Course Duration: 35+ minutes
Manual handling injuries are common in industrial workplaces. Every lift, carry, push or pull brings a risk of back injury and other musculoskeletal problems. Training helps, but on its own it rarely changes behaviour for long.
This IIRSM-approved Manual Handling in Industry For Managers course helps managers deal with those risks in a practical, straightforward way. It shows them how to spot unsafe handling, give clear, constructive feedback and understand why poor handling practices persist.
| Course Duration | 35+ minutes |
|---|---|
| Approval body | IIRSM |
| Format | Fully online |
| Assessment | Multiple choice |
| Certification | Same-day digital certificate |
| Certificate Valid For | 3 years |
This course is for managers and supervisors responsible for manual handling in industrial workplaces. It is relevant across warehousing, manufacturing, logistics, distribution and any setting where manual handling is a part of normal daily work.
It is suitable for:
The Manual Handling in Industry – For Managers course contains the following sections:
Understand the scale of organisational risk from manual handling, including injury, financial and legal consequences. Recognise why safe technique training alone is not enough and why managers play a vital role in reinforcing safe behaviour.
Recognise the stressful postures that cause back injuries and how load distance, bending and twisting increase spinal forces. See how slips, trips, hand injuries and musculoskeletal disorders arise during routine handling.
Know what PPE to wear before handling and why each item protects against specific injuries. Understand how to check the work area and the load for hazards before any lift begins.
Understand how to position feet shoulder-width apart with one foot forward for stability in two directions. See how to reposition to a corner angle when the load restricts normal foot placement.
Understand why a bent back adds upper body weight to the spinal load and increases leverage. Recognise the correct technique: bend knees, keep head upright and maintain a straight back when lifting and lowering.
Understand how horizontal distance from the body multiplies the force on the back. Learn the correct technique for picking up, carrying and setting down loads as close to the body as possible.
Recognise that a load’s centre of gravity can sit away from the body even when the load appears close. Understand how to rotate loads and secure a good grip before taking any weight.
Understand why twisting at the waist with feet planted adds substantial forces to the lower back. Learn to move feet rather than twist, and to use pushing and pulling to avoid overstretching.
Recognise that heavy, bulky or unstable loads should be split and lifted individually to reduce strain on the back. Understand that load weight, size and stability all affect whether splitting is needed.
Understand that stacked loads must be balanced and secure to protect workers and prevent stock damage. Recognise that checking stacked loads takes only seconds and is a basic final check.
Training alone rarely produces lasting improvements in worker behaviour. Understand why workplace pressures cause workers to revert to old habits. Recognise that the manager’s active role in providing feedback is essential.
Constructive feedback changes behaviour without creating a policing culture. Learn a four-step method: give feedback immediately, be specific about the behaviour, acknowledge correct behaviour first and ask open questions.
Persistent unsafe behaviour often has a structural cause that feedback alone cannot fix. Learn to ask “why” and follow the causal chain to the root problem so it can be removed.
By completing this training, managers will be able to:
The course certificate includes:
An IIRSM-approved course certificate will be available for download and printing instantly upon course completion.
Users must complete a final theory test before earning their certificate.
The end-of-course test is:
A score of 80% is required to pass.
Manual handling injuries are among the most common causes of workplace harm in industrial environments. Musculoskeletal disorders account for more than a quarter of work-related ill health in Great Britain. These injuries cause lasting physical harm to workers. They also drive significant costs through absenteeism, reduced productivity and staff turnover.
Lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling loads are routine operations in warehousing, manufacturing, logistics and distribution. Bending at the waist, twisting with feet planted and holding loads at arm’s length all increase force on the back. These stressful postures are common contributors to manual handling injuries. Managers who cannot recognise them leave unsafe techniques uncorrected.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 have required employers to manage these risks since 1993. Employers must avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable. They must assess and reduce the risk where avoidance is not possible.
In practice, manual handling injuries persist despite training and legal duties. The most common failure points are:
This course gives managers practical ways to deal with those problems. It helps them spot unsafe handling, respond constructively and investigate why the same issues keep happening. This makes it more likely that training will lead to safer handling in everyday work.
Beyond individual manager competence, this training supports wider organisational control of manual handling risk by:
Give your managers the skills to recognise unsafe behaviour and respond constructively. Help them investigate the root causes that training alone cannot fix. Enrol your management team today and build the consistent safety standards your organisation needs.
