Manual tasks occur across the University and include activities involving the use of the body to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, move, hold or restrain a person, animal or object.

Manual tasks may become hazardous when they involve:

• Long duration

• Heavy load

• High or sudden force

• Sustained or awkward postures

• Repetitive movements

Managing hazardous manual tasks should form part of the work area's WHS risk management process, including identifying hazardous tasks, assessing the risks, implementing appropriate controls and reviewing whether those controls remain effective. A hazardous manual task is a task that requires a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, move, hold or restrain something and involves one or more factors that could increase the risk of injury, such as:

• repetitive movements
• sustained or awkward postures
• high or sudden force
• heavy loads
• performing the task for a long period.

Not every manual task is hazardous. The focus should be on identifying the tasks where these factors create a risk of musculoskeletal injury.

If your area has hazardous manual tasks, the Injury Management team can provide guidance and advice on managing these risks and provide tailored training on the WHS risk management framework and specific manual tasks where appropriate.