Manual Handling Training for Aged Care Workers in South Australia

Work health and safety in South Australia

South Australia adopted the model work health and safety laws from 1 January 2013, a year after the first group of jurisdictions. They are administered by SafeWork SA, and the specific duty to manage the risk of musculoskeletal disorders from hazardous manual tasks is in regulation 60 of the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA).

The ABS ranks Adelaide as the second-oldest capital city in Australia by median age, behind Hobart. Aged care workers in South Australia support many residents and clients with complex mobility needs, and a person who needed only standby assistance last month may need a hoist this month, which is why reporting a change promptly matters as much as technique.

Aged care in South Australia

Residential aged care homes and home care services are concentrated in Greater Adelaide, across the northern, southern and eastern suburbs and into the Adelaide Hills. Clients' homes range from newer units to older single-storey houses with narrow hallways, compact bathrooms and a step at the back door, and each of those features shapes how a transfer or a shower can be done safely at home.

ABS population estimates show that people aged 55 and over make up a larger share of the population in the rest of South Australia than in Adelaide. In the Riverland, the Limestone Coast around Mount Gambier, the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas and the Mid North, care is delivered by smaller teams across long distances, and home care workers often drive between towns and work alone in each house.

South Australia's hot summers add their own load. Heat makes each transfer more tiring, increases the effort of pushing wheelchairs and shower commodes and makes it harder to concentrate late in a shift. Heat and fatigue belong in the task assessment alongside the person, the environment and the equipment, which is how Module 4, Risk Assessment and Risk Controls, treats them, and Module 5, Safe Movement Principles, covers what to do when a task no longer matches the plan.

What SafeWork SA publishes on hazardous manual tasks

SafeWork SA lists the Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice among the approved codes for South Australia and publishes the 2020 version with a set of tools: an identification tool, a risk assessment and control tool, a discomfort survey that encourages workers to report pain early, a risk register template and a systems self-assessment tool. When this page was last reviewed, its codes page listed the national Healthcare and social assistance industry code under model codes of practice, separately from the codes approved for South Australia.

Its training guidance is blunt about lifting technique. SafeWork SA publishes the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities national position paper on 'how to lift' training, states that research shows such training is not effective in preventing injuries from hazardous manual tasks because the risk factors are not changed, and says a business relying on it is not meeting its risk management duties. Instead it points to section 4.10 of the code: training should cover how to do the work safely with the aids, equipment and procedures provided, how to report problems such as a faulty mechanical aid, and how hazardous manual tasks are identified, assessed and controlled.

What it means on shift in South Australia

• SafeWork SA's position is that 'how to lift' training on its own does not meet an employer's duty; the controls have to change the task itself.
• SafeWork SA says manual tasks training should happen when you start, when equipment or processes change, when risk remains after higher-order controls, and when the law changes.
• Employers are expected to keep records of manual tasks training, including the date, topics, trainer and attendees, so keep your certificate with your practical sign-offs.
• SafeWork SA's discomfort survey exists to get early reports of pain on record before an injury happens; if your employer uses one, fill it in honestly.

Who is responsible for what

Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), the business you work for, known as a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), must eliminate the risks of hazardous manual tasks so far as is reasonably practicable and minimise any risk it cannot eliminate. As a worker, you must take reasonable care for your own health and safety and that of others, follow reasonable instructions and cooperate with reasonable policies and procedures.

In practice the answer to a heavy or awkward transfer is rarely "lift more carefully". It is a change to the task, the environment, the equipment or the staffing. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the national aged care regulator, oversees providers against the Aged Care Quality Standards, but WHS law is SafeWork SA's job.

How the course fits with your employer's training

Eight self-paced online modules take about 45–60 minutes. The assessment has 20 multiple-choice questions, a 75% pass mark and unlimited attempts, and a retry only re-asks the questions you answered wrongly. The A$49 Certificate of Completion carries a unique number and a QR code that anyone can check at /verify.

It does not replace your employer's practical, equipment-specific training on the hoists, slings and care plans you will actually use. This is non-accredited workplace training. It is not Nationally Recognised Training and does not issue a Statement of Attainment.

Common questions

Covered in the course

• Module 4: Risk Assessment and Risk Controls
• Module 5: Safe Movement Principles

Related guides

• Tasmania
• Australian Capital Territory
• Northern Territory
• New South Wales