Purpose of the tool
Manual Tasks Risk Assessment was developed in Australia to examine exposure to musculoskeletal risk factors during manual work. Version 2.0 considers a specific person performing a task rather than an abstract population. Workplace assessment should involve both the people doing the job and those responsible for managing its risks. Its Australian origins do not make its scoring criteria statutory requirements in other countries or jurisdictions.
Keep body regions separate
The worksheet distinguishes lower limbs, back, neck and shoulders, and arm, wrist and hand. Examining each region prevents a demanding hand exertion from disappearing within a general whole-body assessment. One operation can impose different demands on several regions simultaneously. Useful findings therefore preserve regional scores and the observations explaining them, instead of producing an apparently reassuring average that has no basis in the method.
Information required
ManTRA combines total exposure time over the day and the duration of continuous work periods with characteristics including cycle time, force, speed, awkwardness and vibration. Observation should represent the complete task rather than its easiest phase. Record the components handled, how work varies and what support the worker has available. Accounts of perceived exertion help check the technical observation and identify demanding conditions that were not present during the visit.
Using findings to guide action
Codes are combined according to the method’s rules to identify conditions requiring action. They are not an individual probability of injury. Where a demanding grip coincides with a deviated posture, redesign might focus on the component, handle or support that removes hand exertion. Reassess the physical demands of the work after modifying the operation to check the actual effect rather than assuming the change has solved it.
A task is not the whole shift
A worksheet covering one operation does not automatically represent every activity in a shift. With multiple tasks, describe their distribution and decide how to assess overall exposure without arbitrarily adding scores together. Do not transfer one person’s result to another without checking differences in reach, technique, tools or conditions. Recording these differences is more useful than presenting a level of precision the observations cannot support.
Preventive follow-up
A practical report identifies the task and version, observed data, priority body regions, contributing causes and agreed actions. Trying changes with users helps establish whether they reduce exertion or merely move it to another region. ManTRA does not replace medical assessment, a specific vibration assessment or other investigations where required. Using an official worksheet and explaining limitations keeps the process reproducible and focused on improving the work itself.
