Manual Handling in New Zealand: Assess and Reduce Task Risks

Manual handling includes lifting and carrying, but also lowering, pushing, pulling and moving a load by bodily force. The load might be a box, trolley, animal, person or piece of equipment. Risk can arise from force, repetition, awkward posture, long duration, poor access or the way the work is organised. Telling workers to “lift with their knees” cannot fix a task that is badly designed or repeatedly overloaded.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a person conducting a business or undertaking must manage work risks and meet its primary duty of care so far as reasonably practicable. Section 30 requires elimination of risk where reasonably practicable, then minimisation of what remains. WorkSafe New Zealand's manual-handling guidance explains how musculoskeletal harm can develop and why task design, equipment and worker input matter. This article explains a process for assessing work, not a safe lifting prescription for a particular person or load.

There is no single safe lifting weight

New Zealand law does not set one maximum weight that every worker may safely lift. WorkSafe's manual-task screening page says this expressly. The weight shown in a screening tool is not a statutory limit or a promise that a load below it is safe. Risk changes with reach distance, lift height, grip, repetition, pace, worker position, environmental conditions and whether the load moves unpredictably.

A light item handled hundreds of times can cause harm. A heavier object may be managed by redesigning the task so a worker does not need to lift it manually. A person-handling task has additional unpredictability and care requirements. Avoid generic tables that declare a number safe without knowing the task. The right question is what the work demands of the people doing it and which changes can remove or reduce those demands.

Identify the tasks that deserve attention

Observe normal work and less frequent activities such as deliveries, cleaning, maintenance and seasonal peaks. Ask workers which tasks cause discomfort, fatigue or workarounds. Review injury reports, near misses, absence patterns and previous assessments without waiting for someone to be injured. WorkSafe notes that physical load, work organisation, environment and psychosocial factors can contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Describe a task precisely. “Manual handling in the warehouse” is not enough. “One worker pulls loaded cages over a damaged floor for repeated trips during dispatch” identifies the movement, surface, repetition and time pressure. Consider who does the task, how long and often, where hands and feet are placed, whether the route is clear and what happens at the start and end of the movement. Record the real conditions rather than an ideal demonstration.

Look for high or sudden force, awkward or sustained posture, repeated movement and vibration. WorkSafe's NZRAPP guidance lists these characteristics for hazardous manual tasks. A task may combine several factors. Worker pain is a warning signal, but the absence of a complaint does not prove the task is low risk.

Use the right WorkSafe screening or assessment tool

WorkSafe offers manual-task screening tools for lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing, pulling, seated handling and repetitive upper-limb work. Screening helps decide whether a more detailed assessment is needed. NZMAC supports lifting, carrying and team-handling assessment. NZRAPP addresses many pushing and pulling tasks. WorkSafe also lists a tool for repetitive upper-limb work.

Choose the tool that fits the movement. NZRAPP is aimed at whole-body effort moving loads on unpowered wheeled equipment or sliding, rolling and similar movement without wheels. It is not a general score for every button press, powered vehicle or medical transfer. A colour or score helps prioritise further work; it does not legally certify a task or replace a competent assessment where the risk is complex. The tool's own instructions state its assumptions and limits.

When a task is high risk or people are being hurt, act on obvious opportunities to eliminate or reduce it while the more detailed assessment is arranged. An assessment is a means to choose controls, not a reason to keep a known harmful process unchanged.

Redesign before relying on technique training

First ask whether the manual movement is necessary. Can a load be delivered directly to where it is used? Can a conveyor, lift or palletiser remove handling? Can stock arrive in a size or container that suits the available equipment? WorkSafe's guidance gives examples of redesigning work and using automation to eliminate handling risk where reasonably practicable.

If a movement remains, reduce force and awkwardness through layout, height, storage and suitable mechanical aids. A trolley may help, but only if the floor, slope, wheels, route and load are appropriate. A lift table may help position work between comfortable heights, but workers must be able to use it during real production. Maintain equipment and design work so people are not forced to reach around obstacles or twist while supporting a load.

Administrative measures such as job variation, breaks, team planning and training can support stronger controls. They may not be enough if the main hazard remains. A short training session cannot make a badly designed repetitive task acceptable. Ask workers whether the changed method is practical at the actual pace and whether it has introduced a new risk.

Assess pushing and pulling as well as lifting

Pushing and pulling depend on starting force, sustained force, surface condition, wheel condition, slope, visibility and space to manoeuvre. A light trolley with defective wheels can be harder to move than a heavier trolley on a good floor. A narrow turning area may force twisting or sudden effort. The WorkSafe NZRAPP tool helps identify these factors and when prompt action is needed.

Inspect routes and equipment during the busiest shift. Repair floor defects, remove obstructions and choose equipment that works with the load and environment. If a task requires repeated high force, consider powered assistance or redesign. Training people to push rather than pull may be useful in some circumstances, but it should not stand in for a control of the force required.

Include work organisation and worker health

Rostering, productivity targets and understaffing can change the pace and number of manual movements. A method that works with two people may fail when one is reassigned. Fatigue can make a task harder to perform consistently. WorkSafe identifies work-organisation and psychosocial factors among contributors to musculoskeletal harm. Consider those factors without making assumptions about an individual worker's medical condition.

Ask workers for practical improvements. A person who handles the same product daily may know which shelf position creates an awkward reach or which container has a poor grip. Include temporary workers and contractors. If someone reports symptoms, arrange appropriate health support and review the task; do not diagnose the cause from a checklist. Adjust work through a competent process that respects privacy and the worker's circumstances.

Example: repeated unloading of boxes

A team unloads boxes from a vehicle floor to shelving. Each box is within a weight that management once considered “light,” but workers repeat the lift throughout the morning and must twist to reach the high shelf. The team observes the task and uses a suitable WorkSafe screening tool. It finds that repetition, reach and shelf height matter more than a single box weight.

The business changes the delivery and storage layout, uses a height-adjustable aid where suitable and moves fast-moving stock to accessible positions. It then checks the task during the next delivery peak and asks workers whether the new flow works. If the changes are insufficient, a more detailed assessment informs the next control. This example does not certify a specific load or lifting method.

Review the control, not merely the document

Reassess when the load, worker numbers, layout, equipment, pace or process changes. Check whether aids are maintained and actually used. Watch for a workaround that signals the aid is too slow or incompatible. Investigate repeated discomfort or injuries even if the written assessment still says “low risk.” Record what was changed, who was consulted and whether the work is safer in practice.

WorkSafe's older manual-handling code page warns that the old code was not updated to reflect HSWA 2015. It can contain useful practice, but cite current legislation and newer WorkSafe tools for present duties and methods. Do not copy an outdated legal statement into a new workplace procedure.

For a wider safety workflow, evaluate Complys New Zealand health and safety software. Ask the product team to demonstrate what the current platform does.