Manual Handling Operations Regulations

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations apply to a wide range of operations including lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling and carrying.

The regulations establish a clear hierarchy of measures that employers should follow:

• Avoid the need for hazardous manual handling operations.
• Make a suitable and sufficient assessment of any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided.
• Reduce the risk of injury from those operations so far as is reasonably practicable.

HSE publication Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended): Guidance on the Regulation describes what employers need to do to comply with the Regulations. The publication has been revised with improvements to the knowledge of the risks from manual handling and how to avoid them.