Manual handing is the lifting, carrying or lowering of a mass either by an individual worker, a team of workers or using a mechanical aid.

Workers are at risk from injury and ill-health resulting from manual handing operations that they carry out in the workplace.  Injuries occur when manual handling is carried out incorrectly and ill-health often results from repeated manual handling activities putting strain on the same muscles and joints over time.

In 2013/14 almost 25% of all injuries reported to the HSE were handling injuries resulting in an estimated 909,000 work days lost (6.6 days per injury).  9 out of 10 handling injuries reported were over-seven-day injuries meaning the worker involved was off-sick or unable to carry out their normal duties for at least 7 days. (Handling injuries in Great Britain, 2014 - HSE)

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations set out what employers are required to do to assess and control the risks of injury and ill-health posed by manual handling.

Viridis provides a range of manual handling compliance solutions including:

• Policy and procedure development and implementation
• Manual handling risk assessment
• Manual handling risk assessment training
• Manual handling operations compliance auditing