A. The Manual Handling Assessment Charts (MAC) is a tool to help in the identification of common risk factors in lifting, carrying and team handling operations. The MAC helps the assessor to identify the tasks that need improvement first.
A. HSE is working with other government departments and stakeholders to achieve the ill-health reduction targets set out in the national occupational health strategy, Securing Health Together. Work related musculoskeletal disorders are one of the biggest contributors to occupational ill-health and so HSC/E have set targets to reduce its incidence by 2010 with an interim measure in 2004. The MAC was conceived to assist regulatory inspectors develop their knowledge and confidence in tackling manual handling issues. By helping inspectors identify those tasks that are in most need of improvement, it should contribute to achieving the targets.
A. The MAC is available as a free leaflet for single copies and priced for multiple copies, from HSE books. The MAC can also be printed from this website.
A. Employers, safety officers and others may find the MAC useful when completing the risk assessment checklist for handling situations, provided in the guidance on MHOR. However the MAC is not appropriate for all manual handling operations, and so may not comprise a fully ‘suitable and sufficient' risk assessment if relied on alone. A risk assessment will normally need to take account of additional factors such as an individual's health problems or the need for special information and training. The guidance on the MHOR sets out in detail the requirements of an assessment. People with knowledge and experience of the handling operations, industry specific guidance and specialist advice, may also help in completing an assessment. Further information can be found at the MSD site
A. The total scores should be used to assist the assessor with their prioritisation of remedial actions. The scores provide an indication of which manual handling tasks require attention first. The scores should only be used for comparison purposes since the total scores do not relate to objective action levels. The scores can also be used as a way of evaluating potential improvements. The most effective improvements will bring about the highest reduction in the score.
A. HSE is well aware of the importance of the role of individual and also psychosocial factors. Although not explicitly included within the flow charts, the user is prompted to consider individual and psychosocial factors in the score sheet. Due to space restrictions imposed on the MAC some risks have not been included within the flow chart, which is why it may not be a ‘suitable and sufficient' risk assessment on its own. The role of psychosocial and individual factors is covered more thoroughly within this website.
A. Ideally both, but after some experience of using the MAC you should be able to judge which of the task elements poses the greater risk.
A. L23 provides weight reduction factors for team lifting (two thirds for two person lift etc.) but nothing for team carrying. There has been work on team stretcher carrying but team carrying is more specialised than could be conveniently included in the MAC. Therefore, for simplicity and ease of use of the MAC, it was decided to use a flow chart for team handling that incorporates the lifting data.
A. Initially consideration was given to providing a separate graph for males and females. However, for simplicity the load weight / frequency graphs presented are applicable to males and females.
A. The figures in L23 and the lifting graph in the MAC are based on the same data set (Snook and Ciriello, 91), but have different uses. The figures in L23 are designed to inform the user of when a more detailed assessment is required and uses data that will provide a reasonable level of protection to 95% of the working population.
The MAC is designed to help the user identify high risk manual handling operations. The load/frequency graph has been included to show how load, weight and repetition affect the degree of risk during manual handling. This is based on the lifting capabilities of the working population.
A. There is no reference to biomechanical limits in the MAC in order to keep the booklet concise and user friendly. However the load/frequency data used is based on Snook and Ciriello's (1991) psychophysical studies.
A. Most patient handling activities are known to pose at least some risk of MSD to workers. Although the risk assessment principles embodied in the MAC apply to all handling situations, it should be noted that the MAC was not designed with patient handling in mind, and therefore may not be appropriate for patient handling risk assessments. The postures assumed, direction of forces applied, and level of control by workers may differ substantially between typical patient handling and the handling of inanimate objects. In addition, patient handling risk assessments require an additional set of patient related factors to be considered such as the ability of the patient to co-operate and balance, as well as tendencies towards aggressive behaviour.
Snook SH and Ciriello VM, (1991), The design of manual handling tasks: Revised tables of maximum acceptable weights and forces, Ergonomics 34, 1197-1213.
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