Manual handling - no need to label everything

Last year, the HSE carried out an administrative burdens exercise and discovered that part of the Manual Handling regulations (regulation 4 (1)(b)) could be interpreted as meaning employers had to label every load that might be carried by one of their workers. This is not true.

HSE issued additional guidance which explains that workers only need to be told the weight of loads they have to carry if, after getting rid of as many risks as possible, some loads still remain that might cause an injury or are difficult to handle.

However, even then there is no requirement to label the load if that is impracticable. The information could be provided during training, or put up a notice, or given on a pocket card. Only if it is practicable to provide the weight information on the load do you need to do so.