How often is moving and handling training required in care

Regulation 4 of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 says every employer must avoid hazardous manual handling so far as is reasonably practicable, assess what cannot be avoided and reduce the risk; the regulation names no training interval, and neither does section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Skills for Care recommends refreshing assisting and moving people training at least every 3 years, and sooner when a person's needs, a risk or the equipment changes. Hoists and slings run on their own clock: the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) require a thorough examination at least every 6 months where lifting equipment for people, or a lifting accessory, is exposed to conditions that cause dangerous deterioration, unless an examination scheme sets other intervals.

This page covers care homes and homecare agencies in England registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as checked on 9 October 2026. The full training list is in mandatory training for care workers in the UK.

Does the law set a moving and handling training interval?

No training interval appears in the legislation read for this guide. Each text sets a duty and leaves the timing to you.

Regulation 4(1) of the 1992 Regulations is a 3 step duty: avoid hazardous handling where reasonably practicable, assess what remains, and reduce the risk. Regulation 2, reprinted in guidance L23 from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), says a load "includes any person and any animal", so a hoist transfer is covered as much as a laundry trolley. Regulation 4(3)(c) lists "his knowledge and training" among the factors in judging risk, and regulation 4(2) says you must review the assessment if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the handling operations.

Section 2(2)(c) of the 1974 Act adds the duty to provide "information, instruction, training and supervision". Regulation 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 comes nearest to a refresher rule: training at recruitment and on new or increased risks, such as new equipment or a new system of work, which shall "be repeated periodically where appropriate". Regulation 13 does not define "periodically".

What does HSE say about moving and handling training?

HSE says training helps but does not make handling safe on its own:

Training can be important in raising awareness and reducing risk, but it won't ensure safe manual handling on its own. You should first design the manual handling operations to be as safe as reasonably practicable. You should also monitor and review procedures to make sure workers understand and apply them.

Health and Safety Executive, "Manual handling at work", 5. Training

L23 says HSE publishes no prescriptive guidance on what a good course should contain or how long it should last. L23 asks for a planned program of basic training "as well as updates when necessary", with new starters trained before they start or as close to it as possible.

Knowing who was trained, when and on what content helps you "identify when refresher training might be needed". L23 also says: "It is essential that you instruct your employees in the safe ways to use any lifting and handling aids provided."

HSE's health and social care overview, updated 12 January 2026, tells CQC registered providers with premises in England that CQC is "the relevant regulatory body for patient safety matters".

How often does Skills for Care recommend a refresher?

At least every 3 years, plus whenever something changes. Skills for Care's Statutory and mandatory training guide, updated December 2025, asks whether the worker supports people with assisting and moving: "If yes, training is required."

The guide's refresher is event led first (when care and support needs change, a new risk or activity appears or new equipment arrives), then at least every 3 years if the worker has had no additional training in that time. Moving and handling objects is a separate row with a 3 year minimum, which a recognized adult social care qualification covering the topic resets.

Names differ by source. Skills for Care says assisting and moving, the Care Certificate glossary notes "moving and handling" in health and "moving and positioning" in social care, and HSE says people handling. Skills for Care also lists assisting and moving as a key task for observed competency checks, and leaves you to set how often they happen.

Can a moving and handling refresher be done online?

For the Care Certificate, the knowledge criteria can be evidenced through written answers or eLearning with questions, but the practical criterion cannot. The pages read for this guide do not say whether a refresher itself may be delivered online. Delivery methods across all topics are covered in care training online or face to face in England.

The Care Certificate splits the topic into 13.3a (legislation), 13.3b (tasks a worker may not carry out until competent) and 13.3c (moving and assisting people and objects safely, with dignity). The assessor guide accepts written answers or multiple choice questions for 13.3a and 13.3b, but has 13.3c observed in the workplace during normal duties, with role play or simulation only for workers whose setting involves no moving and handling of individuals. In the guide's words, "eLearning is primarily a way to acquire and demonstrate knowledge, not skill."

HSE's training list ends with "practical work so the trainer can identify anything the trainee is not doing safely and put it right". L23 adds: "To be successful, good handling technique needs both training and practice."

PUWER regulation 9 says every employer must ensure that all persons who use work equipment, and any employees who supervise or manage its use, have received adequate training in its methods, risks and precautions. A course run on a demonstration hoist may not match your hoist, and HSE warns that sling sizes and coding vary between manufacturers.

The online part can show your own equipment too. For a trucking company's onboarding, we used photos of its own trucks and a video from inside a truck showing the in-cab software. In a care course, that means pictures of the hoists and slings your staff use.

How often do hoists and slings need examining?

At least every 6 months. LOLER regulation 9(3)(a)(i) sets that interval for "lifting equipment for lifting persons or an accessory for lifting" where conditions cause deterioration liable to result in dangerous situations, and an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person can replace it. HSE's equipment page describes slings as lifting accessories, and its examinations page gives 6 months for all lifting accessories and says they "do not normally need formal inspection" if proper pre-use checks are made and they undergo their standard thorough examination.

LOLER also requires an examination before first use (with exceptions), after installation where safety depends on it, and after exceptional circumstances, which HSE says may include damage and long periods out of use. HSE says the examiner's written report gives the examination date, the next due date and any defects that are or could become a danger, and that you keep the equipment out of use until a defect that is, or could become, a danger to people is remedied.

HSE says each sling needs to be uniquely identifiable, and warns that permanent markers containing solvents such as Xylene can weaken the fabric. Who arranges the examination of a hoist in your client's own home was not covered in the pages read for this guide; HSE points to its sheet HSIS4, How LOLER applies to health and social care, which was not read here.

What does CQC look for in moving and handling?

What does Regulation 18 expect?

Training and equipment that line up. Regulation 18(2)(a) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires the training your staff need for their duties, and Regulation 12(2)(c) and (e) require competent staff and safe equipment used in a safe way. The wider frame is in the guides for care homes and domiciliary care.

CQC's Regulation 12 guidance reads: "Providers must make sure that equipment is suitable for its purpose, properly maintained and used correctly and safely. This includes making sure that staff using the equipment have the training, competency and skills needed." CQC's Regulation 18 guidance expects supervision, where appropriate, until staff can demonstrate competence. No moving and handling interval was found in the CQC pages read for this guide.

Which records might an inspector ask for?

Which records an inspector asks for was not found in the pages read for this guide, and CQC calls its evidence lists "a guide, not a checklist". Four records cover what HSE, CQC and Skills for Care ask of you:

• A handling risk assessment for each person, recorded if you have 5 or more staff, per HSE, and reviewed regularly by competent people, per CQC's Regulation 12 guidance.
• A training record of who was trained, when and on what, as L23 recommends; CQC's Regulation 18 guidance says training "should be monitored".
• A competence sign off, since Skills for Care says employers check and evidence competence on an ongoing basis.
• A thorough examination report for every hoist and sling, with the next due date.

New services also send CQC a staff training plan stating "how often refresher training will happen for each topic, if applicable". You state your chosen interval there; the pages read for this guide do not say how an inspector uses the staff training plan.

How do you plan moving and handling refreshers?

You need 4 documents: a handling assessment for each person, a training matrix with 2 dates per worker (theory and observed practical), a refresher calendar and a hoist and sling log. Free tools: L23 (an HSE download), HSE's moving and handling pages, the Skills for Care guide and the Care Certificate standards.

1. List who moves people, and on what. Ask Skills for Care's question for each role, and note the hoists, slings and slide sheets each worker uses.
2. Update each person's handling assessment. HSE lists what goes in, from what the person can do alone to the type of hoist, the sling size and the number of staff for each transfer, day and night; the assessor usually needs specific training.
3. Book theory and practice separately. Online learning with an assessment can help evidence the knowledge; the practical belongs on the hoists and slings your staff use, because PUWER regulation 9 covers training in the methods and risks of the equipment itself and sling sizes and coding vary between manufacturers.
4. Observe and sign off each worker moving a person during normal duties, and keep them supervised until then.
5. Set the refresher calendar. Last training date plus 3 years, brought forward for a change in someone's needs, a new hoist or sling, a new risk or a new role; record the interval in your staff training plan.
6. Keep the hoist and sling log: identifier, last examination, next due date within 6 months, defects and the action taken.
7. Review after incidents, checking injuries, near misses and sickness absence against your training record.

These are working estimates for a service of about 30 staff, not HSE, CQC or Skills for Care figures; L23 says HSE publishes no prescriptive guidance on course length.

Which moving and handling mistakes cost the most?

1. An online certificate and nothing else. Criterion 13.3c is observed in the workplace.
2. Training on someone else's hoist. Sling sizes and coding vary between manufacturers.
3. A sling with no identifier, or a lapsed 6 month report. LOLER sets the interval; HSE says slings need to be uniquely identifiable.
4. A 3 year clock that ignores change. A change in a person's needs is Skills for Care's first trigger.
5. Treating training as the control. L23 puts it in bold: "Providing information and training alone will not ensure safe manual handling".

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Other questions about moving and handling training

How often is moving and handling training required?

No interval was found in the legislation read for this guide; the 1999 Regulations say training shall be repeated periodically where appropriate. Skills for Care recommends a refresher at least every 3 years if the worker has had no other training, and sooner when needs change or a new risk, activity or piece of equipment appears.

Is moving and handling training a legal requirement?

Yes, as a duty rather than a set course. Section 2(2)(c) of the 1974 Act and regulation 9 of PUWER require training, and regulation 13 of the 1999 Regulations sets a duty on recruitment and on new or increased risks; none of them names a course.

Can moving and handling training for carers be done online?

The knowledge part can. Criterion 13.3c is observed in the workplace, and HSE's training list includes practical work.

How often do hoists need a LOLER examination?

At least every 6 months for lifting equipment that lifts people and for lifting accessories, or as an examination scheme sets.

Can a new carer move people before training?

L23 says training should happen before or as close to the start as possible, and CQC's guidance expects supervision until competence is shown.