Key terms
Manual handling: key terms
Plain-English definitions of the words used in the course. In the lessons, tap any underlined term to read its definition without leaving the page.
12 terms, United Kingdom version
- Disc
- A tough ring with a soft centre between two vertebrae that acts as a shock absorber.
- Handling aid
- Equipment that removes or reduces lifting, such as a trolley, sack truck or hoist.
- HSE
- The Health and Safety Executive, which publishes health and safety guidance in Great Britain.
- Load
- Anything being moved by hand, such as a box, a pot, a person or an animal.
- MAC tool
- The HSE's Manual handling Assessment Charts, a free tool to score lifting, carrying and team handling tasks.
- Manual handling
- Lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or holding a load by hand or bodily force.
- Reasonably practicable
- Doing what is sensible and possible to reduce a risk, weighing the risk against the time, cost and effort of the control.
- Risk assessment
- A check of what could cause harm, who could be hurt and what controls are needed.
- Sciatica
- Pain that runs from the lower back down the leg, often from a disc pressing on a nerve.
- Team lift
- A lift by two or more people, led by one person who gives clear instructions.
- TILE
- A check before lifting: task, individual, load, environment.
- Vertebrae
- The 33 bones that make up the spine.
These terms come from the United Kingdom version of the course. See what the course covers.