The Manual Handling Assessment Chart (MAC tool)


The MAC tool helps to identify high-risk manual handling activities in workplaces and is aimed at employers, employees and safety reps. The HSE makes clear that while using the MAC will help with the initial screening of possible high risk manual handling activities within the workplace, it is “not appropriate for all manual handling operations, and does not comprise a full “suitable and sufficient” risk assessment. It is unlikely to be acceptable if relied upon alone. It advises that a risk assessment will normally need to take account of additional factors such as an individual’s capabilities, and should conform to the requirements in the manual handling operations regulations.


The MAC incorporates a numerical and a traffic light approach (green — low level of risk, amber — medium level of risk, red — high level of risk and purple — very high level of risk) to highlight high risk manual handling tasks. There are three types of assessment that can be carried out with the MAC: lifting by one person, carrying by one person and team handling operations.