Module 5 of 85–7 minutes

Safe Movement Principles

General principles for moving your own body safely — planning the route, team carries, pushing and pulling, and knowing when not to lift.

Last reviewed September 2026 · Part of Manual Handling Training for Construction and Trades Workers

Key learning points

Plan a lift or carry before starting it
Apply general principles of stable, controlled movement
Carry out a team lift with clear roles and communication
Push and pull barrows and trolleys with less strain
Recognise personal limits and when to stop or refuse a lift

Plan before you move

Know what you are moving — weight, balance point, whether it is strapped, whether it is wet
Know where it is going and what it will sit on when it gets there
Walk the route first — ground, steps, doorways, leads and hoses, other trades, headroom
Decide whether an aid or a second person is required, and get them before you start
Check the SWMS and your pre-start plan where the task is part of high risk work
Clear the drop zone and the route, and set down points for long carries
Agree who leads and what words will be used before a team lift

General movement principles

Keep a stable base — feet apart, one slightly forward, weight balanced, boots with grip
Face the direction of travel; turn your feet, not your spine
Keep the load close to your body, and carry it at waist height where the shape allows
Test the load before committing — tilt or lift one end first
Move smoothly; avoid snatching, jerking and throwing loads onto stacks
Use your legs and body weight rather than isolated back or arm effort
Avoid reaching above shoulder height or below knee height with a load — change the platform or the stack height instead
Set the load down on blocks or a stand, not the ground, when it will be picked up again
Take recovery time between demanding tasks and alternate heavy work with lighter work

Team lifts

Team lifts are common on site — sheets, long timbers, glass, heavy formwork, cast iron and steel. They only work when everyone moves at the same time and in the same direction. Where possible pair people of similar height, put the more experienced person at the leading end, and keep the count and the calls simple: ready, lift, walk, stop, down. The person who can see ahead calls the route. Anyone can call stop, and if they do, everyone stops and sets down together.

Two people does not halve the load

Two people rarely share a load evenly — the person at the heavy end, the taller person, or the one going first on the stairs takes more. A team lift is a way of managing a load that is still awkward, not a way of making a load safe that should be on a hoist or a trolley.

Pushing and pulling

Push rather than pull where you can — you use your legs and body weight and can see where you are going
Keep barrows and trolleys within a load you can control on the worst part of the route, not the best
Check tyre pressure and wheels before loading — a soft barrow tyre doubles the effort
Lay barrow boards over soft ground and use ramps rather than lifting a loaded barrow over a step
Load barrows with the weight over the wheel, not the handles
Slow down before turns and ramps; sudden force comes from corrections, not steady pushing

There is no universal lifting technique

Safe movement depends on the task, the load, the ground, the equipment and the site's procedures. A posture that works for lifting a bag from a pallet at waist height is useless for carrying a 2.4 m sheet up a stair, and no posture makes a 6 m length of 13 mm board a one-person job.

Know your limits and when not to lift

Know your own capability on the day — fatigue, heat, an existing niggle, the end of a long week
Do not lift a load you cannot see over, cannot grip, or cannot set down under control
Do not carry a load up a ladder that takes a hand off the ladder — use a hoist, rope or a second person
Do not take a load through a route you have not walked
Ask for a second person or an aid rather than proving something
Stop if the lift does not go as planned; set down, reassess, then try again differently
Report what happened so the task can be fixed for the next person

Practical scenario

Scenario: halfway up the stair

You and an apprentice are carrying a 4.2 m length of 190 by 45 LVL up a stair to the first floor. Halfway up, the apprentice at the bottom says it is slipping and the top end catches the stair ceiling.

What should you do?

Reveal the explanation

Call stop, and both of you set the beam down on the stair treads under control — do not try to save it by taking the weight yourself. Reassess: the beam probably needs to come through a window opening or up by hoist, or needs a rope on the top end and clear calls from the person who can see. A long, heavy member on a stair is a sudden-force incident waiting to happen; it is not a job to push through.

Practical scenario

Scenario: the last hour

It is 36 degrees, the pour started at six, and at three o'clock the concreter is still barrowing the last few loads because the pump left early. He is tired and starting to stumble on the boards.

What is the safe call?

Reveal the explanation

Stop the barrow runs. Fatigue and heat remove the control that makes a loaded barrow manageable, and the next stumble on the boards is a back or a wrist. Get water and shade, get another person on the barrow or a motorised barrow, or hold the remaining concrete for the pump. Then note at the next pre-start that the pump left before the pour was finished, so the sequence is fixed next time.

Knowledge check

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

1. Which statement about lifting technique is correct?

2. During a two-person carry, the person at the back calls stop. What should happen?

3. Which is the better way to move a loaded wheelbarrow across soft, rutted ground?

4. A load is heavier than you expected when you tilt it to test it. What is the appropriate action?