Manual Handling: Preventing the Injuries That Cost You Most

How big a risk is manual handling in manufacturing?

Manual handling is the single largest cause of serious workplace injury in Australia. Body stressing — which includes lifting, carrying, pushing and repetitive movement — accounted for 50,600 serious workers' compensation claims in 2023–24, or 34.5% of all serious claims nationally, making it the most common injury mechanism across every major occupation group (Safe Work Australia, Key WHS Statistics 2025). For a manufacturer, it's also usually the most preventable risk on the floor — the causes are well understood and the controls are well established.

What injuries does manual handling actually cause?

WorkSafe Victoria's own claims data for manual handling incidents shows the back is by far the most commonly injured body part, followed by the shoulder (WorkSafe Victoria, Injury hotspots — Manual handling):

Body part injured	Share of manual handling injuries
Back	35%
Shoulder	20%
Knee	7%
Forearm / wrist	7%
Arm	7%
Hand / fingers	5%
Abdomen / pelvis	6%

What causes manual handling injuries on a factory floor?

WorkSafe Victoria's guidance for manufacturing and retail settings points to the same recurring hazards: manually lifting and moving stock or materials without mechanical aids, working above shoulder height or below waist height, awkward or repetitive movements, and poor floor conditions or cluttered pathways that force awkward postures (WorkSafe Victoria). None of these are unusual — they're built into how most factories have always operated, which is exactly why the injuries keep recurring.

How do you actually reduce manual handling risk?

WorkSafe's guidance for manufacturing sites sets out practical, mostly low-cost controls:

1. Provide mechanical aids — forklifts, height-adjustable trolleys, cranes — for any regular lifting task, and make sure they're maintained per the manufacturer's specifications.
2. Store heavy or frequently used items at waist height so workers aren't routinely lifting from the floor or reaching overhead.
3. Reduce the size or weight of what's being lifted, such as smaller bag or container sizes, without increasing how often the task has to be repeated.
4. Use height-adjustable workstations so the work moves to the worker, not the other way around.
5. Keep floors and walkways level, clear and well lit, since uneven or cluttered surfaces are a major contributor to awkward lifting postures.
6. Train workers on safe handling technique — keeping the working zone between shoulder and mid-thigh height, elbows close to the body — and on how to use whatever mechanical aids are provided.

What does the law actually require here?

Under the OHS Act 2004, employers must provide and maintain, so far as reasonably practicable, plant and systems of work that are safe and without risks to health, and must eliminate or reduce risks connected with the handling of plant or substances (WorkSafe Victoria). In practice, for manual handling, that means working through the hierarchy of controls — eliminating the lift altogether where possible, then mechanising it, before relying on training alone as the fix. Employers also have a duty to consult with employees and any HSR when deciding how to control a risk like this, since the people doing the lifting usually know exactly where the awkward tasks are.

Where to start if you haven't looked at this properly

Walk the floor and ask workers directly where the awkward lifts, reaches and repetitive tasks actually are — they'll usually tell you faster than a formal audit will. If you want a structured look at where your manual handling risk sits and what's reasonably practicable to fix, a site assessment is a good way to get an outside set of eyes on it — you can book a site assessment to start there.

FAQ

What's the difference between manual handling and body stressing? Body stressing is the broader term used in injury statistics, covering manual handling such as lifting and carrying, as well as repetitive movement, sustained postures and other physical exertion. Manual handling is the most common form of body stressing on a factory floor.

Do mechanical aids remove the need for manual handling training? No. Aids reduce the risk, but workers still need training on how to use them safely, and some tasks will always involve an element of manual handling that needs to be managed.

Is manual handling risk something WorkSafe actually inspects for? Yes — manual handling hazards are one of the most common issues WorkSafe inspectors identify in manufacturing and retail workplaces, and it's a leading cause of the serious workers' compensation claims tracked nationally each year.

This article is general information for Victorian manufacturers, not legal advice. Last updated: 10 August 2026.