What are the Weight Lifting Limits for Males and Females
There are no legally binding weight limits.However Regulation
4(1)of theManual Handling Operations.
Regulations 1992 sets safety standards formanual handling.
Your employer must:
• avoid the need formanual handling as far as is reasonably
practicable;
• where that is not possible,assess the risk of injury to
employees; and
• reduce the risk of injury from manual handling as far as is
reasonably practicable.
Avoiding the Need for Manual Handling
Your employer must try to eliminate the need formanual lifting.
If this is not possible your employer
should consider usingmechanical lifting, for example by using a
fork lift truck.
Assessing the Risk of Injuries to Employees
Under the 1992 Regulations your employermust carry out a risk
assessment.Thismust take into
account the tasks; the loads involved; the working environment;
an individual’s capacity; and whether movement is hindered by
personal protective equipment or clothing.
Reducing the Risk of Injury
Your employer must reduce the risk from lifting as far as is
reasonably practicable.This means reducing
the risk until the cost of further precautions–either in time,
trouble ormoney–outweighs the
benefits.Your employermust consider usingmechanical aids.Even
smallmeasures such as a sack truck can reduce the risk of
injury.
Your employer should also consider training in lifting
technique.This should look at:
• how to recognise potentially harmfulmanual lifts;
• training in good handling technique;
• usingmechanical aids;
• how to use any safety systems in place for preventing
injury.