What the employer must do

First, avoid it (article 3.1)

The employer must take technical or organisational measures to avoid manual handling, above all with mechanical equipment: pallet trucks, forklifts, lift tables, conveyors, hoists. This is the «avoid risks» principle of Law 31/1995 (article 15).

If it cannot be avoided (article 3.2)

• Organise the work and give you suitable means to reduce the risk.
• Assess the risk using the factors in the annex: the load, the effort, the environment, the demands of the activity and your personal factors.

Training, information and health

• Training on the correct way to handle loads and the risks of not doing so (article 4), free and during working hours (Law 31/1995, article 19).
• Information on the weight of loads and, if the contents are off-centre, on their centre of gravity or heavier side (article 4).
• Consultation of workers (article 5) and health surveillance if handling is habitual and there are risk factors (article 6).

Source: Real Decreto 487/1997, sobre manipulación manual de cargas (manual handling of loads; consolidated text, in Spanish), articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 · Ley 31/1995, de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales (Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks, in Spanish), articles 15 and 19