Manual handling & back safety
A ready-made course you customise for your organisation, with a live session deck and two surveys. You only add the 5 details that are specific to your organisation.
- Length
- 25 min
- Lessons
- 7 lessons
- Frequency
- At hire + when tasks change + annual refresher best
- Last reviewed
- 8 Oct 2026
Hotel housekeeping: a guest's heavy suitcase blocks the room; your back already twinged yesterday
Try it: this is one of 15 interactive activities in the course.
What's included
Three pieces that work together
Copy once, get everything. Learners prepare on their own, you answer questions live, and the surveys tell you what stuck.
Self-paced course
Short lessons with real workplace scenarios, not walls of text.
- 7 lessons, about 25 minutes
- 2 video slots (you add the videos)
- Accordion, sorting activity, tabs, process and quizzes
- 10-question final check, 80% to pass
Live session deck
An AhaSlides presentation to run after the course, in person or online.
- 10 slides
- Quiz, poll, word cloud, open-ended slides
- A closing slide for your contacts
Two surveys
Find out what landed, and whether people use it on the job.
- Post-course feedback, about 2 minutes
- 30-day check-in
- Anonymous by default
- Results feed your next refresher
Learning objectives
At the end of this course, learners can
Each objective and the lesson that covers it.
| ID | Objective | Source | Where it's covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| TO 1.0 | Achieve ≥ 80% on the final assessment | - | Whole course |
| LO 40.1.1 | Explain how lifting injures the back, shoulders and hands | NIOSH | Lesson 1: Why this matters |
| LO 40.2.1 | Identify risk factors: weight, distance from body, height, twisting, frequency, grip | NIOSH RNLE | Lesson 2: Know the hazard |
| LO 40.3.1 | Explain what the NIOSH lifting equation tells you about "how heavy is too heavy" | NIOSH RNLE | Lesson 3: Control the hazard |
| LO 40.4.1 | Use lifting aids and redesign tasks before relying on technique + your info | best practice | Lesson 4: The safe lift |
| LO 40.5.1 | Plan and perform a safe lift, team lift, push and pull | best practice | Lesson 5: Your workplace |
| LO 40.6.1 | Report early symptoms and unsafe lifting tasks + your info | best practice | Lesson 6: When things go wrong |
Your part: what a template can't do for you
- Your workplace details: fill in the 5 highlighted fields so the course describes your own policies, contacts and locations.
- Records: record completion in your own LMS or record system.
Course outline
7 lessons, about 25 minutes
Minutes per lesson are an estimate, shared out by page count.
1Why this matters
2 pages
4 min
Why this matters
2 pages
2Know the hazard
3 pages
5 min
Know the hazard
3 pages
3Control the hazard
2 pages
4 min
Control the hazard
2 pages
4The safe lift
2 pages
4 min
The safe lift
2 pages
5Your workplace
1 page
2 min
Your workplace
1 page
6When things go wrong
1 page
2 min
When things go wrong
1 page
7Final assessment
Assessment
4 min
Final assessment
Assessment
Live deck and surveys
10 slides to run live, two surveys to close the loop
Pink slides are interactive. Both surveys are anonymous; pink questions are written for this course.
Post-course feedback: 11 questions, about 2 min
- Overall rating 5 stars
- Relevant, realistic, right length, helpful activities agree/disagree grid
- What was most useful? multi-select
- Confidence before this course, and now 1-5 scale
- When a lifting aid is available, how often do you use it? multiple choice
- Which lifting tasks are hardest on your body? ranking
- How confident are you leading a team lift? 1-5 scale
- I can ask for help with a heavy lift without feeling I'm slowing the team down. 1-5 scale
- One thing we should change or add open text
- Would you recommend this course? NPS
30-day check-in
- Have you used what you learned since the course? multiple choice
- How confident are you today? Compare with day 1 1-5 scale
- Do you know where to find where the carts, lift tables and other lifting aids are? yes / no / not sure
- A moment where the training helped, or where you weren't sure open text
- Which topics should the next refresher focus on? ranking
Results show whether people use the training on the job, not just whether they finished it.
Make it yours
5 fields to fill in, and you're ready
Everything else is done. These are the details only your organisation knows; each one is highlighted inside the course.
- Lifting aids available
{{LIFTING_AIDS_AVAILABLE}} - High risk lifting tasks and controls
{{HIGH_RISK_LIFTING_TASKS_AND_CONTROLS}} - Team lift or weight limit policy
{{TEAM_LIFT_OR_WEIGHT_LIMIT_POLICY}} - Symptom reporting process
{{SYMPTOM_REPORTING_PROCESS}} - LMS or record system
{{LMS_OR_RECORD_SYSTEM}}
FAQ
Common questions
Can I run manual handling & back safety training online?
The course itself is self-paced and online, and the live deck lets you add a live session. Whether online delivery meets your local rules depends on the law that applies to you, so check the rules that apply to you or ask your own counsel.
How often is this training needed?
At hire + when tasks change + annual refresher best practice.
Who needs this training?
Employees who lift, carry, push or pull (warehouse, retail stocking, delivery, nursing assistants, hospitality, facilities).
What records should I keep?
Record completion in your own LMS or record system, so you can show who finished the course and when. Check the retention period that applies to you in the rules that apply to you.
Can I edit the content?
Yes, everything. Change the wording, swap scenarios for ones from your workplace, add your logo, or remove parts that don't apply. Keep anything your own law requires you to cover.
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Ready to run it?
Open the live deck to see how the session runs alongside the course and both surveys.