manual handling training for care workers

Manual handling training for care workers delivering community or in-home support faces conditions a facility does not create.

There is no hoist, no height-adjustable bed and often no clear floor space. Furniture is where the client wants it. The bathroom was not designed for two people. And the worker is usually alone, so a two-person transfer is not available whatever the assessment says.

Which makes the content different. Assessing the environment on arrival rather than assuming last visit’s layout. Knowing which tasks require equipment that is not there, and what to do then. And having permission to not proceed, with a route to report it, rather than improvising.

Lone workers also need a check-in arrangement, which is a separate control worth having.

Safe Work Australia covers hazardous manual tasks and remote work. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s manual handling training for disability support and healthcare workers and working alone course.