Manual Handling Training in South Australia

South Australia's WHS laws and the manual tasks duty

South Australia adopted the model work health and safety laws on 1 January 2013, a year after the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory. The Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) sets out the general duties, and SafeWork SA is the regulator responsible for it.

Under the Act, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must provide the information, training, instruction or supervision needed to protect everyone from risks arising from the work. Regulation 60 of the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA) then adds a specific duty: the PCBU must manage the risk of musculoskeletal disorders associated with hazardous manual tasks.

The focus of that duty is the task rather than the worker's technique. It asks what makes a task risky, whether that is the load, the posture, the pace, the equipment or the surroundings, and how those factors can be changed.

SafeWork SA's code, tools and view of lifting training

South Australia's approved codes include the Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice. SafeWork SA publishes the 2020 edition together with tools for putting it into practice: one for identifying hazardous tasks, one for assessing and controlling the risk, a risk register template, a self-assessment tool for the overall safety system, and a discomfort survey designed to bring early reports of pain to light.

On lifting technique, SafeWork SA does not hedge. It makes available the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities national position paper on 'how to lift' training, states that research finds this kind of training ineffective at preventing injuries from hazardous manual tasks because it leaves the risk factors in place, and says a business that relies on it is not meeting its risk management duties.

What training should cover instead is set out in section 4.10 of the code: doing the work safely with the aids, equipment and procedures provided; reporting problems, such as a faulty mechanical aid; and understanding how hazardous manual tasks are identified, assessed and controlled.

When training is needed and how it is recorded

Training is not a one-off induction item in SafeWork SA's view. It links manual tasks training to moments of change: a new starter, new equipment or a new process, risk that remains after higher-order controls are in place, and changes to the law.

Employers are also expected to keep records of manual tasks training that show the date, the topics covered, the trainer and the people who attended. Holding your own copies of certificates and practical sign-offs in one place makes those records easy to confirm.

South Australian law does not mandate one particular manual handling certificate. The PCBU must provide the training, information, instruction and supervision needed for safe work, and each employer decides what it requires; some ask for HLTWHS005, which is different from a Certificate of Completion. Nor is there a universal legal lifting limit in kilograms, so every task is assessed and controlled on its own terms.

Manual tasks from Adelaide to the regions

Across Greater Adelaide, warehouse and distribution workers pick and stack stock at pace, construction and trade workers carry materials and work in awkward positions on housing and commercial sites, and cleaners push trolleys and machines through offices, schools and hospitals. Hospitality and retail staff lift deliveries and stock, from city venues to cellar doors in wine regions such as the Barossa and McLaren Vale.

Nurses, disability support workers, aged care workers and childcare educators handle people rather than cartons, and a person can move unexpectedly or need more support than last time. Outside Adelaide, in the Riverland, the Limestone Coast or the Eyre Peninsula, work can mean smaller teams, longer drives between jobs and more time working alone.

South Australia's hot summers add to the physical load. Heat makes repeated handling more tiring, adds to the effort of pushing and pulling, and makes it harder to concentrate late in a shift, whether on a roof, at a loading dock or in a commercial kitchen. Heat and fatigue belong in the task assessment alongside the load, the environment and the equipment.

Practical steps for South Australian workers

Whatever your industry, these are worth acting on:

• If the only manual handling training you have had is a lifting demonstration, ask how the tasks themselves are being changed; SafeWork SA does not accept technique training as enough on its own.
• Expect further training when you start, when equipment or processes change, and when some risk remains after other controls are in place.
• Keep your certificate with your practical sign-offs, since employers are expected to record the date, topics, trainer and attendees for manual tasks training.
• If your workplace uses SafeWork SA's discomfort survey, answer it honestly; its purpose is to put early pain on record before it turns into an injury.
• On hot days, raise heat and fatigue with your supervisor as part of the task assessment, especially for pushing, pulling and repeated lifting.

Where an online course fits in South Australia

Online learning suits the knowledge side of section 4.10: understanding how hazardous manual tasks are identified, assessed and controlled, and why early reporting matters. Manual Handling Academy has a course for each of nine industries. Training and assessment are free, and after you pass you can pay A$49 for a Certificate of Completion with a unique number and a QR code that anyone can check online.

This is not Nationally Recognised Training, and it carries no endorsement from SafeWork SA or any other regulator. Your employer still needs to train you on the aids, equipment and procedures at your own workplace; the certificate records the theory and sits alongside that practical sign-off.

Common questions

Other states and territories

• Manual handling training in New South Wales
• Manual handling training in Victoria
• Manual handling training in Queensland
• Manual handling training in Western Australia
• Manual handling training in Tasmania
• Manual handling training in the Australian Capital Territory
• Manual handling training in the Northern Territory
• All guides by industry