Safer People Moving and Handling Awareness

Moving and handling people safely is an essential part of delivering high-quality health and social care. Unsafe moving and handling practices can result in serious injuries to both the person receiving care and the staff providing support. Understanding how to minimise these risks helps create safer workplaces while promoting dignity, independence and person-centred care.

This awareness-level course provides a practical introduction to safer people moving and handling within UK health and social care settings. Learners will develop an understanding of the legal framework governing moving and handling, the importance of risk assessment, ergonomic principles, safe systems of work, and the responsibilities of employers and employees in preventing avoidable harm.

The course explains how to recognise moving and handling risks, understand common hazards, appreciate the importance of individual moving and handling assessments, and identify when specialist equipment or additional assistance may be required. It also explores the importance of communication, promoting independence, respecting dignity, and following individual care plans during moving and handling activities.

Realistic workplace scenarios help learners apply the principles of safer moving and handling to everyday situations while reinforcing good practice, professional boundaries and appropriate escalation where concerns arise.

This course is designed for awareness only. It does not provide practical moving and handling competency or authorise learners to undertake manual handling of people without employer-approved practical training, supervised assessment and competency sign-off where these are required.

What you will learn

During this course you will learn how to:

1. Understand the principles of safer people moving and handling.
2. Explain the legal responsibilities under UK moving and handling legislation.
3. Recognise common moving and handling hazards and associated risks.
4. Understand the importance of individual risk assessments and moving and handling plans.
5. Apply ergonomic principles to reduce the risk of injury.
6. Promote dignity, comfort, choice and independence during moving and handling.
7. Recognise the purpose and limitations of moving and handling equipment.
8. Understand safe communication and teamwork during moving and handling activities.
9. Identify when assistance, reassessment or escalation is required.
10. Apply safer moving and handling principles to realistic workplace scenarios.

Who should take this course?

This course is suitable for:

1. Care assistants
2. Support workers
3. Senior care staff
4. Healthcare assistants
5. Registered nurses requiring awareness-level knowledge
6. Domiciliary care staff
7. Supported living staff
8. Residential and nursing home staff
9. Rehabilitation support workers
10. Agency care workers
11. Volunteers working within care services
12. New starters in health and social care
13. Anyone requiring an introduction to safer people moving and handling

Course Features

1. CPD-aligned awareness-level training
2. Developed for UK health and social care settings
3. Based on current legislation and recognised best practice
4. Realistic workplace scenarios
5. Interactive knowledge checks
6. Final assessment
7. Certificate issued upon successful completion
8. Suitable for induction and annual refresher training where appropriate

Important Note

This course reflects current UK legislation and recognised guidance available at the time of publication, including the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended), the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) where relevant. It is intended for educational purposes and should be used alongside employer policies, individual moving and handling risk assessments, local procedures, professional judgement and current national guidance. It does not replace employer-specific practical training, competency assessments or authorisation to undertake people moving and handling activities.