Equipment and Mechanical Aids
Common aged care equipment, and the rules that apply to using it — training, checks, procedures and reporting.
Last reviewed September 2026 · Part of Manual Handling Training for Aged Care Workers
Key learning points
- Recognise common manual handling equipment used in aged care
- Understand that equipment use requires training and authorisation
- Perform appropriate pre-use checks
- Know how to respond to faulty or unsuitable equipment
- Understand safe working loads and equipment limits in clients' homes
Common equipment
- Mobile (floor) hoist
- Full body support for people who cannot weight-bear; requires a sling and usually two trained staff
- Ceiling hoist
- Track-mounted lifting, reduces pushing and floor space problems
- Standing hoist (stand-aid)
- For people with some weight-bearing ability and the capacity to follow instructions
- Slide sheets
- Reduce friction for repositioning in bed
- Transfer boards and transfer aids
- Bridge short seated transfers, or provide a stable handhold
- Wheelchairs and shower chairs
- Require brake checks, correct footplate use and clear paths
- Height-adjustable beds
- Set the working height before care, and lower again afterwards
- Mobility aids
- Walking frames, sticks and rollators, used as set up by the clinical team
This course does not teach you to operate equipment
Online text cannot replace practical, supervised, equipment-specific training. Hoists, slings and transfer aids must be learned in your workplace, on the actual equipment, with competent supervision, before you use them with a person.
Mobile and ceiling hoists
A hoist moves a person who cannot bear weight, so nobody takes their weight by hand. A mobile hoist has to be pushed and needs room to turn; a ceiling hoist only reaches where its track goes. Staff numbers come from your procedure and the care plan.
Slings
The sling is what holds the person. Its type and size are set for each resident, usually in their care plan.
- Check the label matches the plan and is readable, and the fabric, stitching and loops or clips are intact
- Never substitute a borrowed sling, one a size off or two slings together, and never improvise with a sheet
- Report a sling that no longer fits well, as the person's needs may have changed
Practical scenario
Scenario: the missing sling
The correct sling size for a resident is in the laundry. A different size is available and a colleague suggests using it just this once.
What should you do?
Reveal the explanation
Do not use it. An incorrectly sized sling can allow a person to slip or cause pressure and skin injury. Delay the task if it is safe to do so, source the correct sling, and escalate to your supervisor. Report the shortage so it is fixed at a system level.
Stand-aid (sit-to-stand) hoists
A stand-aid is for a person who can bear some weight, hold on and follow instructions, for short transfers such as chair to commode. If today they cannot take their weight, hold on or follow what you ask, do not use it or switch methods yourself: keep them safe where they are and tell the registered nurse or your supervisor.
Slide sheets and transfer boards
- Place a slide sheet before the move, and remove a reusable one afterwards so the person cannot slide
- Use a transfer board only between stable, braked surfaces set close together
- Both reduce force, but neither replaces a second worker where the plan specifies two
Shower trolleys, commodes, wheelchairs and beds
- Check that brakes hold, the frame and footplates are sound, and the rated load suits the person
- Report a stiff castor or hard steering rather than forcing it
- Raise the bed to working height before care, check the handset and brakes, and lower it afterwards
Checks before every use
Rules that apply to all equipment
- Only use equipment you are trained and authorised to use
- Check the equipment before every use, even if a colleague used it earlier in the shift — brakes, battery, castors, frame, spreader bar, controls and emergency lowering
- Check slings and slide sheets for wear, fraying, correct type and correct size for the person
- Follow the manufacturer's instructions and load limits
- Follow your workplace procedures and the person's care plan
- Use the equipment specified for that person and that task
- Tag out and report faulty equipment immediately
- Do not improvise or substitute equipment, and never modify it
Safe working loads
Hoists, slings and most equipment that holds a person carry a safe working load from the manufacturer; used together, the lowest-rated item limits the whole lift. It is a limit for the equipment, not for what you may lift. Check it against the person's recorded weight as one of your checks, not instead of them. If the person is above it, the task waits.
Faulty or doubtful equipment
If you find a fault, make the person safe, take the item out of service under your workplace process, tag it and report it. Never tape it up, use it 'carefully' or keep it for lighter jobs. Report equipment that is missing or not ready too, such as a hoist with a flat battery.
Practical scenario
Scenario: intermittent hoist fault
A mobile hoist occasionally hesitates when lowering.
Is it acceptable to keep using it carefully?
Reveal the explanation
No. An intermittent fault on a lifting device is a serious hazard. Remove it from service according to your workplace process, tag and report it, and use an alternative arrangement approved by your supervisor.
Trained and authorised
Not trained means not yet
Decline equipment you are not trained and authorised to use, explain why and escalate to your supervisor. Verbal instructions from a colleague, a manufacturer's video or this course do not authorise you.
Practical scenario
Scenario: an unfamiliar hoist
As an agency worker on your first night shift at a residential home, you are asked to use a ceiling hoist you have never used. A colleague offers to talk you through it.
What should you do?
Reveal the explanation
Decline, explain that you are not trained or authorised on this hoist, and escalate to the registered nurse or supervisor so trained staff do the transfer. Ask for the home's induction and hands-on training on its hoists.
Equipment in clients' homes
In home care you often work with equipment you did not choose: it may be the client's own, and old, unserviced or the wrong size. WorkSafe WA names weight ratings and unsuitable wheels among the equipment limitations that create manual task risk in residential care, and the same applies at home: check a hoist's or commode's rated load, and whether its wheels suit the floor.
If equipment fails a check or is missing, the task does not become a manual lift. Keep the client safe, offer what can be done safely and contact your coordinator.
Practical scenario
Scenario: the second-hand commode
A client's family has bought a second-hand shower commode. It barely rolls on the hallway carpet, and its label shows a rated load below the client's recorded weight.
What should you do?
Reveal the explanation
Do not use it or force it over the carpet. Keep the client comfortable, offer a wash at the basin instead, contact your coordinator and record the problem in your employer's system.
Knowledge check
These questions are for your own learning. They are not part of the final assessment.
1. You have not been trained on a particular hoist, but a colleague offers quick verbal instructions. What should you do?
Equipment use requires proper training and authorisation. Informal instruction does not make it safe or acceptable.
2. Which check is appropriate before using a mobile hoist?
Pre-use checks cover the device and the sling, and the sling must be the correct type and size for the individual.
3. A slide sheet is fraying at one edge. What is the correct response?
Damaged equipment must be removed from use and reported. Improvised repairs are not acceptable.