Level 2 Manual Handling Group Course

Description

Who this course is for

Anyone who lifts, lowers, pushes, pulls or carries at work. Warehouse and distribution staff, care workers, delivery drivers, kitchen and hospitality staff, retail, construction, cleaning, and office workers who move stock or equipment more often than their job description admits.

It is aimed at the people doing the handling. If you need someone who can carry out and record the assessments, that is Level 3 Risk Assessment.

What the law actually requires

This is where most providers overstate things, so it is worth being precise. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 set a hierarchy: avoid hazardous manual handling so far as is reasonably practicable, assess what you cannot avoid, and reduce the risk of injury so far as is reasonably practicable.

Training is not a standalone duty with a named course attached to it. It is one of the ways you reduce risk, and on its own it is the weakest one. A trolley, a better shelf height or a two-person rule removes risk; training asks people to cope with it.

That is exactly why this course is worth doing properly rather than ticking off. It is also why we run it at your premises with your own loads, because “lift with your legs” taught against a cardboard box in a hotel function room changes nothing on Monday morning.

What the course covers

• Manual handling terminology, and what counts as a manual handling operation
• The injuries poor handling causes, including the cumulative ones that arrive years later
• The principles for controlling manual handling risk, and how to apply them
• What a manual handling risk assessment is for, and how it benefits the business as well as the individual
• The law relating to manual handling
• Practical technique, using the loads your team actually handles

How you are assessed

A 20-question multiple choice paper, pass mark 15, after a minimum of three hours of training. The training time is a floor, not a target, and a group with genuinely awkward loads usually needs longer.

Your certificate

Valid for three years. The awarding organisation is named on the certificate. Ask us which body issues it if you need to check it against a client requirement.

How the group course works

Up to 16 learners, with a minimum of 12 places chargeable. Book 16 and have 12 attend and the unused places are refunded; have eight attend and you are charged for 12. If you have eight people who need it, it is worth finding four more who are due a refresher, because those places cost nothing extra.

If we are on site for a day, it is often sensible to look at what else your team is due. Level 2 Health and Safety and COSHH are the usual companions.

Where it fits with your risk assessment

Training your team does not discharge the assessment duty. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, recorded in writing once you employ five or more people, and manual handling operations you cannot avoid need assessing specifically.

We set out what an assessment has to contain, and the common ways they fail, in workplace risk assessment.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a manual handling course?

A minimum of three hours of training, followed by a 20-question exam. Groups handling awkward or heavy loads often need longer, and we would rather tell you that up front than rush it.

How long does the certificate last?

Three years.

Is manual handling training a legal requirement?

Not as a named course. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 require you to avoid hazardous handling where reasonably practicable, assess what you cannot avoid, and reduce the risk. Training is one way of reducing risk, and it is the option to reach for after you have looked at whether the lift can be removed or made easier.

What is the pass mark?

Fifteen correct answers out of 20.

Can it be done online?

The theory can, but the value of this course is the practical element with your own loads in your own space. An online certificate tells you someone watched a video. It does not tell you they can move a 20kg awkward load out of a low rack.

Do you train at our premises?

Yes, that is how this course is delivered. It means the technique is taught against the loads, shelving and vehicles your team actually uses.

How many people can attend?

Up to 16, with a minimum of 12 places chargeable.

Is there a weight limit for safe lifting?

No legal maximum weight exists. HSE publishes guideline filter figures that vary with how far the load is from the body and its height, but they are a screening tool, not a limit. Weight is only one factor alongside posture, distance, frequency, grip and the individual.

Tell us what your team lifts and how many people need training, and we will tell you what the course should look like. Call 0845 838 4643 or use the enquiry form.