It will help you assess the most common risk factors for:

• moving loads on wheels, such as hand trolleys, pump trucks, carts, wheelbarrows, or
• moving loads without wheels, such as when objects are dragged/slid, rolled, or involve a combination of pivoting and rolling known as churning.

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 risk assessment of pushing and pulling (NZRAPP). The risk factor categories, descriptions, and scoring system remain largely unchanged from the original tool.

The NZRAPP is currently only available in PDF format.

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

Development of the NZRAPP

For more information on how the manual handling screening tools were developed, read Development of the New Zealand risk assessment of pushing and pulling (NZRAPP)

Manual handling is the transporting or supporting of a load by hand or bodily force. It includes lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, moving, or carrying a load. A load is any type of moveable object such as a box, container, person, animal, or trolley.

Manual handling may be considered a hazardous manual task. Hazardous manual tasks have one or more of the following characteristics:

• high, sudden, repetitive, or sustained forces
• repetitive movements
• sustained or awkward postures or
• exposure to vibration.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers and others.

This means PCBUs (businesses) must, so far as reasonably practicable, manage health and safety risks associated with WRMSDs (Ref 2 and 3).

The Risk Assessment of Pushing and Pulling (RAPP) (Ref 1) was developed in the United Kingdom (UK) by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is designed to help businesses assess the key risks in manual pushing and pulling tasks that involve whole-body effort. For example, moving loaded trolleys or roll cages, dragging, hauling, sliding, or rolling loads.

The RAPP has been adapted by WorkSafe New Zealand to reflect New Zealand legislation. This version is known as the New Zealand Risk Assessment of Pushing and Pulling (NZRAPP).

The NZRAPP can help you to:

• identify high-risk pushing and pulling tasks
• prioritise which tasks should be considered first
• check the effectiveness of control measures to eliminate or minimise the risk of discomfort, pain, and injury.

Use NZRAPP to assess pushing or pulling tasks where loads are moved:

• on non-powered wheeled equipment. For example, loads are moved on hand trolleys, pump trucks, carts, or wheelbarrows (Section 2)
• without wheels. For example, loads are dragged, slid, rolled, or pivoted and rolled along the base edges by a churning action (churned) (Section 3).

The NZRAPP is made up of:

• an assessment guide – provides detailed information to help you determine the level of risk for each risk factor
• a flowchart – provides an overview of the risk factors and assessment process
• a score sheet – provides a place to record information about the task and the assessment findings.

The NZRAPP uses a traffic light system to indicate the risk level for each risk factor:

The NZRAPP is aimed at those responsible for health and safety in workplaces to identify, assess, and manage musculoskeletal health risks. It can be used by:

• PCBUs (businesses), (the 'you' in this tool)
• health and safety generalists such as advisors and managers
• health and safety specialists (for example, human factors/ergonomics professionals, occupational health nurses, occupational health physiotherapists, vocational occupational therapists)
• workers and their representatives
• health and safety inspectors.

If you need help to use NZRAPP, you could use a qualified health and safety specialist with the right training, skills, and expertise. You could use the HASANZ Register(external link) to find one.

Be aware that some professional groups will have more knowledge and expertise than others in the use of these assessment methods and the interventions and controls that reduce musculoskeletal health risks.

1. Identify the tasks to assess

Choose pushing or pulling tasks that involve whole-body effort.

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

Look at the table below and decide if the NZRAPP is the right assessment tool.

3. Engage with workers (Ref 7)

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

• Ask workers (and their representatives) about the pushing and pulling tasks they perform and if they have any ideas on how to manage the musculoskeletal risks.
• Aim to gain insight into the demands of the job from the perspectives of all workers (or a representative sample) 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 done. Workers may complete tasks in differing ways, so 'normal practice' may vary.
• Videoing the task 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 pushing or pulling loads on non-powered wheeled equipment (Section 2) or if the loads are moved without wheels (Section 3).

6. Follow the assessment guides and flowcharts to complete the assessment

Work through the appropriate assessment guide in Section 2 or 3 to determine the level of risk for each risk factor. Always assess the worst-case scenario.

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 PDF NZRAPP score sheet.

You can also use the online UK RAPP 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
• compare tasks by looking at the total score when more than one assessment has been completed. Use these scores 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.

You can do this by using the hierarchy of control measures to decide what controls to use (see Identifying, assessing and managing work risks (Ref 4)).

• First, consider if it is reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk (for example, through redesign or automation).
• If not possible, consider how the risk can be minimised (for example, by substituting tools or components).
• Alongside these higher order control measures, you may also need to consider administrative controls. For example, task rotation, break schedules, and training to support the work system.

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 NZRAPP, you may want to consider other contributing factors in more detail. The Contributing factors for musculoskeletal risks checklist (Ref 6) 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.

• Identify the type of equipment used to move loads: small, medium, or large (listed below). If different types of equipment are used, do an assessment for each type.
• If more than 1 piece of loaded equipment is moved at a time (for example, 2 trolleys are pushed at the same time), assess the total load moved.
• Find out the total load moved. This includes the weight of the equipment and the weight of load on the equipment. Check the equipment or load labels, ask the workers, or weigh.
• If the same equipment is used to move different loads, then assess the equipment with the heaviest load that is likely to be moved.
• The illustrations in each section are only a guide that show examples of small, medium, or large-sized equipment. Use them to help you identify the size of the equipment used in the pushing or pulling task you are assessing.

• Observe the general positions of the hands and the body during the pushing or pulling task.
• The descriptions will also help you decide which score to select.

• Observe how the hand(s) grip or contact the equipment during pushing or pulling.
• If the task involves both pushing and pulling, assess the hand grip for both actions.

• Observe the work, and decide whether:
  • the task is repetitive (for example, 5 or more transfers occur per minute), and
  • whether the worker sets the pace of work.
• Ask workers about their pattern of breaks and other opportunities to rest or recover from the work.

• Determine the distance from start to finish for a single trip:
  • if the task is not repetitive, do an assessment for the longest trip
  • if the task is repetitive, determine the average distance for at least 5 trips.

• Ask about the maintenance programme and observe the general condition of the equipment. For example, do the wheels, bearings, and brakes require repair or maintenance?

• Look at the condition of the surfaces along the route travelled.
• Determine the level of risk using the following criteria.

• Count the number of obstacles that occur along the pushing/pulling route.
• Obstacles may include pushing or pulling:
  • over cables
  • across raised edges
  • through closed doors, narrow doorways, screens, or confined spaces
  • around bends and corners or objects
  • up or down steps
  • up or down steep ramps (for example, with a gradient of more than 5°).
• If there is 1 obstacle but it is not steps or a steep ramp, the colour band is amber and the score is 2.
• If there are at least 2 obstacles, or loads are pushed or pulled up or down steps or steep ramps, the colour band is red and the score is 3. For example, if you push a load over 3 cables this is considered as 3 different obstacles and would be scored as R/3.

Identify any other factors, for example:

• the equipment or load is unstable
• the load is large and obstructs the worker's view of where they are moving
• the equipment or load is sharp, hot or otherwise potentially damaging to touch
• there are extreme lighting conditions (dark, bright, or poor contrast)
• there are extreme hot or cold temperatures, or high humidity
• there are gusts of wind or other strong air movements
• personal protective equipment or clothing makes using the equipment more difficult.

• Identify the work activity. If 2 or more activities are performed (for example, rolling and churning), do an assessment for each type of activity.
• Find out the weight of the load moved. For example, is it written on the label, ask the workers, or weigh.
• If 2 or more loads are moved at a time, assess the total weight moved.
• If you are moving different loads, assess the heaviest load.
• The illustrations in each section are only a guide to help you – they are not comprehensive.

• Observe the general positions of the hands and the body during the activity.

• Observe how the hand(s) grip or contact the load during pushing or pulling.
• If the task involves both pushing and pulling, assess the hand grip for both actions.

• Observe the work, and decide whether:
  • the task is repetitive (for example, 5 or more transfers occur per minute), and
  • whether the worker sets the pace of work.
• Ask workers about their pattern of breaks and other opportunities to rest or recover from the work.

• Determine the distance from start to finish for a single trip:
  • if the task is not repetitive, do an assessment for the longest trip
  • if the task is repetitive, determine the average distance for at least 5 trips.

• Look at the condition of the surfaces along the route travelled.
• Determine the level of risk using the following criteria.

• Count the number of obstacles that occur along the pushing/pulling route.
• Obstacles may include pushing or pulling:
  • over cables
  • across raised edges
  • through closed doors, narrow doorways, screens, or confined spaces
  • around bends and corners or objects
  • up or down steps
  • up or down steep ramps (for example, with a gradient of more than 5°).
• If there is 1 obstacle but it is not steps or a steep ramp, the colour band is amber and the score is 2.
• If there are at least 2 obstacles, or loads are pushed or pulled up or down steps or steep ramps, the colour band is red and the score is 3. For example, if you push a load over 3 cables this is considered as 3 different obstacles and would be scored as R/3.

Identify any other factors, for example:

• the equipment or load is unstable
• the load is large and obstructs the worker's view of where they are moving
• the equipment or load is sharp, hot or otherwise potentially damaging to touch
• there are extreme lighting conditions (dark, bright, or poor contrast)
• there are extreme hot or cold temperatures, or high humidity
• there are gusts of wind or other strong air movements
• personal protective equipment or clothing makes using the equipment more difficult.

1. Health and Safety Executive (2016). Risk assessment of pushing and pulling (RAPP) tool Leaflet INDG478. Risk assessment of pushing and pulling (RAPP) tool (hse.gov.uk)(external link)
2. WorkSafe New Zealand, (2023). Quick guide: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders and risk factors
3. WorkSafe New Zealand, (2023). Our approach to musculoskeletal health
4. WorkSafe New Zealand (2017). Identifying, assessing and managing work risks
5. WorkSafe New Zealand (2025). New Zealand Assessment of Repetitive Tasks (NZART)
6. WorkSafe (2024). Contributing factors for musculoskeletal risks checklist
7. WorkSafe (2023). Worker engagement, participation and representation

This document contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive (United Kingdom) and licenced under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

WorkSafe New Zealand has adapted the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE, UK) Risk assessment of pushing and pulling (RAPP) tool (Ref 1) for use in Aotearoa New Zealand. To reflect these changes and to differentiate from the original United Kingdom version, WorkSafe have called this document The New Zealand risk assessment of pushing and pulling (NZRAPP). The risk factor categories, descriptions, and scoring system remain largely unchanged from the original tool.