What Is a Manual Handling Risk Assessment?
It’s a structured look at a handling task to find out where the risk of injury lies and what will reduce it. Regulation 4 of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 requires employers to make a “suitable and sufficient” assessment of any hazardous manual handling that can’t reasonably be avoided, using the factors and questions in Schedule 1.
Those factors are the task, the load, the working environment and individual capability, plus clothing and PPE. Most people remember them as TILE. The free template below turns every Schedule 1 question into a checklist, with space for the problem, the fix, who does it and by when. If you’re new to the subject, start with our guide to what manual handling is. An assessment and good manual handling training work together: one makes the task safer, the other makes sure people follow the safe system.
Free template
Manual Handling Risk Assessment Template
A free, editable manual handling risk assessment template for UK employers and supervisors, built on the TILE factors in Schedule 1 of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, with an action plan, a review log and a worked example.
Preview
How to use this template
- First ask whether the handling can be avoided altogether: can the load be delivered to where it is used, or moved by a conveyor, pallet truck, hoist or other aid? If it can, do that. This template is for the handling you cannot avoid.
- Use one form for each task (for example, unloading a delivery or moving bins to the collection point), not one for the whole site.
- Check the task against HSE's simple risk filters in leaflet INDG143 first. If it falls inside them, a short record is usually enough. If it falls outside them, work through the full TILE checklist below.
- Watch the task being done the way it is really done, and talk to the people who do it. Ask what they find awkward, tiring or unpopular.
- For each question, answer Yes or No. For every Yes, note what the problem is and what could be changed. Then give each TILE factor a risk level (Low, Medium or High).
- Work through the controls in order: avoid the handling, use a mechanical aid, change the task, the load or the environment, and train people in the safe system of work. Training alone is not enough.
- If you have five or more employees, you must record the significant findings. Even if you have fewer, a written record makes it easier to review.
- Review the assessment if there is reason to think it is no longer valid or the task has changed significantly: new loads, new equipment, a new layout, a new worker, a pregnancy or someone returning from an injury, or after an incident or near miss.
- The worked example at the end is illustrative only. Base your own assessment on what you see in your workplace.
1. Assessment details
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Organisation | |
| Site / location | |
| Department / area | |
| Assessment reference number |
+ 4 more rows in the full template
Also in the full template
- 2. Task description
- 3. TILE checklist
- 4. Risk level per factor
- 5. Actions
- 6. Review log
- Worked example: unloading bottled water in a shop stockroom
When Do You Need a Manual Handling Risk Assessment?
Not for every lift. The law sets an order, and assessment is the second step, not the first.
- Can the handling be avoided? If the load can be delivered to where it’s used, or moved by a conveyor, pallet truck or hoist, do that. There’s nothing left to assess.
- Is the task low risk? HSE’s simple risk filters help you sort tasks. If a task falls inside them, you don’t normally need any other form of assessment, unless someone doing it may be at significant risk.
- Everything else needs an assessment. If you’re unsure, HSE says do a more detailed one.
The filters assume the load is easy to grasp with both hands, the conditions are reasonable and the person is in a stable position. These are the lifting and lowering values from HSE’s current INDG143:
| Where the hands are | Men, close to body | Men, arms extended | Women, close to body | Women, arms extended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above shoulder height | 10kg | 5kg | 7kg | 3kg |
| Shoulder to elbow height | 20kg | 10kg | 13kg | 7kg |
| Elbow to knuckle height | 25kg | 15kg | 16kg | 10kg |
| Knuckle to mid lower leg | 20kg | 10kg | 13kg | 7kg |
| Below mid lower leg | 10kg | 5kg | 7kg | 3kg |
If the hands pass through more than one zone, use the smallest figure. You need a more detailed assessment if the load is heavier than the filter, the hands go outside the zones, the lift involves twisting, it happens more often than once every two minutes, it’s done by a team, the weights or locations vary a lot, or the person may be at significant risk (for example new or expectant mothers, young or new workers, or someone with a health problem or recent injury). For handling while seated, the values are 5kg for men and 3kg for women. These figures are not safe limits or legal limits.
How to Do a Manual Handling Risk Assessment With TILE
Most businesses can do this themselves. HSE’s health and social care guidance makes the point that no one knows your business better, as long as the assessor is competent for the most complex tasks involved.
- Pick one task. “Unloading the Tuesday delivery”, not “the warehouse”.
- Watch it being done the way it’s really done, on a normal day. Note the weights, heights, distances and how often.
- Talk to the people who do it. HSE says workers and their representatives know the risks and often have practical solutions. Look for signs too: heavy breathing, sweating, complaints of fatigue, or reluctance to do a task.
- Work through TILE. Answer each Schedule 1 question for the Task, Individual, Load and Environment, then the other factors. Our TILE guide explains every question.
- Rate each factor Low, Medium or High, then decide the overall risk.
- Decide on controls, in order: avoid, mechanise, change the task, the load or the environment, then train people in the safe system of work.
- Record, act and review. Give every action an owner and a date, and check later that it worked.
It’s the same logic as the 5 steps to risk assessment, applied to one kind of hazard. For general hazards, use our risk assessment template instead.
Which HSE Tools Can Help?
For tasks outside the filters, HSE’s free toolkit for assessing MSDs scores the risk and shows where to focus:
- MAC (Manual handling assessment charts): for lifting, lowering, carrying and team handling, using a numerical score and a traffic-light system to show the level of risk.
- V-MAC (Variable MAC): used with the MAC where load weights vary, such as order picking and distribution.
- RAPP (Risk assessment of pushing and pulling): for loads that are pushed or pulled, on wheels or not.
- Full assessment checklists (CK5): HSE’s own checklists for lifting and carrying and for pushing and pulling, with worked examples. Our template follows the same layout.
The tools support your judgement. They don’t replace looking at the task and talking to the people who do it.
A Completed Example: Bottled Water in a Shop Stockroom
The template ends with a full worked example. In short: two assistants unload about 80 packs of bottled water (around 12kg each) twice a week and stack them from floor level to above head height.
| Factor | What the assessment found | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Task | Stooping to the bottom of the cage, reaching above shoulder height, twisting, frequent lifts | Stack water only between knee and shoulder height; turn the cage to face the shelves |
| Individual | One assistant is pregnant | Reallocate the task while her individual assessment is reviewed |
| Load | Slippery packs, handles that tear | Ask the supplier about a stronger handle; carry against the body with both hands |
| Environment | Raised threshold, cluttered aisle | Fit a ramp; clear the aisle before deliveries |
| Other | Sack truck out of use with a flat tyre | Repair it and add it to the monthly equipment check |
A 12kg pack is outside HSE’s filter for both men and women at floor level and above shoulder height, so the filter alone wasn’t enough. Notice that most fixes change the task or the load rather than asking people to lift more carefully.
How Do You Record and Review the Assessment?
If you have five or more employees, you must record the significant findings: the hazards, how people might be harmed and what you have in place to control the risks. HSE says the record should be simple and focused on controls. Share it with the people who do the task.
Regulation 4(2) requires you to review the assessment if there’s reason to suspect it’s no longer valid, or there’s been a significant change in the task. Good triggers are new loads, equipment or layouts, a new or pregnant worker, someone returning from injury, and any accident, near miss or complaint of pain. Few workplaces stay the same, so review regularly as well, and use the review log in the template to show it’s been done.
What to Do Next
This week, download the template and assess the one handling task your team grumbles about most. Do it with the people who do the job, and fix one thing before the week is out. Then make sure everyone who handles loads knows how to apply TILE and good technique: our online manual handling training covers both, with a certificate on completion and team licences to track progress.