Module 4 of 86–8 minutes

Risk Assessment and the Hierarchy of Controls

How to assess a manual task in a service and apply the hierarchy of controls — changing the room, the equipment and the routine before relying on technique.

Last reviewed September 2026 · Part of Manual Handling Training for Childcare and Early Childhood Educators

Key learning points

Work through the identify, assess, control, review cycle
Apply the hierarchy of controls to early childhood manual tasks
Consider the task, the child, the environment and the equipment together
Explain why technique training alone is not a control

The risk management cycle

Identify the hazards — which routines involve manual task risk factors?
Assess the risk — how likely is harm, and how serious could it be?
Control the risk — apply the most effective control that is reasonably practicable
Review — check the control worked, and reassess when anything changes

What to consider when assessing

The task: How is it actually done at 4 pm with three children crying, not how the policy describes it? What postures and forces are involved?
The child: Age, weight, mobility, whether they can walk or climb, additional needs, mood, whether they resist handling
The environment: Cot placement, change table height, storage heights, floor surfaces, doorways and gates, kerbs on the excursion route
The equipment: Is there a step for the change table, a stool for floor time, a buggy with working brakes, a trolley for meals?
Frequency and duration: How many nappy changes, how many lifts, how long on the floor, how long settling?
The educator: Training, experience, fatigue, pregnancy, existing injury, and how many staff are in the room right now

Hierarchy of controls

Most effective at the top

Eliminate: Remove the lift altogether — a toddler walks to the change room and climbs the steps; deliveries are dropped in the store room, not the front office
Substitute: Replace with something less hazardous — a mesh sandpit cover instead of a weighted vinyl one, smaller sensory tubs, lighter stretcher beds
Isolate / engineering: Change the environment or equipment — adjustable-height cots and change surfaces, change tables with steps, adult chairs, waist-height storage, trolleys, buggies with good brakes
Administrative: Change the routine — rotate educators between the babies room and older rooms, plan excursion routes without steep kerbs, two-person moves for heavy equipment, procedures, training, supervision
Personal protective equipment: Least effective for manual tasks — knee pads help on hard floors but do not reduce the force in a lift

Technique is not a control on its own

Telling educators to bend their knees does not change a room where every cot is deep, every table is knee height and every child is lifted twenty times a day. Risk should be controlled at its source so far as is reasonably practicable — by changing the task, the environment or the equipment. Training and technique support those controls; they do not replace them.

Practical controls in an early learning service

Letting children do what they safely can — walk, climb steps, get into the pram themselves
Setting adjustable cot bases high for young infants and lowering them only when the child can sit or pull up
Change tables with built-in steps, and supplies laid out within reach before the child is on the table
Adult-height chairs and kneeling stools in every room, and permission to use them
Storing heavy items at waist height and frequently used items within easy reach
Meal and laundry trolleys so nothing heavy is carried down a corridor
Buggies with good brakes, planned excursion routes and enough educators to push
Rotating educators between rooms and tasks so no one does every nappy change
Reporting worn castors, stiff brakes and missing steps so they are fixed

Practical scenario

Scenario: back pain in the babies room

Three educators who rotate through the babies room have each mentioned low back pain this term. The cots are all set at the lowest base height, the change table is fixed at bench height with no steps, and nappies are stored in a cupboard behind the table.

What is the most effective response?

Reveal the explanation

Not a reminder to lift carefully. Assess the room and control at the source: raise cot bases for infants who cannot yet sit or pull up, ask for a change table with steps or an adjustable-height surface, move nappies and wipes to shelving beside the table at waist height, and review whether one educator is doing most of the changes. Then check whether the back pain reports stop — and if the equipment cannot be changed quickly, use a two-step stool at the table and rotate the task in the meantime.

Practical scenario

Scenario: the climbing frame

A timber A-frame and plank set is stored in the shed and carried out each morning by whichever educator is on early shift. It takes two trips and is awkward through the shed door.

Work through the hierarchy. What are the options?

Reveal the explanation

Eliminate: leave the frame set up in a covered area so it is not moved daily. Substitute: a lighter plastic frame, or a smaller set. Engineering: castors on the frame, or a trolley, or storing it right by the door at waist height. Administrative: a two-person rule for moving it, and rostering the move when two staff are present. PPE offers nothing here. The higher the option, the more reliable it is.

Knowledge check

These questions are for your own learning. They are not part of the final assessment.

1. Which approach is most effective for reducing manual handling risk in a babies room?

2. A change table with built-in steps that toddlers climb themselves is an example of:

3. When should a manual task risk assessment in a service be reviewed?

4. Where do knee pads for floor work sit in the hierarchy of controls?