Manual handling - team lifting

When using more than one person to assist with the manual handling of loads it could, if carried out incorrectly, lead to accidents involving serious personal injuries.

Managing the risks

To help you to identify the hazards associated with carrying out the movement of loads using teams of two or more people and the appropriate ways of controlling them, use our example Risk Assessment - Manual Handling - Team Lifting. It covers the generic hazards associated with this type of activity and suggests control measures to reduce risks to an acceptable level. You should ensure that your document only addresses “significant” hazards, i.e. any that could, and more importantly are likely to, cause an accident or injury.

Make your instructions clear

Don’t include activities in your document that simply don’t need to be there. Work to the principle that if there is any chance of your staff being unaware of the safe way of doing something, then you will need to make it clear in your document. Finally, always ensure that any control measures you identify and follow are decided upon the principle of “so far as is reasonably practicable”.

Note. The list of potential hazards is not exhaustive. However, for your risk assessment to be considered suitable and sufficient in the eyes of the law it must accurately reflect the “significant” hazards found when carrying out team lifting operations.

Note. This risk assessment only deals with the generic risks associated with this type of activity. As loads will vary in weight and size, as will the individual’s lifting capabilities, you should ensure that your assessment deals specifically with the items that are required to be handled. You should also take into account the work environment and ensure that it is suitable for the manual handling operation to take place.