How do you run a manual handling risk assessment in 30 minutes?
Soter's manual handling workflow assesses tasks using industry-leading ergonomic frameworks, including NIOSH Lifting Index, RULA, REBA, and more, surfaces the top hazard factors, and ranks engineering, administrative, and PPE controls by effectiveness. Upload a photo or video of the task to see the workflow in action.
What a manual handling risk assessment does
Manual handling assessment identifies risk factors against accepted ergonomic frameworks.
The factors: lift weight, vertical travel distance, horizontal offset, repetition frequency, trunk asymmetry, coupling quality.
Three standards Safety Professionals rely on: NIOSH Lifting Index for lift-heavy tasks, RULA for upper-body posture, REBA for whole-body posture including floor work.
The workflow helps a Safety Professional choose the right framework for the task, document the inputs, and route the resulting controls into an auditable follow-up path.
Where manual-ergonomic assessment breaks at scale
Three bottlenecks are consistent across our customers.
- Observation bottleneck. A trained assessor walks the floor, scores each task manually, writes the report. One qualified assessor covers one plant slowly.
- Data bottleneck. Results live in PDFs, spreadsheets, sometimes SharePoint. Aggregating by site, role, shift, or task type for a corporate review is manual joinery.
- Closure bottleneck. A Lifting Index score is diagnostic. Without a ranked control list and an owner, it sits in a folder. Safety teams want the control assignment step, not just the hazard tag.
How the Soter workflow runs in about 30 minutes
- Capture the task. Upload a photo or a 30 to 60 second video from the field. The assessor confirms lift weight (typed in or read from the packaging label) and trip rate. No specialized equipment required.
- Choose the framework and score the task. The workflow guides the assessor through NIOSH Lifting Index, RULA, REBA, or another appropriate framework. Captured media and assessor inputs stay attached for review.
- Surface top hazard factors. The safety pro sees which posture, load, repetition, reach, or environmental factor to address first.
- Get ranked controls. Engineering controls first (lift-assist devices, mechanical aids, workstation redesign), then administrative (task rotation, shift staging, load-partitioning), then grip aids and other PPE. Ranking follows NIOSH and OSHA hierarchy-of-controls evidence.
- Assign, track, close. Each control gets an owner and a due date. The assessment is not closed until the controls land and verification is logged.
Who uses this workflow
- Safety Professionals at manufacturing plants with repetitive-lift operations (distribution, food production, building products)
- Warehousing and logistics EHS leads running pre-shift hazard reviews
- Ergonomics specialists embedded in insurance carrier loss-control teams
- Construction site safety leads running pre-task hazard analysis for high-frequency lifting jobs
What you get when you sign up
- Guided ergonomic framework selection for manual handling tasks
- Ranked control recommendations per hazard, editable and assignable
- Exportable audit PDF with the score, hazard factors, and full control plan
- Historical tracking across sites, roles, shifts, and task types
- Team sharing and control-assignment queue across EHS, operations, and maintenance