People Handling

What legislation covers manual handling?

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work, (General Applications) Regulations 2007, Chapter 4 of Part 2, outline the requirements that must be adhered to in relation to manual (people) handling. The key requirements include:

• Carrying out a manual handling risk assessment of existing manual handling tasks before making an informed decision on what manual handling tasks need to be avoided or reduced.

• Organising tasks to allow the use of mechanical or other means (hoists) to avoid or reduce the need for the manual handling of loads (people) by employees in the workplace. The hazards can be avoided or reduced through the introduction of appropriate organisational measures for example improved layout of a work area to reduce/eliminate unnecessarily long carrying distances; or the use of appropriate means, in particular mechanical equipment

• Providing instruction and training to relevant staff.