and pre-fabrication
Healthcare manual handling requirements:
- Patient handling and movement
- Activities that require staff to hold or restrain any person
- Limited space in clinical environments
- Emergency situations requiring rapid response
- Solutions including patient lifting equipment, slide sheets, and team-based approaches
Warehouse and logistics best practices:
- Repetitive handling of goods and packages
- Heavy or awkward load management
- Storage design to minimise handling risks
- Material flow optimisation
- Solutions including automated systems, height-adjustable workstations, and mechanical aids
Office environment manual handling:
- Ergonomic workstation design
- Document and equipment handling
- Storage accessibility and organisation
- Sedentary work considerations
- Solutions including adjustable furniture, document holders, and workstation assessments
By implementing industry-specific solutions, workplaces can more effectively control the risks associated with hazardous manual handling while maintaining productivity and operational requirements.
Conclusion
Effective manual handling compliance requires a comprehensive approach that identifies risks, implements appropriate controls, and continuously monitors their effectiveness. By following the principles outlined in this guide, organisations can significantly reduce the risk of injury due to manual handling while meeting their legal obligations under work health and safety legislation.
By taking a systematic approach to managing the risks associated with hazardous manual handling, you can create a workplace that protects your most valuable asset—your people—while supporting operational efficiency and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should we review our manual handling risk assessments?
Risk assessments should be reviewed regularly, particularly when there are changes to work processes, equipment, or after incidents occur. As a minimum, conduct a review annually or more frequently for high-risk activities.
How do we know if our control measures are effective?
Effective control measures should result in reduced reports of discomfort, pain, or injury; improved efficiency; and positive feedback from workers. Regular monitoring, observation, and consultation with workers will help evaluate effectiveness.
How can we improve consultation with workers about manual handling risks?
Establish regular safety meetings, encourage reporting of hazards and near misses, involve workers in risk assessments, seek feedback on proposed controls, and ensure health and safety representatives are properly trained and supported in their role.
