Handle with care - The Individual
- Julie North
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
Manual handling risk assessment essentials - The Individual
It’s common to use the acronym TILE (task, individual, load and environment) as a framework for manual handling assessments. Over the next four weeks, we’ll share our tips for manual handling assessments using it. Week two is The Individual.
Consider if there are groups of people who might be especially at risk and if employees are physically suitable for the work.
Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive says the risk of injury should generally be regarded as unacceptable if the manual handling operations cannot be performed satisfactorily by most reasonably fit, healthy employees.
To help decide on the degree of risk, a straightforward likelihood versus severity matrix or terms such as high, medium or low are usually sufficient, if clear definitions are used.
Observing handling operations and talking to workers will help you. Your risk assessment should consider:
Strength: The range of strength between women and men can vary based on size and muscle, but individual strength can vary greatly, regardless of sex.
Age: Physical capability can decline with age and younger workers’ physical strength may not have fully developed. Younger workers may also be at increased risk due to lack of experience, skills and knowledge.
Health: Physical capability can be impacted by health conditions. Some may be more obvious like back problems, but less obvious conditions can include upper and lower limb problems and generic conditions like muscular dystrophy. You should also consider if workers have fluctuating conditions which means their ability to handle loads may vary.
New and expectant mothers: Hormonal and physical changes can make it harder for an expectant mother to handle loads and its common for them to experience postural problems. You should also consider new mothers returning to work, for example they may not be able to handle loads for some time if they have had a caesarean.
Individual capability: Simply put, can the person carry out the task safely? Is their height and reach enough for the task? Do they have knowledge of the loads? Do they know how to use handling aids properly?
Disabilities: For example, wheelchair users may not have the same reach as non-wheelchair users and some people may need reasonable adjustments such as extra time to complete tasks and support with training (such as extra time or being given training materials in different formats).
Enjoyed this? Check out more of our insights. And you can get to know our our Ergonomics team. And don't forget to read our week one guide ‘The Task’.
If you would like any further information on any of our risk assessment services get in touch by clicking on the 'Get in touch' button.
