... the absence of a safer handling policy is almost certain to amount to a breach of the regulations (RCN 1999). The last edition of this code of practice, published in March 1996, sparked off a major debate on back injuries and prompted employers to take a hard look at their lifting policies. The code advocated a 50kg (8 stone) weight limit for a patient being lifted by two nurses and set out 'ideal conditions' which must first apply. The effect was to exclude virtually all manual lifting by nurses and the policy has helped change attitudes to patient handling (RCN 1999). This has been addressed by the use of mechanical hoists and other lifting equipment. Additionally the N.H.S trust now adopts a policy of no lifting, among other concerns this was highlighted by the amount of sickness caused by injury to the back. The use of these policies was observed ...

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