Unit 40: Understanding and Enabling Assisting and Moving Individuals

This unit area covers assisting and moving individuals safely and respectfully. The links on this page take you to each learning outcome, but the aim overall is simple: reduce risk, protect health, and maintain the person’s dignity while supporting mobility and everyday activities.

Manual handling is not just “lifting”. It includes any transporting or supporting of a load, and in care that often means supporting a person to move, stand, transfer, reposition, or use equipment. Good practice starts with key concepts like risk, hazards, risk assessment, the care plan, and an ergonomic approach. In day-to-day work, this means thinking ahead and using safer methods rather than relying on strength.

Legislation and agreed ways of working sit behind everything you do. In the UK, assisting and moving should reflect health and safety duties, including the need to avoid hazardous manual handling where possible, assess unavoidable risks, and reduce them so far as reasonably practicable. Your workplace policies, moving and handling plans, equipment checks, and training are there to protect both the individual and staff. Following them is part of professional accountability, not optional.

Understanding the impact on the body matters because injuries are common when technique, planning, or equipment use slips. You do not need to be an anatomist, but you do need a basic grasp of what is at risk: backs, shoulders, hips, and knees for workers; skin integrity, joints, and comfort for individuals. Unsafe movement can lead to falls, pain, pressure damage, tears to fragile skin, anxiety, and loss of confidence. It can also have legal consequences for organisations when avoidable harm occurs, which is why careful documentation and adherence to policy are taken seriously.

Equipment is there to support safer movement and independence. Depending on the setting, this could include slide sheets, transfer boards, hoists, stand aids, mobility belts, profiling beds, wheelchairs, and specialist seating. The “right” aid depends on the person’s assessed needs, the task, the environment, and staff competence. Never improvise with unsuitable items. If something is missing, faulty, or you are unsure, stop and seek advice.

Your role includes preparing the environment before the move. That means checking the care plan and moving and handling risk assessment, completing safety checks on equipment as required locally, and applying standard infection prevention and control precautions. It also means practical steps: clearing clutter, positioning the chair or wheelchair correctly, ensuring privacy, managing cables, and making sure there is enough space for equipment and staff. Dignity is part of safety. A rushed, exposed transfer can increase distress and resistance, raising risk for everyone.

Supporting the individual to prepare is just as important as preparing the room. Communication should be calm and respectful, using a method the person can understand. Gain valid consent where appropriate, and help the person participate as much as they can. Some people want to do more for themselves than is safe within their plan; others may feel anxious and freeze. Where wishes conflict with the assessed plan, your job is to explain the reasons, seek guidance, and follow escalation routes rather than taking unsafe shortcuts. You will sometimes need to pause and involve a senior, therapist, or nurse to review the plan.

During the move, follow the assessed technique step by step. Keep talking to the person, checking for pain, dizziness, breathlessness, or distress. Coordinate clearly with colleagues using agreed commands so everyone moves together. If something changes mid-task (for example, the person becomes weak, equipment feels unstable, or the person refuses), stop safely and reassess. Knowing your limitations is a sign of competence, not failure.

Reporting and recording is part of safe practice. People’s mobility can change quickly due to illness, fatigue, medication, or confidence. Environments change too, as do equipment availability and condition. If you notice changes that affect safe moving and handling, report them promptly and document in line with local policy so risk assessments and care plans can be updated.

For example, in a supported living bathroom, a person who normally completes a standing transfer may become unsteady after a poor night’s sleep. Adjusting the plan for that shift—using a stand aid and an extra worker, if assessed and available—can prevent a fall. In a care home bedroom, taking two minutes to remove a footstool and reposition a chair can be the difference between a smooth hoist transfer and a collision risk.

As you work through the links on this page, keep a steady focus on planning, communication, equipment, and dignity. Good assisting and moving practice protects bodies, confidence, and trust.

1. Understand the key concepts of manual handling in relation to assisting and moving individuals

2. Understand the impact of assisting and moving for workers and individuals

  • 2.1 Describe the basic anatomy of the human body affected by assisting and moving
  • 2.2 Describe a range of aids and equipment that is available for assisting and moving individuals
  • 2.3 Describe the potential injuries to the worker which may arise by failing to follow approved assisting and moving techniques
  • 2.4 Describe the potential injuries to the individual which may arise by failing to follow approved assisting and moving techniques
  • 2.5 Describe the potential legal consequences of injuries to the individual

3. Understand the role of workers and others in relation to assisting and moving

  • 3.1 Describe responsibilities of worker’s own role in relation to assisting and moving individuals
  • 3.2 Identify limitations of worker’s own role in relation to assisting and moving individuals
  • 3.3 Describe the role of others in relation to assisting and moving
  • 3.4 Describe when advice and/or assistance should be sought to assist or move an individual safely

4. Be able to prepare an environment before assisting and moving an individual

  • 4.1 Describe why necessary preparatory checks are completed including: • the individual’s care plan, • moving and handling risk assessment, • legal requirements for the safety of equipment
  • 4.2 Demonstrate that standard precautions for infection prevention and control are applied to: • the worker, • the individual, • equipment
  • 4.3 Identify any immediate risks to the individual and how these should be assessed both formally (documented) and informally (on the spot)
  • 4.4 Describe the use of written risk assessment tools in relation to identified risks
  • 4.5 Describe the steps that should be taken to ensure the environment supports an individual’s dignity during assisting and moving activities
  • 4.6 Describe the additional risk factors that need to be considered when working with one or more colleagues to provide mobility assistance
  • 4.7 Demonstrate how to prepare the immediate environment, ensuring: • adequate space for the move in agreement with all concerned, • that potential hazards are removed, • that any equipment has been checked as safe to use

5. Be able to support the individual to prepare before assisting and moving

  • 5.1 Communicate to ensure that, where applicable, the individual: • can provide valid consent where appropriate, • can participate in the procedure, • can communicate how much they wish to do for themselves, • can agree the level of support required, • understands why and how an action/activity is being undertaken.
  • 5.2 Describe what actions should be taken when the individual’s wishes conflict with their plan of care in relation to health and safety and their risk assessment.
  • 5.3 Describe where to seek advice and assistance if the individual’s wishes conflict with their care plan

6. Be able to assist and move an individual in accordance with the individual’s risk assessment and care plan

  • 6.1 Demonstrate that the care plan is followed in a way that is satisfactory to the individual.
  • 6.2 Communicate with the individual throughout, in order to provide support and reassurance.
  • 6.3 Communicate with the individual to ensure that assisting and moving techniques are not causing any undue pain or discomfort.
  • 6.4 Demonstrate the appropriate use of equipment in order to maintain the individual in the appropriate position.
  • 6.5 Observe the individual throughout the activity so that movement can be stopped if there is an adverse reaction.
  • 6.6 Communicate with any co-workers throughout the manoeuvre where appropriate.
  • 6.7 Identify when to seek advice or assistance in order to prevent harm or danger to the individual or self

7. Be able to report and record changes that may affect the individual’s care and support plan for assisting and moving

  • 7.1 Describe what changes may occur in relation to: • the individual, • environment, • equipment. and how this may impact on the care and support plan of an individual
  • 7.2 Describe how changes should be reported and recorded

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