Moving and handling is any action required as part of a person’s job that involves movement of a person or an object. This includes any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or bodily force.

Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD’s) are the most common form of work related ill health in the United Kingdom, suffering and hardship to individual workers, and a huge cost to employers.

Although a Buckinghamshire Council (BC) wide approach has been established, detailed arrangements for controlling manual handling risks at service level remain the responsibility of the Heads of Service and Headteachers.

Social care and service user homes and schools have to balance the health and safety of employees with the needs of the service users / pupil’s. If the risks are managed properly, this balance can be achieved without exposing employees and others to an unacceptable level of risk from the manual lifting and moving of people.

This policy covers all moving and handling of people (Service Users and Pupils) in social care / home care and educational environments. It applies to all members of BC staff who assist in the moving and handling of people. Managers are responsible for these staff, volunteers, agency workers and the safety of the assisted person. If agency workers are used although we are not their employer we have a duty to ensure that they have relevant information to enable them to carry out the moving and handling of people safely.   

This policy advises managers and staff of BC of the procedures required to manage the safe moving and handling of individuals we support, and to reduce to the lowest practicable level the risk of musculoskeletal disorders associated with moving and handling activities.

The Policy outlines how BC will meet its responsibilities under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, as amended, and sets out the principles and strategies of risk assessment and management, to ensure that service users / pupils, moving and handling is avoided or made as safe as is reasonably practicable

2.1.     POLICY VALUES

• It is recognised that a duty of care exists to service users / pupils and members of staff and agency workers

• Each person who needs assistance with moving and handling will be individually assessed by a competent person taking into account their individual needs, capabilities and circumstances. A balanced approach will be followed which considers the person’s human rights as well as the need to protect staff and service users from injury.

• As part of the risk assessment, the risks and benefits to the person will be balanced against the need for staff safety. The rehabilitation and developmental needs of the person will also be considered as part of this process.

• The person and, where appropriate, those acting on their behalf, will be actively involved in the moving and handling risk assessment and decision making process.

• A problem solving approach will be adopted which considers the use of a variety of handling methods and equipment to reduce the risk of injury. The independence of the person will be encouraged at all times. Where a decision is made in respect of someone who lacks capacity, it will be taken in their best interests. (Mental Capacity Act 2007).

• The moving and handling risk assessment will identify the number of staff required to safely move a person.

• Following a moving and handling risk assessment, a written individual plan will be produced which will be reviewed at appropriate intervals or when circumstances change. A copy of the person’s moving and handling care plan in addition to the moving and handling assessment should be available for staff and carers for reference as per their local guidance.

• Manual lifting of service users / pupils will be assessed and may require mitigation or elimination. Hoists, sliding aids and other specialised equipment must be used whenever possible but in some situations manual lifting by trained staff may be required.

• A fire evacuation procedure is available in the workplace refer to Fire Policy 3.3 Part D Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) which is available under health and safety policies on the Intranet and Schools Web. It’s a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 that PEEPS are in place to ensure safe evacuation for persons with limited mobility. This does not permit service users to be left in a temporary place of safety awaiting the fire service, but must include their evacuation to a permanent safe place or to outside the building.

• Under the Equalities Act 2010, BC have a legal duty not to discriminate against disabled persons and to take reasonable steps to avoid placing disabled persons at a substantial disadvantage compared to that of the non- disabled.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 ( HSAWA) requires employers to ensure the health and safety and welfare of employees and others who may be affected , so far as is reasonably practicable.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 extends the employer’s duties to:

• carry out risk assessments;
• make arrangements to implement the necessary control measures;
• appoint competent people;
• arrange for appropriate information and training to be provided;
• arrange for appropriate monitoring and review

Employees also have responsibilities under the above legislation to:

• follow appropriate systems of work laid down for their safety;
• make proper use of equipment provided for their safety, in accordance with training received;
• co-operate with their employer on health and safety matters;
• inform their employer if they identify hazardous handling activities;
• take care to ensure that their activities do not put others at risk

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended 2002) require employers to:

• avoid hazardous manual handling operations as far as is reasonably practicable;
• reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling, as far as is reasonably practicable
• assess any hazardous manual handling operation that cannot be avoided, taking into account the Acronym TILE :
• Task
• Individual capacity
• Load
• Environment

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 requires employers to ensure that all work equipment, e.g. electric and portable hoists, slings, slide sheets etc. provided for use at work is:

• suitable for the intended use;
• safe for use;
• maintained in a safe and hygienic condition;
• inspected to ensure this remains the case;
• used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training

Lifting Operation and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 requires the employer to ensure that all lifting equipment is:

• sufficiently strong, stable and suitable for the proposed use;
• positioned or installed to prevent the risk of injury;
• visibly marked with safe working loads; accessories such as slings must be similarly marked;

Equipment and accessories that are used for lifting people should be thoroughly examined at six monthly intervals by a competent person (Someone with sufficient training, experience and knowledge to undertake a particular task). BS EN 10535 also requires hoists for the transfer of disabled persons to be load tested to its maximum weight every 12 months by a competent person.  

• In the case of maintenance issues regarding wheelchairs or other lifting equipment clients/ parents/carers should be informed. Privately owned wheelchairs are the responsibility of the individual service user/pupil;
• Label as “do not use” and withdraw from use any equipment which they feel is unsafe for use, faulty or damaged.

Other legislation that must be taken into account:

• The Human Rights Act 1998
• The Education Act 2011
• Equality Act 2010
• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1990

Accidents / incidents near misses

All accidents and violent incidents to staff / clients / pupils must be reported in accordance with (RIDDOR) the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. It is also good practice to report near misses. The Council’s online incident reporting system AssessNet can be used for this purpose.  It’s the responsibility of Managers/ Headteachers etc. to ensure that incidents are recorded correctly.

BC Incident Reporting Policy 3.1 gives further information on accident reporting and can be found on the Schools Web/Intranet. 

3.1    DEFINITIONS

Assessment - a structured way of recognising and analysing risks and identifying practical solutions; the aim of the assessment is to use an ergonomics approach involving adapting the task to the worker.

Hazard - the potential to cause harm.

Risk - risk is the likelihood that a person may be harmed or suffers adverse health effects if exposed to a hazard.

Load - a moveable object, which may include a person, hoist, standing frame etc.

Moving and Handling (Manual Handling) - any transporting or supporting a load (including lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or bodily force.

Disabled person: The Equalities Act 2010 defines a disabled person as a person with a disability. A person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

Reasonably Practicable: the degree of risk in a particular environment or activity can be balanced against the time, trouble, cost and physical difficulty of taking measures to avoid the risk.

4.1    Chief Executive Officer, Chair of Governors

The Chief Executive Officer, Chair of Governors/Trust  has overall responsibility for  ensuring that the organisation / School  discharges its health and safety responsibilities  as outlined within the Corporate Health and Safety Policy  and Schools Health and Safety Policy.

4.2    Executive Directors within Business Units and Headteachers

Executive Directors and Headteachers are responsible for ensuring that:

• In service planning, high risk manual handling and people handling activities carried out by employees is avoided as far as is reasonably practicable;
• Where there is the risk of injury from unavoidable manual handling and people handling operations it is assessed;
• With the risk of injury being  reduced so far as is reasonably practicable;
• Risk assessments to be  reviewed at appropriate intervals, when changes occur;
• Appropriate training, information and supervision is provided to employees;
• Staffing levels/ratios to be adequate to ensure safe handling
• Suitable equipment is provided and maintained for manual handling and people handling.

4.3    Responsibilities of Managers/ Senior Leadership Teams

All Managers and Senior Leadership Teams have the responsibility, for ensuring that arrangements are made and that policies are implemented. This includes:

• being aware of the moving and handling tasks that occur within their areas of responsibility and eliminating the risk of manual handling tasks where possible;
• ensuring that all staff involved in the moving and handling of people are appropriately trained with annual updates;
• schools that have pupils with physical disabilities must appoint a Load Risk Assessor who will be able to identify and assess potentially hazardous moving and handling operations; this person may be the SENCO (Special Education Needs Coordinator) or another appropriate person;
• Managers and disciplines involved in the procurement and introduction of equipment into the workplace (e.g. an Occupational Therapist prescribing particular seating for a service user/ pupil) shall take account of any handling risks that may be associated with the equipment;
• supervising staff to ensure that safe working practices are being followed and that equipment is being used where applicable;
• ensuring that adequate staffing levels are maintained to meet moving and handling requirements;
• Making sure that employees wear appropriate clothing and footwear for moving and handling. In some situations this may include personal protective equipment e.g. gloves, aprons and appropriate footwear;
• all new staff who carry out the safe moving of people must attend a moving and handling course, as part of their formal induction programme, before commencement of moving and handling duties and tasks in the workplace; with records being retained;
• It the responsibility of agencies who procure staff to carry out people handling activities on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council. to ensure that these staff are fully trained in the moving and handling of people and that this training is current.
• attending training and acting as a role model for staff;
• ensuring compliance with all relevant Health & Safety Legislation i.e. Health & Safety at Work Act etc. 1974, Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulation 1999 , etc. and any other relevant legislation i.e. Mental Capacity Act 2007, Human Rights 1998, etc.

4.4    Responsibilities of Employees

Employees have a legal duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions. Staff must therefore:

• adhere to this policy and any associated risk assessments;
• co-operate with their Line Manager in performing risk assessments for moving and handling (if deemed competent);
• not interfere with or misuse any equipment or aids that have been provided;
• ensure that equipment is only to be used if they have been trained in its use;
• attend moving and handling training including updates for their area of work and to follow training and instructions provided e.g. moving and handling protocols, person handling plans and guidance from training courses;
• attend moving and handling training including updates for their area of work;
• look out for hazards and report any unsafe situation to their Manager/ Headteacher this includes things such as:
• Faulty equipment – which should be labelled and taken out of use. This must be reported to Mangers/ Headteachers immediately who will take appropriate action;
• Unsafe working practices:
• High risk handling procedures:;
• Changes in clients/pupils needs: Environmental problems (which can include accessibility to equipment; report pregnancy or any medical conditions, which may affect their ability to perform moving and handling to their Manager/Headteacher; a new and expectant mothers risk assessment is required at this stage refer to health and safety policy 2.2
• ensure their clothing and footwear is appropriate for their work;
• ensure that equipment is kept suitably clean to prevent any spread of infection;
• accident, incident, near misses are to be reported to your Line Manager / Headteacher for input to the Buckinghamshire Council accident recording system AssessNet;
• follow local safe working practice;

4.5    Responsibilities of Manual Handling/Moving and Handling Co-ordinator/ Advisor or Equivalent are to:

• support and promote the Moving and Handling Policy for assisting service uses / pupils with impaired mobility;
• design, co-ordinate and, where necessary, provide relevant manual handling/people handling/moving and handling training programmes for specific groups of staff;
• Occupational Therapists (OT) By virtue of their training and competency may be competent to undertake the duty of the MHMA (Manual Handling Management Advisor) after extra training themselves, and may be able to conduct the necessary risk assessments for all aspects of moving and handling of clients/ pupils.
• within educational settings it’s the responsibility of the school to engage professionals to conduct the moving and handling risk assessment;
• provide additional on-site training as required, to ensure that skills taught in training are translated into the workplace/work practices;
• maintain training records;
• provide support and advice to managers when requested, e.g. assist in assessments for patients with complex handling needs;
• arrange update training for all manual handling/moving and handling instructors in accordance with the findings of risk assessment and in line with best practice;
• assist with the assessment of handling equipment prior to purchase, as required;
• maintain personal professional development and ensure skills are updated.

4.6.     Responsibilities of the SEN Manager Service Delivery & SEN Team are to:

• ensure that adequate funds are available for: staff, equipment and maintenance, training and environmental alterations for moving and handling operations so far as is reasonably practicable;
• be responsible for providing specialist equipment on a priority basis on receipt of Therapists and/or the Specialist Manual Handling Consultant’s report/risk assessment;
• provide funding for servicing of equipment for those maintained schools

4.7.    Responsibilities of the Schools Commissioning Project Officer, School Commissioning, Children’s Services:

• arrange for necessary adaptations to the premises on receipt of instruction from SEN Manager or Specialist Teacher/ Occupational Therapists;
• arrange with a surveyor to visit the School to assess the requested works and to establish if the proposed adaptations can be implemented. If reasonable adaptation is required then School Commissioning and Property Services will progress the works

Services involved in engaging service providers and contractors must satisfy themselves that each provider has the necessary resources and arrangements in place to work safely when providing services to or on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council. Each service area is responsible for developing procurement and monitoring systems or quality assurance systems appropriate to the service delivery required.

All providers must comply with the Health and Safety legislation applicable to their undertaking and liaise with service area managers to address specific risks where identified in the monitoring process. Staff responsible for monitoring standards on behalf of BC should attend appropriate training to recognise significant risks relating to moving and handling and seek further advice.

Managers/ Headteachers are responsible for ensuring service providers follow safe systems of work and bring to the provider’s attention any unsafe practices. All staff must report to their Line Manager significant health and safety hazards they observe in the services supplied by contractors and suppliers.

5.1     The County Specialist Manual Handling Consultant Applicable to Educational Settings will:

• develop and deliver a training programme for all staff directly involved in pupil handling, including annual updates when requested by the school;
• develop and deliver further training for Load Risk Assessors/SENCO’s or other appropriate persons, to include pupil handling risk assessment and problem solving;
• provide support and advice to Load Risk Assessors/SENCO’s or other appropriate persons, by telephone or other means;
• undertake an individual moving and handling assessment for pupils with complex moving and handling needs in conjunction with a health professional when requested by the Local Authority;
• liaise with the Occupational Therapist / Physio and where appropriate attend the assessment of the manual handling assessment; an information sheet on the pupils condition and history to be undertaken before the assessment;
• request the school to contact the pupil’s parent(s)/guardian(s) so that they can be present whilst the assessment is undertaken;
• provide a report of the assessment to the school, SEN Team identifying the action required and full details of suppliers where additional equipment may be sourced;
• provide specific training on their risk assessment for school staff

• Each person who needs assistance will be individually assessed, taking into account their particular needs, capabilities and circumstances including their understanding of the movement and their ability to communicate.
• Particular attention will be paid where English is not the primary language of the person or the staff member.
• A balanced approach will be followed which considers the wishes of the person as well as the need to protect staff and service users from injury. The rehabilitation and developmental needs of the person will also be considered in the process to ensure dignity and respect.
• The person or persons and, where appropriate, those acting on their behalf will be actively involved throughout the assessment and decision making process. The independence of the person will be encouraged at all times.
• A minimal handling approach will be applied to all inanimate load handling situations based on a full risk assessment using T.I.L.E

All staff members are required to have a general health and safety induction when they start employment. Specific training should be undertaken by all employees involved in manual handling of people. It is recommended that such training take place prior to commencing work involving manual handling tasks, or at the earliest opportunity. More specific training and/or guidance will also be required in the case of any personalised therapeutic handling.

All training needs should be reviewed annually,

• Those within educational settings must:
• Attend Paediatric Moving and Handling training for staff that assist pupils to move with refresher training required annually. Refresher training can be delivered ‘in-house’
• attend Paediatric Moving and Handling Load Risk Assessor training (2 day)
• attend Paediatric Moving and Handling Load Risk Assessor Refresher training annually (1 day)

Moving and Handling Load Risk Assessor training to enable appropriate staff (such as Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCo) to make formal moving and handling risk assessments and prescribe safer methods of handling (2 day) with a 1 day refresher course required annually

• training can be arranged directly with Herts Handling Training Ltd,
• be aware that the Health Therapists can only provide advice and training on identified therapy activities for a specific pupil and then only to staff who have already attended a basic Paediatric Moving and Handling course.

In addition to general manual handling guidance, services / schools should seek further advice drawing up any of the following for service users / clients with manual handling needs:

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEPs) Refer to Fire Policy 3.3 d Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan.

Intimate Care Plans

• A specific client moving and handling risk assessment and support Plans must be completed by appropriately trained staff and held in the client’s file. Support from the Moving and Handling Facilitator in more complex circumstances may be sought by staff.

• Performing risk assessments of hazardous moving and handling tasks or situations within the workplace, home or other premises. Specialist support and advice can be obtained where appropriate from the organisation’s Corporate Back Care Advisor or Occupational Therapist
• Children and the Young Persons Service only conduct risk assessments for equipment issued by them
• Making a clear, written record of the assessment and communicate its findings to all staff involved and client parents/carers.
• Reviewing risk assessments and making arrangements for the risk assessment to be repeated if they are no longer valid to the individual.
• Ensuring that in situations where risk assessments are being performed by frontline staff e.g. person handling assessments in hospital or community, that these are being completed and recorded where appropriate in writing. These assessments must also be available for staff involved in the moving and handling task.

The Moving and Handling risk Assessment must be kept up to date.  The assessment should be revised:

• as the service users/ pupils grow and/or their condition changes
• or
• when there is a change of staff
• or change of equipment mobility aids
• when employees and or service users/ pupils have sustained an injury and/or near miss;
• where there is a delay in providing moving and handling equipment or adaptation to the premises;
• where there is a change to the premises that affects emergency evacuation

Implementation of this policy forms an integral part of the safety management system and is underpinned by effective communication, education and training by competent persons, and follow up monitoring and review.

Chief Executive Officer /Directors Senior Managers Headteachers are responsible for ensuring this policy is implemented within their specific areas

I have read, understood and agree to adhere to the attached Policy and Procedure

Print Name	Signature	Area of Work	DATE

 

Appendix 1

Service user / pupil moving and handling assessment (Download)

Appendix 2

Service user / pupil moving and handling assessment (Download)

Appendix 3

Moving and handling plan (Download)

Appendix 4

Issues/deficiencies sheet (Download)

Appendix 5

Review Sheet (Download)