511,000 Workers Suffer Work-Related MSDs: What Property Managers Should Review

Property management has become a more demanding job. Recent research reported by The Property Daily found that 81% of letting agents believe the regulatory burden involved in managing rental properties has increased in recent years. The role now stretches across maintenance, contractor coordination, compliance, tenant communication and health and safety.

That wider responsibility brings a practical risk that can be easy to overlook: manual handling. The Health and Safety Executive estimates that 511,000 workers in Great Britain were suffering from work-related musculoskeletal disorders in 2024/25. Those conditions led to an estimated 7.1 million working days lost. Back disorders accounted for 43% of cases, while upper-limb and neck problems accounted for 41%.

If you manage rental homes, commercial buildings or mixed property portfolios, those figures matter because routine property work involves more physical handling than the job title suggests. Maintenance teams carry tools and parts, cleaners move equipment and waste, caretakers receive deliveries, contractors bring materials through buildings, and office moves or refurbishments can add temporary handling tasks with little notice.

Property work creates manual handling risks in ordinary places

Manual handling means more than lifting a heavy box. HSE includes lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying and moving loads by hand or bodily force. In a managed property, that can include moving bins, carrying replacement equipment to a plant room, pushing a cleaning machine, shifting furniture, taking deliveries upstairs or helping a contractor position materials.

The setting can make the task harder. Narrow staircases, basement stores, awkward doorways, uneven outdoor surfaces and long routes between a delivery point and the final location can all increase effort. A load that is manageable in an open warehouse may be much more difficult inside an occupied building with corners, doors and restricted access.

You also need to account for frequency. A relatively light item can still create strain if someone handles it repeatedly throughout the day. Property teams often perform varied jobs, so exposure can build across several different tasks rather than one obvious lift.

Maintenance and refurbishment can change the risk quickly

Property managers often deal with work that sits outside the normal daily routine. A boiler replacement, office move, void-property clearance, flooring project or refurbishment can create new handling demands immediately. Teams may suddenly need to move old fixtures, boxed equipment, construction materials or waste through areas that were never designed for that purpose.

That is where a standard risk assessment can become too generic. The task needs to reflect the real route, the actual load and the people doing the work. If a delivery has to move from a van, through a communal entrance, along a corridor and up a staircase, the assessment should consider the whole journey rather than only the final lift.

Contractor coordination matters too. A supplier may regard a delivery as complete once an item reaches the building, while your staff may still need to move it to a roof plant room or basement store. Agree the handover point before the job starts. Confirm who will handle the load, what equipment will be available and whether the route is suitable.

The law starts with avoiding hazardous handling

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations require employers to manage the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling. HSE sets out a clear sequence: avoid hazardous manual handling so far as is reasonably practicable, assess the risk where handling cannot be avoided, and reduce the risk of injury as far as reasonably practicable.

That sequence matters because training alone cannot repair a badly designed task. If a heavy item can be delivered closer to where it will be used, use the closer delivery point. If a trolley, hoist or lift table can remove most of the effort, plan for it. If stores can be rearranged so frequently used items are kept between knee and shoulder height, change the layout.

HSE also recommends considering the task, the load, the working environment and individual capability. In property settings, that means looking at carrying distance, floor condition, space, access, grip, posture, frequency and whether the person has any known limitation that affects the task.

Training works best when it reflects the property

People still need to understand the risks and how to use the controls provided. Manual Handling Training can give employees and supervisors a foundation in manual handling risk, safer handling principles and the role of assessment. Follow that learning with instruction on the specific property, equipment and tasks they will encounter.

A maintenance worker may need guidance on moving replacement parts through a restricted plant area. A cleaning team may need instruction on pushing loaded carts across different floor surfaces. A caretaker receiving deliveries may need to know when to refuse a load or arrange mechanical assistance instead of trying to move it alone.

Supervisors should also know when a job needs reassessment. If workers start improvising, asking for help more often, avoiding a particular task or reporting discomfort, treat that as useful information. The task may have changed, the handling aid may be unsuitable, or the work rate may be making a previously manageable job harder.

Property managers should build manual handling into purchasing and maintenance decisions

Many manual handling problems begin long before anyone touches the load. Purchasing decisions can create them. A replacement item may be heavier than the equipment it replaces. Bulk ordering can create larger packages. A new waste contract can change bin sizes. A refurbishment can move storage farther from the point of use.

Bring handling into these decisions early. Before ordering large equipment, check how it will enter the building and reach its final position. Before changing a store, consider how often staff access it and what they carry. When appointing a contractor, agree who is responsible for materials once they arrive on site.

This approach also helps with cost control. Poor planning can lead to extra labour, delays, damaged materials or last-minute equipment hire. A safer handling plan often makes the job easier to organise because the route, people and equipment have been considered before work begins.

Property management now requires a wider view of competence

Manual handling is one part of a property manager's safety responsibilities. The same team may also deal with contractor control, work at height, fire precautions, hazardous substances, legionella, electrical safety and emergency arrangements. That is one reason property management has become more specialised.

For organisations developing role-based learning for building and maintenance teams, a structured set of facilities management courses can help cover the wider risks that sit around day-to-day property operations. Course completion should then connect with site knowledge, supervision and practical checks where the work requires them.

The aim is to make competence match the job. Property managers can rely on competent specialists for technical tasks. Their own role is to recognise when specialist help is required, ask sensible questions of contractors and make sure staff are not being pushed into work they have not been prepared to do.

Review manual handling when the property or workload changes

Property portfolios rarely stand still. New tenants arrive, layouts change, maintenance contracts are replaced, refurbishments start and equipment is upgraded. Any of those changes can alter manual handling risk even when the job title remains the same.

Use routine property reviews to ask practical questions. Are staff carrying items farther than before? Have deliveries changed in size or weight? Is equipment being stored where workers have to bend, reach or twist? Are contractors using communal routes that create new handling problems? Do workers have access to the handling aids the assessment assumes are available?

Keep an eye on temporary work as well. A one-week clearance project can create more handling exposure than several months of normal maintenance. Short-term work still needs suitable planning, especially when teams are under pressure to return a property to use quickly.

Make everyday property work easier to do safely

The latest HSE figures show that work-related musculoskeletal disorders still affect a large number of workers. Property managers may not see manual handling as the most urgent item on a compliance list, yet it appears throughout maintenance, cleaning, deliveries, refurbishment and contractor activity.

You can reduce the risk by looking at the work before someone has to struggle with it. Improve routes, use handling aids, change storage, plan deliveries, check temporary tasks and give workers training that connects with the real job. Review those arrangements when the property or workload changes.

For property managers already dealing with growing compliance and maintenance demands, that approach is practical as well as protective. It reduces reliance on workers simply coping with awkward tasks and gives you a clearer way to manage the physical work that keeps buildings running.

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