Employers must protect their workers from the risk of injury from handling tasks. These filters will help you identify low-risk manual handling and decide if you need to carry out a more detailed risk assessment. If you are unsure, complete a more detailed assessment.

The law does not set specific weight limits, so the guidelines are not ‘safe limits’ for lifting and carrying. They use broad assumptions or generalisations where, if met, the risk of injury is considered to be low. But working outside the limits is likely to increase the risk of injury, which can lead to ill health. The guidelines are derived from lifting capacity data which show differences between men and women in the population (rather than individuals).

The filter for pushing and pulling looks at the posture of your workers during pushing or pulling operations.

Find more information here as well as downloadable guides