Correct manual handling techniques

Fire and rescue services must

• Make a suitable and sufficient assessment of manual handling operations that involve a risk of injury
• Ensure all personnel are aware of the duty to carry out a risk assessment on manual handling tasks
• Ensure all personnel are aware of their responsibility to use the safe system of manual handling provided

Fire and rescue services should

• Consider the provision of or access to engineering controls that can assist with manual handling tasks

All personnel should

• Consider the task, individual capabilities, load and environment (TILE) when carrying out risk assessments for manual handling
• Consider using machinery or other equipment to assist with manual handling

Incident commanders should

• Consider task rotation when personnel are carrying out manual handling tasks
• Request additional or specialist resources to assist with manual handling tasks
• Ensure personnel adopt the provided safe system of manual handling