Manual Handling Policy
Scope of this chapter
This guidance is for employees who deal with children with social, emotional and mental health needs to ensure safe working practices are in place. This includes lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, supporting, transporting and carrying.
This policy also offers guidance which is more general to the wider working environment (school, offices, maintenance etc).
Related guidance
The Caldecott Foundation recognises that, owing to the nature of the work undertaken in the execution of its duties, some employees may be exposed to the risk of injury due to moving and handling of children. This policy relates specifically to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 refer to the manual handling of animate or inanimate loads by human effort. This includes lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, supporting, transporting, and carrying.
The Caldecott Foundation will comply with the Manual Handling Operations Regulations (“the Regulations”) 1992 (as amended), which place a requirement on the employer and employee to reduce the hazards to health associated with the manual handling of loads. Accordingly, the Foundation will:
- Avoid the need for hazardous manual handling operations;
- Design and provide safe and ergonomically suitable workplace environments;
- Assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling that cannot be avoided and eliminate or reduce these to a tolerable level;
- Introduce appropriate measures to reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable;
- Provide equipment to enable manual handling activities to be undertaken safely;
- Provide suitable and sufficient supervision, training, (including annual refresher training), and information to all adults involved in manual handling operations.
The objective of this policy is to eliminate as far as possible the risk of injury to those persons who may be involved in manual handling.
Consideration must always be sought to minimise the risk from Manual Handling by such methods as eliminating, automating, mechanising or splitting the load into more manageable units.
- The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ("the Act"), sets out the general duties which employers have towards employees and members of the public, and employees have to themselves and to each other. These duties are qualified in the Act by the principle of 'so far as is reasonably practicable'. In other words, an employer does not have to take measures to avoid or reduce the risk if they are technically impossible or if the time, trouble or cost of the measures would be grossly disproportionate to the risk;
- The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, generally make more explicit what employers are required to do to manage Health and Safety under the Act. Like the Act, they apply to every work activity. The main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment;
- Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant findings of the risk assessment.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations,1992 (as amended), seek to prevent injury from the manual handling of loads. They establish a clear hierarchy of measures for dealing with risks from manual handling.
- Avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as reasonably practicable;
- Assess any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided; and
- Reduce the risk of injury so far as reasonably practicable.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended) also require consideration to be given to the Task, the Individual, the Load and the Environment (TILE).
There is an overall responsibility for all manual handling operations are assessed and adequately controlled. To this end the following action is required:
- All manual handling operations that may require a risk assessment are identified;
- Risk assessments are undertaken and any risk reduction measures identified and implemented;
- All adults who are required to undertake manual handling operations are identified and provided with appropriate training and information, necessary to allow them to carry out the manual handling task allotted to them (Training and information should be updated as necessary);
- Employees are made aware of this policy and associated guidance and that they understand it and are able to comply with it;
- Prompt action is taken to reduce any manual handling hazards and risks identified by employees;
- Results of risk assessments are recorded;
- Risk assessments are reviewed on an on-going basis annually or; when the work changes significantly, following an accident or case of ill health, when the validity of the assessment is suspected or when departmental policy dictates;
- All manual handling accidents and injuries are reported in accordance with the company RIDDOR policy.
In the Caldecott Foundation children’s homes and boarding provision, the Health & Safety appointed person is the Registered Manager. As part of their overall responsibilities, the Registered Manager shall carry out daily, weekly and monthly checks as part of their Health & Safety monitoring duties. They shall:
- Monitor the effectiveness of any control measures and make recommendations as necessary;
- In particular the Health and Safety Appointed Person is to:
- Periodically inspect risk assessment documentation to verify that suitable and sufficient assessments are in place or in need of review;
- Ensure that handling equipment is suitable for use, maintained and that problems with equipment are promptly reported and the necessary action taken, and that employees are trained in its safe use. Handling equipment found to be below the appropriate standard for its type of use is to be taken out of use pending repair or replacement;
- Liaise with Heads of Departments, Registered Managers and Line Managers to verify that suitable working practices have been adopted.
Employees must:
- Follow appropriate systems of work laid down for their safety;
- Make full and proper use of equipment provided for their safety;
- Co-operate with their employer on health and safety matters;
- Report any defects in systems, practices or equipment;
- Co-operate with their employer in undertaking manual handling risk assessments;
- Attend training when required to do so;
- Take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their activities;
- Inform their line manager when they believe that there is a risk of injury to health from a manual handling activity;
- Inform their line manager when they suspect the risk assessment is no longer valid;
- Inform their line manager of any health problem or condition that might affect their ability to handle loads safely.
If the general risk assessment carried out under the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 indicates a possibility of injury from manual handling operations, a more detailed specific risk assessment must be made under the Regulations. The first consideration is whether the manual handling operation can be avoided altogether. It may not be necessary to assess the risk in great detail, particularly if the operations can easily be avoided or the appropriate steps to reduce any risk of injury to the lowest level reasonably practicable are obvious.
The Regulations require that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment must be carried out when hazardous manual handling is unavoidable. The assessment should identify the hazardous manual handling activities, who might be harmed, the types and the severity of reasonably foreseeable worst case injuries and the assessment should identify an appropriate range of measures for reducing the risk of injury.
Employees are not to try and lift items that are not within their capabilities but should call the maintenance department for assistance.
Risk Assessment and planning can eliminate almost every potential hazard associated with the moving and handling of children. Where assessments indicate that moving and handling cannot be avoided, a detailed assessment of identified risks and safe manual handling systems MUST be undertaken and recorded. This process should be undertaken alongside the parent/carer, where appropriate, or the child’s social worker to ensure both The Caldecott Foundation and the parent/carer or social worker understand and adhere to the assessment.
Hazardous moving and handling of children is eliminated in all but exceptional or life threatening situations. Children should be encouraged to assist with their own mobility, making their own decisions to move, with support, whenever possible.
All moving and handling of a child should be undertaken in a caring, sensitive manner, respecting their dignity at all times.
To implement a safer Moving and Handling Policy in accordance with identified legislation.
To minimise risks of injury from moving and handling activities arising from the execution of Caldecott Foundation’s duties.
To minimise muscular-skeletal problems sustained by employees through the moving and handling of children.
The establishment of safer working environments for all employees undertaking duties involving moving and handling.
To ensure employees assess and control risks arising from moving and handling.
The Caldecott Foundation employees only use equipment that has been identified by the Occupational Therapy Department and confirmed its suitability if this is necessary for any individual children with specific needs.
The Caldecott Foundation only use equipment that has been appropriately maintained in accordance with manufacturer's instructions.
To ensure that risks to children are minimised and that the highest quality of care is provided.
To ensure that The Caldecott Foundation appoints competent persons to deliver relevant training.
To ensure employees have appropriate skills and knowledge of safe working practices.
To ensure the maintenance of training records.
To ensure a systematic audit of safe systems of work.
Manual Handling Training will be included in the annual Health and Safety Training that will be undertaken by adults on an annual basis.
Last Updated: November 19, 2022
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