The Regulations cover any task involving the lifting, carrying, lowering, pushing, pulling or moving of loads by human power. These tasks are often carried out in ergonomic conditions which may pose a risk to workers' health, particularly in terms of the development of musculoskeletal disorders.

An important innovation of the Regulations is that the employer must always use appropriate lifting equipment when the load level is high and assess the risk of manual handling of loads using the Key Indicator Method or another comparable method that ensures the same level of safety and health. The manual handling risk assessment has become a mandatory part of the general risk assessment that employers are required to prepare in accordance with Article 17 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The Labour Inspectorate welcomes the introduction of the Regulations as an important step forward in the protection of workers' health and will continue to carry out inspections to verify employers' compliance with these new safety requirements.

The risk assessment for musculoskeletal disorders from manual handling of loads must include a record of:

• • the name and key indicators of the chosen risk assessment method,
  • the risk factors identified as listed in Annex 1 of the Regulation,
  • the results of the measurements of the measurable risk factors (for example: time, mass, frequency, forces, thermal conditions),
  • the estimated level of risk; and
  • measures to eliminate or reduce the risks present.

When assigning tasks, employers must take into account the medical capabilities of workers as determined by the medical certificates of occupational health practitioners. In addition to the medical condition, employers must also take into account the age, sex and physical capacity of the worker.

Employers are obliged to inform workers of the risks to which they may be exposed and to give them theoretical and practical training in safe manual handling.

In August this year, the Labour Inspectorate launched targeted inspections in this area, with 77 inspections carried out by 25 October 2024 on employers, both small and large, mainly in the construction, manufacturing and trade sectors.

The findings so far show that most of the smaller employers inspected, especially those employing between one and 49 workers, did not assess the risks and implement safety measures in line with the new requirements of the Regulations in time for 1 August. Many of these employers did not start implementing the measures until after the entry into force of the Regulations or after the inspection.