Do support workers need hoist training before using one?
Yes, and not just once. Before you operate a hoist with a participant you need practical, supervised training on that type of hoist and sling, instruction in that participant's manual handling plan, and your provider's sign-off that you are competent. A ceiling hoist in one SIL home, a mobile hoist in another and a stand-aid hoist in a third are different pieces of equipment, and a certificate from an online course does not cover any of them on its own. This guide explains what the training must include, why slings and safe working loads matter as much as the hoist itself, when a second worker is required, and what this course teaches in theory.
Last reviewed September 2026 · Applies to the Manual Handling Training for Disability Support Workers course.
Why the answer is always yes
A hoist takes the participant's whole weight off the floor. If a sling is the wrong size, a loop is on the wrong hook, the brakes are off on a slope or the battery dies mid-lift, the participant can fall, and the worker who tries to catch them is injured too. Hoist incidents are among the most serious manual handling events in disability support, which is why regulators, providers and occupational therapists all treat hoist use as something you are trained and signed off for, not something you pick up by watching.
Under work health and safety law your provider must give you the training, instruction and supervision needed to use equipment safely, so far as is reasonably practicable. The NDIS Practice Standards expect the safe use of equipment as part of a safe environment. A provider who lets an untrained worker operate a hoist is failing both, and a worker who agrees to do so is taking on a risk that the law never asks them to take.
What hoist training has to include
Equipment-specific training means the actual hoist model, not hoists in general. Controls, emergency lower, battery indicators, spreader bar design and sling attachment all differ between models. Participant-specific training means the sling type, size and loop settings written into that person's manual handling plan, how they respond to being lifted and what they do for themselves. Your provider should record both, and a new home with an unfamiliar hoist means asking for a walk-through before your first transfer, however experienced you are.
- Pre-use checks: battery charged, emergency lower works, brakes hold, castors roll, spreader bar and hooks undamaged, service tag in date
- Sling checks: correct type and size for this participant, no fraying, tears, loose stitching or faded labels, loops intact and label legible
- Safe working load: every hoist and sling is marked with one, and the lowest rating in the chain is the limit for the whole system
- Positioning: bed at working height, wheelchair braked and placed as the plan describes, floor clear, participant lifted only as high as needed
- Number of workers: many plans specify two for a hoist transfer, and a two-worker task is never done alone because the second worker is late
- What to do if the hoist stops mid-lift, the participant becomes distressed, or the sling starts to slip
Slings, weight ratings and the second worker
Most hoist problems are sling problems. Full-body, toileting, hammock and walking slings do different jobs, come in several sizes and use colour-coded loops that set the participant's position. The manual handling plan names the sling for each transfer. Borrowing a sling from another participant, using a size that is nearly right or putting a damp sling back into service after washing are all shortcuts that end in falls and skin tears.
Safe working loads are equipment limits, not rules about how much a worker may lift, and they are not a legal weight limit for people. A hoist rated higher than its sling is limited by the sling. Vehicle hoists include the wheelchair in their rating. If a participant and their equipment are approaching a rating, stop and raise it with your provider before the next transfer.
Whether a hoist transfer needs one worker or two is decided by the occupational therapist or physiotherapist and written into the plan, based on the participant's size, tone, behaviour and the space. It is not a staffing preference you can vary on a quiet shift. If the plan says two and you are alone, the transfer waits and your on-call coordinator finds a second worker.
What this course covers and where your provider takes over
Module 7, Equipment and Assistive Technology, covers ceiling, mobile and stand-aid hoists, sling types, pre-use checks, safe working loads and why you never improvise equipment. Module 6, Supporting Participants with Mobility, covers hoist transfers as part of following the manual handling plan, and Module 8, Reporting, Incidents and Ongoing Safety, covers what to report when a hoist or sling is faulty or a transfer goes wrong.
That is theory. The course states plainly that online text cannot teach you to operate equipment, and your Certificate of Completion should never be presented as hoist competency. Your provider's duty is to arrange hands-on training with a competent trainer on each hoist you will use, to sign you off for each participant, and to keep the equipment serviced. If you are asked to use a hoist you have not been trained on, saying so is exactly what your training is for.
Common questions
Sources
- Safe Work Australia — Model Code of Practice: Hazardous manual tasks — The national code the state and territory regulators adopt or mirror.
- Safe Work Australia — Lifting, pushing and pulling (manual tasks)
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — NDIS Practice Standards — Provider obligations; this course is not the NDIS Worker Orientation Module.
General information about Australian work health and safety duties, not legal advice. Your employer’s procedures and the regulator in your state take precedence.
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