Manual handling is a major cause of back injury. One in five of those who suffer work-related ill health has back pain - bad both for people and for business. High-risk activity, such as heavy, frequent, or awkward lifting and handling can often be avoided, e.g. by using mechanical aids.

The Regulations require manual handling risk assessments to be completed in order to identify if:

• manual handling can be avoided
• the tasks can be mechanised, or a lifting or handling aid used
• they can be altered to reduced the risk from twisting and stretching
• the work can be done at waist height
• other controls can be implemented reduce the risk
• Call 020 7244 1900 for more information.