Module 4 of 86–8 minutes

Risk Assessment and the Hierarchy of Controls

How to assess a cleaning task properly and apply the hierarchy of controls — from removing the task altogether down to gloves and footwear — instead of relying on technique alone.

Last reviewed September 2026 · Part of Manual Handling Training for Cleaning and Facilities Staff

Key learning points

Work through the identify, assess, control, review cycle
Apply the hierarchy of controls to cleaning and facilities tasks
Consider the task, load, environment, equipment and work organisation together
Explain why technique training and PPE sit at the bottom of the hierarchy
Recognise your part in controls as the person who does the task

The risk management cycle

Identify the hazards — which tasks on this site involve manual task risk factors?
Assess the risk — how likely is harm, how serious could it be, and how many people are exposed?
Control the risk — apply the most effective control that is reasonably practicable, as high in the hierarchy as you can
Review — check the control actually worked, and reassess when the site, the equipment, the contract or the people change

What to consider when assessing

The task: How is it actually done at 4 am, not how it is written? What postures, forces and repetitions are involved?
The load: Weight, whether it is known, whether it shifts, whether it can be gripped and held close, whether it may contain sharps or liquids
The environment: Stairs, lifts, thresholds, carpet versus hard floor, lighting, space in bathrooms and storerooms, wet surfaces
The equipment: Is the right cart, mop system, vacuum, trolley or bin lifter available, working, and actually on this site?
Frequency and duration: Rooms, bins and square metres per shift; how long each posture lasts; shift length
The worker: Training, site induction, experience, fatigue, existing injury, whether working alone
Work organisation: Targets, rotation, breaks, staffing, whether the client clears furniture and bins in advance

Hierarchy of controls

Most effective at the top — with cleaning examples

Eliminate: Remove the task: central waste stations instead of 60 under-desk bins; chemicals delivered to each floor's storeroom; occupants stack their own chairs
Substitute: Replace with something less hazardous: microfibre flat mop instead of string mop and bucket; smaller liners and lower bins; ready-to-use product from a dilution station instead of carrying concentrate; a lightweight upright instead of a heavy one
Isolate / engineering: Change the equipment or environment: bin lifters at skips, wheeled bins, a ramp at the bin room step, a cleaner's sink on every floor, height-adjustable beds and telescopic handles
Administrative: Change how the work is organised: task rotation, realistic area targets, two-person rule for mattresses and machines on stairs, bin runs timed when lifts are available, procedures, training and supervision
Personal protective equipment: Gloves for grip and against sharps, slip-resistant footwear, knee pads. Necessary, but PPE does not reduce the force going through your body, so it is the last line, not the first

Technique is not a control on its own

Telling cleaners to bend their knees does not change a low bath, a chest-high hopper or a string mop. Risk should be controlled at its source so far as is reasonably practicable — by changing the task, the equipment or the environment. Training and technique support those controls; they do not replace them.

Practical controls in cleaning and facilities work

Move waste on wheels — wheelie bins, cart-mounted bag holders and trolleys — rather than carrying bags
Use flat mop systems with pre-charged pads so there is no wringing and little water to carry
Use dilution stations and pump dispensers so concentrate is never lifted or poured by hand
Rotate between mopping, vacuuming, dusting and bins across the shift
Agree with the client that occupants clear desks and stack chairs, so furniture is not moved to clean
Schedule machine moves and bin runs when lifts are available; never carry machines on stairs alone
Use long-handled tools, extension poles and step platforms rather than kneeling, stretching or climbing on furniture
Keep heavy items in the storeroom between knee and shoulder height
Set targets from a timed walk-through of the actual site, and review them when the site changes

'So far as is reasonably practicable' means weighing the likelihood and severity of harm against what is available and what it would cost to control it. A bin lifter costs money; a flat mop system costs less than a month of lost time. You do not decide what is reasonably practicable — your employer and the site do — but your reports about what is actually happening are the evidence that decision rests on. Consultation is not a formality; it is how the assessment finds out what the task really involves.

Practical scenario

Scenario: sore wrists on the mop crew

Three cleaners on the same night contract report wrist and forearm pain. All three use string mops with a bucket that has no wringer, and each mops about 1,500 square metres of hard floor a night.

What is the most effective response?

Reveal the explanation

Not 'take it easy on the wrists'. Assess the task and control it at source: replace the string mop and open bucket with a microfibre flat mop system using pre-charged pads, which removes the wringing entirely, or at minimum provide a wringer bucket. Review the area allocation, rotate mopping with other tasks, and check whether the pain reports stop. Report the discomfort so it is recorded and so the change is made across the contract rather than for one site.

Practical scenario

Scenario: the target moves

Your supervisor tells you the client has cut the hours on your site by 20 per cent from next week, but the scope of work is unchanged. You know the only way to finish is to stop setting up the wet floor signs, carry two buckets at once and skip the task rotation.

How should you respond?

Reveal the explanation

Do not absorb the cut by dropping controls — that is how the injury rate climbs quietly. Tell your supervisor in specific terms what will not fit in the new hours and which controls would have to go. A reduced target, a changed scope, or better equipment such as a wider flat mop or a ride-on scrubber are the legitimate options; skipping set-up is not one of them. Put it in writing through your reporting channel so the decision is visible.

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 on a cleaning contract?

2. Replacing string mops and buckets with a microfibre flat mop system is which level of control?

3. Why is PPE the least effective control for manual tasks?

4. When should the manual task risk assessment for a site be reviewed?