Manual Handling: Equipment to Use to Reduce the Risks

Is your team still lifting, carrying and dragging heavy loads by hand, and putting their backs under strain? 

Manual handling is the single biggest cause of workplace injury in Ireland. In 2024, it accounted for a third of all non-fatal injuries reported to the Health and Safety Authority [1​]. Many of these are back, shoulder and arm strains that build up over time, and most can be prevented with safer working practices and using the correct equipment. 

This guide covers what makes manual handling risky, the steps to reduce those risks, and the equipment that takes the strain off you and your team.

What is manual handling?

Manual handling is defined as any lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling or putting down of a load by hand or bodily force. That covers everything from stacking boxes in a warehouse to pushing a laundry trolley down a hospital corridor or wheeling a barrow of blocks across a building site.

In Ireland, employers are legally required to avoid manual handling that could cause injury where possible. Where it can’t be avoided, they must assess the risk and take steps to reduce it, under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007. 

What makes manual handling risky, and how can you reduce it? 

Manual handling risk comes down to four things, known as TILE:

• Task: twisting, stooping, reaching or repeated lifting
• Individual: the person doing the handling
• Load: heavy, bulky or hard to grip
• Environment: slopes, uneven floors or tight spaces

The more of these that apply, the higher the risk of injury.

The most effective way to reduce that risk is to stop people lifting and carrying in the first place. Health and safety guidance recommends using mechanical aids such as trolleys and powered drives wherever possible, then making loads lighter or easier to grip, cutting carrying distances and training your team. Training works best alongside the right equipment, because a well-trained worker pushing a trolley on seized castors is still at risk.

Equipment that takes the strain

These products from our range help your team move loads without lifting or straining:

1. ErgoMove electric drive systems: Blickle’s ErgoMove adds electric drive, steering and braking assistance to trolleys and transport units, with power assistance from 500kg up to 4,000kg. The operator guides the load instead of pushing it, and it can be fitted to equipment you already use.
2. Castors: The right castors make a trolley far easier to start, push and steer. Choose a size and tread suited to the load and the floor, and add brakes so the trolley stays put while it is being loaded. For heavy, constant use, see our material handling and warehousing castors.
3. Ball transfer units: Fitted to work tables, packing stations and conveyor lines, these let heavy flat-bottomed items glide in any direction, so they can be slid and turned rather than lifted.
4. Wheelbarrow and hand truck wheels: A flat or worn wheel on a barrow or sack truck means more effort for every load, and people end up carrying instead. Puncture-proof options never go flat.
5. Levelling feet: Set workbenches and equipment at a comfortable working height, so your team is not stooping to lift or reaching too high.
6. Handles, grips and conveyor rollers: Good handles make trolleys and carts easier to control, and conveyor rollers move goods along a line without anyone carrying them.

Keep your equipment in good condition

Equipment only helps if it is in good working order. When castors wear down, tyres go flat or wheels stop turning freely, trolleys become much harder to push, and people often go back to lifting and carrying by hand instead. Check the wheels and castors on your equipment regularly, and replace them as soon as they start to stick. 

Not sure which equipment suits your workplace? 

Tell us what you are moving, how heavy it is and the floor it travels over, and our team will recommend the right solution. 

Con​ta​ct us, or call our Dublin team on +353 1 855 8111.