Manual Handling Questions
CITB manual handling questions test whether you can spot a risky lift and reduce it, and the right answer usually avoids lifting by hand or uses the aid provided.
Most of them describe a job on site, then ask what you do first: use the trolley or hoist that is there, split the load, or get help. Our questions are built on the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and on HSE's guidance on them, known as L23. A common trap is the team lift, where adding a second person does not double the load you can safely move. Take the timed quiz below, then read the 10 sample questions further down, each with a worked explanation. Practise manual handling before your CITB Operatives Test or Specialist test.
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The timed manual handling quiz draws from our full manual handling set and shows a worked explanation after every answer. The quiz is free: 1 quiz every 7 days without an account, or 30 a day with a free account once you confirm your email. A paid plan gives you unlimited topic quizzes.
Free practice quiz
Manual Handling practice quiz (timed)
- questions
- 20
- questions
- minutes
- 30
- minutes
- to pass (90%)
- 18
- to pass (90%)
- Answers and explanations are shown at the end, with every question to review.
- A fresh set of questions every attempt, drawn across CITB's five core knowledge areas.
- About 90 seconds a question, against about 54 in the real test, so there is time to think.
- Every answer comes with a worked explanation.
Ready when you are
Find a quiet 30 minutes. The clock starts when you press start, and you see your score the moment you submit.
How do CITB manual handling questions usually ask it?
Manual handling questions usually set a scene on site and ask what you should do first, how a team should lift, or whether a short statement about loads is true.
| Question pattern | What it looks like, in our words | What the right answer usually does |
|---|---|---|
| Task scenario | A worker faces a heavy, awkward or repeated lift, and you choose the first step | Avoids the lift if it can, or uses the aid provided, before training or extra hands |
| Team lift | Two or more people must move a long or heavy load, and you choose how | Has one person call the lift, and plans for the team to handle less than the sum of what each could lift alone |
| True or false statement | A one-line claim about weight, aids or lifting that is either right or wrong | Rejects any claim that weight alone decides whether a lift is safe |
Read every option before you answer. Two choices often sound safe, and only one of them follows the order the law sets: avoid, then assess, then reduce the risk.
Which law and guidance are manual handling questions based on?
Our manual handling questions are built mainly on HSE's L23 guidance, with the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 for the duties themselves.
| Law or guidance | What the questions take from it |
|---|---|
| Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 | The order of duties (avoid, assess, reduce), your duty to make full and proper use of the system of work provided, and the five groups of factors in Schedule 1 |
| HSE L23, Manual handling: Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, Guidance on Regulations (fourth edition, 2016) | Team lifts, posture and twisting, lifts above the head or below floor level, bulky loads and job rotation |
| HSE INDG143, Manual handling at work: A brief guide | The simple risk filters, what workers should report, and the point that the regulations set no weight limits |
The fifth group in Schedule 1 asks whether PPE or clothing gets in the way of movement or posture. For who provides PPE and when you wear it, practise PPE Questions.
Manual handling sample questions with worked explanations
Here are 10 manual handling practice questions, each with the answer and a worked explanation.
Sample question 1 · Manual Handling
A task involves a risk of injury from manual handling. What does the law require the employer to try FIRST?
- Issue gloves and back supports to everyone who will do the lifting
- Train the workers involved in a recognised safe lifting and lowering technique
- Write a method statement covering the lift and brief it to the gang
- Try to design out the need for that handling, so far as is reasonably practicableCorrect answer
Why D: Regulation 4(1)(a) puts avoidance first. Assessing, training and equipment come later, and only where avoiding the handling is not reasonably practicable.
Sample question 2 · Manual Handling
A load's centre of gravity is not positioned centrally. What extra information must be given where practicable?
- The date on which the load was delivered to the site by the supplier
- The name of the supplier who packed and sealed the load for transport
- The maximum height to which that particular load may safely be raised
- Which side of the load is the heaviest, so handlers can plan the liftCorrect answer
Why D: Regulation 4(1)(b)(iii)(bb) singles out the heaviest side of any load whose centre of gravity is off centre, because an unexpected weight bias is what causes the sudden movement.
Sample question 3 · Manual Handling
Bulky PPE is stopping a worker from getting close to a load. Which Schedule 1 group covers that?
- The loads, because the effective size of the load has been increased
- The tasks, because the handling method has to change to accommodate it
- Individual capability, because it concerns this particular worker personally
- Other factors, which asks whether PPE or clothing hinders movementCorrect answer
Why D: Group 5, other factors, asks a single question: is movement or posture hindered by personal protective equipment or by clothing? It is the group people most often forget.
Sample question 4 · Manual Handling
When must a manual handling assessment be reviewed?
- Once a year, on the anniversary of the date the assessment was first made
- Only after an injury has actually happened during that handling task
- If there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid, or things changeCorrect answer
- Whenever a new worker joins the gang that carries out the operation
Why C: Regulation 4(2) requires review where there is reason to suspect the assessment is no longer valid, or there has been a significant change in the operations to which it relates.
Sample question 5 · Manual Handling
There is not enough room to stand square to a load, so handlers must reach across. Which group covers this?
- Individual capability, because a taller worker could reach it safely
- The tasks, because reaching across is part of the handling method
- The working environment, which asks about space constraintsCorrect answer
- Other factors, because cramped working is not listed anywhere else
Why C: Group 3 opens with space constraints preventing good posture. The cramped space is an environmental cause even though it shows up as a posture problem.
Sample question 6 · Manual Handling
Four operatives are lifting a long steel section together. How should the lift be controlled?
- The four lift as soon as they personally feel ready to take the weight
- One nominated person calls the lift so everyone moves at the same timeCorrect answer
- The strongest person lifts first and the others follow their movement
- The person at the heaviest end decides when the load should be raised
Why B: A team lift only works if it is synchronised, so one person directs it. Unsynchronised lifting throws the whole weight onto whoever moves last.
Sample question 7 · Manual Handling
Carrying a load between areas means stepping up and down changes in floor level. Which group covers this?
- The working environment, which lists variations in level of floorsCorrect answer
- The tasks, because the steps are part of how the carry is performed
- Individual capability, because step height suits some workers better
- Other factors, because uneven ground is not named in the schedule
Why A: Group 3 lists uneven, slippery or unstable floors and variations in the level of floors or work surfaces as separate questions.
Sample question 8 · Manual Handling
Which of these best describes 'by bodily force' in the definition of manual handling?
- Only lifting a load clear of the ground using the arms and the legs
- Only movements where the load is supported on the back or shoulders
- Any use of a machine that the worker operates using hands or feet
- Using the body to push, pull or shove a load, not just to lift itCorrect answer
Why D: The definition covers transporting or supporting a load by hand or by bodily force, and expressly names pushing and pulling alongside lifting, putting down, carrying and moving.
Sample question 9 · Manual Handling
A manual handling assessment must have regard to what?
- The factors in Schedule 1 column 1 and the questions in column 2Correct answer
- The weight of the heaviest load handled anywhere on that work site
- The published guideline figures, which the assessment must not exceed
- The training records of the workers who may perform the operation
Why A: Regulation 4(1)(b)(i) is explicit: have regard to the factors specified in column 1 of Schedule 1 and consider the questions in the corresponding entry in column 2.
Sample question 10 · Manual Handling
Who is responsible for making the manual handling assessment?
- The employee, who knows best how the handling actually feels in practice
- The client, as the party who commissioned the construction work itself
- The employer, on whom regulation 4 places the assessment duty directlyCorrect answer
- The supplier of the load, who knows its weight and its centre of gravity
Why C: Regulation 4 places the duty on the employer. Workers contribute their experience, and suppliers provide weight data, but the assessment itself is the employer's.
Which manual handling answers catch people out?
Three answers catch people out because they sound sensible on site: lifting as a pair straight away, judging a load by its weight, and trusting a four-part memory aid.
Two people cannot lift twice the weight. HSE's L23 says the weakest person in a team acts as the limit, so a team can safely handle less than the sum of what each member could lift alone. Before you pick a pair, look for the option that splits the load or brings in an aid first.
Weight on its own does not tell you a lift is safe. The regulations set no weight limits, and HSE's guideline figures are a filter that shows which tasks need a closer look, not a safe limit. A light but bulky load held at arm's length in a cramped space can be the riskier job.
TILE is a handy memory aid, but it covers only four of the five groups in Schedule 1: the tasks, the loads, the working environment and individual capability. The fifth, other factors, asks whether PPE or clothing hinders movement or posture. If a question asks how many headings the law uses, the answer is five.
Where does manual handling sit in the CITB test?
Manual handling is part of the core knowledge you practise for the CITB Operatives test. The CITB Specialist tests include core questions too, so this topic is worth practising whichever paper you sit.
Manual handling FAQs
Should you use a mechanical aid if it is slower?
Yes. The regulations say you must make full and proper use of the system of work your employer provides, and taking longer is not a reason to lift by hand instead.
Are these the real CITB test questions?
No. These are practice questions written for this site, each tied to the law or HSE guidance it tests; CITB does not publish its test questions.