I think most people inwardly groan at the mention of Manual Handling Training; and I don’t really blame them. I’ve come across many people who have endured years of annual training which goes on for hours and is totally irrelevant to the type of lifting they do.
The ‘bad’ news is – you have to do it! The regulations require employers to reduce the risk of harm from hazardous manual handling; but if you can’t then you should provide training.
Ok so what is hazardous, this is a really difficult question to answer obviously what would be hazardous to me (I’m a bit of weakling) may not be hazardous to a strapping young man (please do let me know if you find one of these up for grabs!). The best way to define this is if you cannot reduce lifting activities below the HSE guideline weights, then you should provide training. (For HSE Guidance Weights – http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg143.pdf (see page 8).
If you have defined that you do need to undertake training make sure it a) works for your business and that it gets across the messages you want it to, b) that it is specific to your needs and demonstrates the lifting your employees do (easiest way to turn off your delegates is to talk about moving boxes of photocopier paper when they move steel bars), c) you get your message/s across and then quit it doesn’t mean training is more thorough if it goes on a long time and finally, d) try to add a little proof of learning this ensures your audience stay tuned in and also you can prove that they have taken part.