Manual handling training is one of the most common courses in Irish workplaces, and the law behind it is short. This free practice test goes over the General Application Regulations and HSA guidance in thirteen questions, with the source for every answer.
What the law says
Manual handling is covered by Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007. It means transporting or supporting a load by hand or by bodily force: lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving it, where that involves a risk, particularly of back injury (regulation 68).
The employer must first avoid manual handling, for example with mechanical equipment or by organising the work differently. Where it cannot be avoided, the employer assesses the task against the risk factors in Schedule 3 (the load, the effort, the working environment, the requirements of the activity and the individual) and takes measures to reduce the risk, gives employees information on the weight and centre of gravity of loads, and protects particularly sensitive employees (regulation 69). There is no legal maximum weight: a 10 kg box can be a risk if it is lifted all day from the floor at arm's length.
Training and refreshers
Under the 2005 Act employers must give training that employees can understand, without loss of pay, and employees must attend it (sections 10 and 13). The HSA's framework says that workplace manual handling training should be delivered by a QQI Level 6 manual handling instructor, in-house or external, with a practical part in the real work environment. There is no fixed legal interval, but the HSA recommends a refresher at least every three years, or sooner when work practices or equipment change.
The HSA is also clear that training alone is not enough: if a task is too heavy or awkward, the fix is to change the task, for example with lifting aids or a different layout.
Using the practice test
Play it at the start of a course to see what people already know, or at the end of the theory before the practical. These are practice questions written by Quizhat; they are not the test of any course provider, and Quizhat is not affiliated with the HSA, QQI or any instructor.