It will help you understand the level of risk for the most common risk factors associated with these tasks. It will also help to identify where control measures could be put in place to eliminate or minimise the risks of discomfort, pain, or injury.

Originally developed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the United Kingdom, WorkSafe New Zealand has adapted the tool for use in Aotearoa New Zealand. To reflect these changes and to differentiate from the original HSE version, we have called our document The New Zealand manual handling assessment charts (NZMAC). The risk factor categories, descriptions, and scoring system remain largely unchanged from the original tool.

The NZMAC is currently only available in PDF format.

Alternatively, you could use the HSE’s online UK MAC tool(external link)

Development of the NZMAC

For more information on how the manual handling screening tools were developed, read Development of hazardous manual task risk assessment for use in Aotearoa New Zealand 

1. Identify the tasks to assess

   Choose tasks that you know are 'hard work' or that workers complain about.

2. Check that the NZMAC is the best tool to use

   Look at the table below and decide if the NZMAC is the right assessment tool. The NZMAC is made up of three assessments.

   Use the NZMAC for these tasks

   Do not use the NZMAC for these tasks

   Lifting or lowering Carrying Team handling Carry on to Step 3 below.

   Pushing or pulling Use: Risk assessment of pushing and pulling (NZRAPP) (Ref 5) Repetitive use of the upper limbs Use: Assessment of repetitive tasks of the upper limbs (NZART) tool (Ref 6) Moving or handling people Refer to WorkSafe's Moving and handling people in the healthcare industry (Ref 7) and ACC's Moving and Handling People: The New Zealand Guidelines(external link) (Ref 8) Manual handling while seated (loads are more than 5kg for men or 3kg for women) Further investigation of the contributory risk factors is recommended. Use the Contributing factors for musculoskeletal risks checklist (Ref 9) or other assessment tools, or seek specialist advice from a qualified professional. Carrying on the shoulder without lifting first Further investigation of the contributory risk factors is recommended. Use the Contributing factors for musculoskeletal risks checklist (Ref 9) or other assessment tools, or seek specialist advice from a qualified professional.

3. Engage with workers (Ref 10)

   The key to effective risk assessment is making sure you talk to workers. To best understand the risks, you should complete the NZMAC with your workers.

   • Ask workers about the manual handling risks from their work and if they have any ideas on how to manage these risks.
   • Aim to gain insight into the demands of the job from the perspectives of all workers carrying out the task.

4. Observe the task carefully

   Make sure that you look at how the task is being carried out by workers – not how you assume it is. Videoing it may help, but make sure to follow the privacy principles outlined in the Privacy Act 2020.

5. Select the type of assessment to carry out

   Decide if the task involves lifting, carrying, or team handling. If a task involves lifting and carrying, consider assessing each one separately.

6. Follow the appropriate assessment guide and flowchart

   Work through the assessment guide to determine the level of risk for each risk factor. Always assess the worst-case scenario if unsure.

7. Fill in the score sheet

   Manually enter the colour bands and numerical scores on the score sheet. You can use a hard copy or the online PDF NZMAC interactive score sheet

   You can also use the online UK MAC tool(external link) that will take you through the assessment and automatically complete the score sheet.

8. Understanding the scores

   The score sheet can be used in several ways to:

   • identify which risk factors to look at more closely. For example, the risk factor results that were scored as purple, red or amber, and to
   • compare tasks by looking at the total score when more than one assessment has been completed. Use these total scores only to prioritise which task to look at first. Those with the highest total scores should be prioritised first. The total scores do not indicate if a task has low, medium, high, or unacceptable risk.

9. Manage the risk

   Look for ways of changing the task to reduce high risk factors (those that are scored as purple or red) to amber or green, and to reduce amber risk factors to green.

   • Use the hierarchy of control measures to decide what control measures to use (see Identifying, assessing and managing work risks (Ref 4)).
   • Involve your workers as they might have already thought of how to manage the risk or how to make the task easier.

10. Is further investigation needed?

    When you have completed your assessments using the NZMAC, you may want to consider other contributing factors in more detail. The Contributing factors for musculoskeletal risks checklist (Ref 9) can be used to identify these factors. Other assessment tools that focus on different risk factors may provide you with more information and ideas for controls. You can also seek specialist advice from a qualified professional by using the HASANZ Register.