Moving and Positioning – People

Moving and Positioning – People

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Moving and positioning people training delivered at your workplace by Level 3 qualified specialist trainers. Half a day for theory and/or refresher, or a full day for practical training. The legal, technical, and person-centred grounding care staff need to move people safely every time.

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Course Overview

Moving and positioning people is one of the highest-risk activities in health and social care. It is also one of the areas where dangerous practice is most commonly passed down through the workforce without question, because it was taught that way, because everyone else does it that way, or because nobody has ever explained why it is wrong.

The drag lift is a clear example. It is a prohibited manual handling technique. It places severe strain on the spine of the care worker and causes pain, skin damage, and loss of dignity for the individual being moved. It has been contraindicated in professional guidance for decades. And yet it is still being taught and used in care settings across the UK, often by senior staff who learned it from someone else, passed through a non-accredited train-the-trainer course, and never had their practice formally assessed by a qualified moving and handling instructor.

Moving and Positioning People training gives care staff the knowledge, practical competence, and legal understanding to move and support individuals safely, in line with their individual care plan, using appropriate equipment, and in a way that protects both the person being supported and the person providing the support. It challenges unsafe routines, addresses the prohibited techniques that continue to cause harm, and builds the confidence to work safely in real care environments rather than repeating what has always been done. The course reflects the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, HSE guidance on moving and handling, and the Handling of People 7th Edition (HOP7), which remains the definitive UK best practice framework for the moving and handling of people in health and social care.

Course Details

• Duration: Half day (3 to 4 hours) for theory or refresher, or full day for practical training. Refresher training also available.
• Delivery: Face-to-face. Practical elements are face-to-face only
• Certificate: CPD-Accredited Certificate of Achievement in Moving and Positioning People
• Awarding organisations: HTN CPD-Accredited
• Validity: Annual refresher recommended due to the high-risk nature of this activity, or sooner following changes in role, new equipment, incidents, or updated risk assessments.
• Group size: Maximum 12 learners per trainer

Who This Course Is For

This course is right for any care staff whose role involves supporting individuals with movement, transfers, or repositioning.

• Care assistants and support workers in care homes, supported living, and domiciliary care
• Senior carers and team leaders
• Residential, nursing home, and community care staff
• Healthcare assistants
• Personal Assistants supporting individuals through Personal Health Budgets, Continuing Healthcare, or Direct Payment arrangements

It is also relevant for managers and supervisors responsible for moving and handling risk assessments, care planning, and staff competency oversight. For staff whose role involves moving and handling objects rather than people, our Manual Handling (Objects) course covers that separate and distinct area. Not sure what your team needs? Get in touch, and we’ll help you work it out before you commit.

The Legal Requirement

Moving and handling injuries remain one of the leading causes of musculoskeletal harm among health and social care workers in the UK. The HSE is clear that under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, employers must avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable, assess the risk where it cannot be avoided, and reduce that risk as far as possible. That duty includes ensuring staff are trained and competent, and that training is delivered by people qualified to deliver it.

The Handling of People 7th Edition (HOP7), the recognised UK best practice framework for moving and handling people, is explicit that moving and positioning must be based on individual risk assessment, supported by appropriate and properly maintained equipment, carried out by trained and competent staff, and reviewed and updated regularly. A moving and handling care plan that has not been reviewed following a change in the individual’s condition is not a safe plan. A technique taught by someone without a recognised qualification in moving and handling people is not safe training.

The consequences of poor practice fall on two people simultaneously. The care worker risks serious spinal injury, particularly from prohibited lifts, all of which are contraindicated under current guidance and none of which should be taught or used in any care setting. The individual being moved risks pain, skin damage, falls, loss of dignity, and injury. In the worst cases, both happen at once.

Under CQC Regulation 12: Safe Care and Treatment, providers must ensure that care is delivered safely and that risks are assessed and mitigated. Moving and handling is a direct test of that regulation in practice. Inspectors look at whether staff are trained, whether training was delivered by qualified instructors, whether care plans reflect current needs, and whether equipment is being used correctly. A service where prohibited lifts are still being used, where slings have not been inspected, or where moving and handling plans have not been updated following changes in the individual’s condition is a service with significant regulatory exposure.

Prohibited Lifts: What They Are and Why They Persist

Three lifts are contraindicated under the current moving and handling guidance and must not be taught or used in any care setting:

• The drag lift involves lifting an individual by placing hands under their arms and pulling them up or across. It places an extreme and uncontrolled load on the spine of the care worker and causes pain, skin damage, and shoulder injury to the individual being moved.
• The through-arm lift places the care worker’s arms through the individual’s armpits from behind, a position that offers no genuine control over the movement and exposes both parties to significant injury risk.
• The Australian lift involves two carers lifting an individual between them using underarm holds, a technique that combines the risks of the other two and has been contraindicated for the same reasons.

All three have been contraindicated in professional guidance for decades. And yet they continue to be taught and used in care settings across the UK, almost always passed down by staff who were taught them themselves and who have never had their practice reviewed by a qualified instructor. This course addresses each of these lifts directly, explains why each is prohibited, and ensures learners understand they must refuse to use or perpetuate them, regardless of what they may have been shown previously.

What the Day Covers

Content is adapted to your setting, your equipment, and the individuals your team supports. Topics covered include:

• The legal framework: the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
• HOP7: the principles of the Handling of People 7th Edition, and why individualised, risk-assessed approaches are the only safe basis for moving and positioning
• Risk assessment: carrying out a dynamic risk assessment before any moving and positioning activity, including recognising when the plan needs to change
• Prohibited lifts: the drag lift, through-arm lift, and Australian lift, why each is prohibited, and refusing to use or teach them
• Safer handling principles for transfers and repositioning
• Equipment: hoists, slings, slide sheets, stand aids, and mobility aids, including practical use with your organisation’s own equipment where possible
• Sling selection and condition checks: matching the right sling to the individual and the task, and what to check before every use
• Hoist inspection: pre-use checks and what constitutes a fault requiring the equipment to be taken out of use
• Moving and handling care plans: following them correctly and recognising when they need reviewing
• Changing ability and changing risk: recognising when an individual’s needs have changed and acting on it rather than continuing with the existing plan
• Dignity and person-centred practice throughout every moving and positioning interaction
• Reporting and recording: documenting concerns, incidents, and near misses correctly

Every course is also built to include your moving and handling care plans, documentation, and the specific equipment your team uses as standard.

How the Course Is Delivered

This course is delivered face-to-face. The practical elements cannot be assessed remotely, and we do not attempt to do so. Where practical training is included, we use your organisation’s own equipment wherever possible. Learners practise with the hoists, slings, slide sheets, and stand aids they actually use in their working day, not generic equipment in an unfamiliar training room. This approach builds genuine confidence, reduces risk, and makes the training immediately transferable to practice.

Groups are capped at 12 to ensure every learner receives sufficient hands-on time and individual feedback. We also work with managers and team leaders to address systemic issues, including reviewing whether existing practice reflects current guidance or whether unsafe techniques have become embedded through habit or poor training.

Delivery includes:

• Clear explanation of the legal and best practice framework, including the prohibited lifts and why they remain in use despite being contraindicated
• Practical risk assessment exercises using real care scenarios from your setting
• Hands-on equipment work, including hoist operation, sling selection, and condition checks
• Scenario-based discussion covering decisions care workers actually face: what to do when the plan does not match the situation, when equipment is unavailable or damaged, and when an individual’s ability has changed

Who Delivers This Training

All Prima Cura Training moving and positioning trainers hold the Level 3 Award in Moving and Handling People Training, along with all required teaching qualifications. Trainers complete competency updates every two years and are subject to quality assurance and observational checks.

This is not a course taught by a senior carer who attended a one-day train-the-trainer session. It is delivered by qualified specialists who understand the difference between moving objects and moving people, and whose own practice is regularly reviewed.

Moving and positioning people is a specialist skill with significant injury risk to both the care worker and the individual. Delivering this training requires specific qualifications, not just experience. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 require employers to ensure staff are trained and competent. A senior carer who attended a non-accredited train-the-trainer course is not qualified to deliver moving and handling training for people, and a certificate issued from that kind of session does not demonstrate the competency the Regulations require.

Certification and Validity

On completion, learners receive a CPD-Accredited Certificate of Achievement in Moving and Positioning People.

Annual refresher training is strongly recommended given the high-risk nature of this activity. Refresher training should also be arranged sooner following any significant change, including changes to an individual’s moving and handling care plan, introduction of new equipment, a moving and handling incident or near miss, or a change in a staff member’s own physical capacity. Treating annual refreshers as optional in a high-risk activity is not a safe approach, and CQC inspectors are increasingly likely to ask when moving and handling training was last completed and by whom it was delivered.

Our Manual Handling (Objects) course remains the right starting point for staff whose role does not involve moving people.

Why Organisations Book With Prima Cura

Most training providers arrive with a course. We arrive with yours.

Before the day, we gather information about your workplace: your incident reporting forms, your internal procedures, and the specific hazards your team actually faces. On the day, your trainer works that into every scenario, every discussion, every practical exercise. If your staff work in a care home, they’re not practising on hypothetical office workers. If your team are lone workers, that context shapes how the session runs.

It means the training lands. Not because it was well-delivered in a generic sense, but because it was relevant to the people in the room and the situations they’ll actually encounter.

A few other things that matter to the organisations that book with us:

• 98.9% learner satisfaction across all Prima Cura courses
• All trainers hold Enhanced DBS certificates and maintain ongoing CPD
• We advise honestly on the qualification level at the enquiry stage. If a different course is a better fit for your workforce, we’ll say so before you book, not after

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Where We Deliver

We deliver in-house training at your workplace or chosen venue across Manchester, Greater Manchester, and the wider North West. We also deliver nationally across England, including North England, South England, London, and Surrey.

All sessions are led by experienced Prima Cura Training instructors. Groups are capped at 12 per trainer to protect the quality of hands-on learning.

Our associate network means we can deliver across England. You can meet the team on our Associates page.

FAQs

Further Reading

• Moving and Positioning People in Care: What Good Practice Looks Like: Why safe moving and handling matters for both carers and the people they support
• Moving and Positioning People: The Basics Explained: An introduction to safe moving and handling principles in care settings
• Moving and Positioning: Why CPD Matters: Why ongoing training and refreshers matter for moving and handling competency

Related Courses

• Health & Safety Awareness Training
• Risk Assessment Training
• Safeguarding Adults Training
• Mental Capacity Act 2005 & DoLS
• Infection Prevention and Control Training
• Person-Centred Care Planning

Book or Enquire

Book your training or request a quote

Tell us your team size and your sector. We’ll come back with a quote, the right advice on qualification level, and a straight answer on whether this is the best course for your team.

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Our Commitment to Quality and Compliance

At Prima Cura Training, all courses reflect current UK guidance and best practice.

All trainers are experienced professionals with relevant qualifications and ongoing CPD. Because many of the organisations we support work with vulnerable individuals, all trainers hold Enhanced DBS checks.

This course is reviewed against updates from the Health and Safety Executive, BackCare, the Care Quality Commission, and current UK legislation, including the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Course content aligns with the Handling of People 7th Edition (HOP7).

You can read more on our Quality Assurance and Compliance page.

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Reviewed by Stephanie Austin, Owner and Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | 25+ years in health and social care | 15+ years as a trainer | Last reviewed: June 2026 | Next review: June 2027

This page is for general guidance only and reflects current UK health and safety legislation, HSE guidance, and HOP7 best practice as of the date of review. It does not constitute legal or clinical advice. Moving and Positioning People Training supports safe practice but does not replace organisation-specific moving and handling risk assessments, individual moving and handling care plans, or equipment-specific training from manufacturers. Employers remain legally responsible under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 for ensuring that manual handling risks are assessed, that staff are trained and competent, and that moving and handling care plans reflect the current needs of the individuals being supported. Where moving and handling incidents occur or where unsafe practice is identified, employers should seek independent health and safety advice.

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