Posted By John Ridd I've not seen any reports of properly carried out comparative studies for the effectiveness of the various handling techniques. The approach adopted by the HSE, as I am sure you are aware, and that supported by the scientific evidence is that, having assessed the job, it should first be organised or designed in a way so as to remove (as far as is reasonably practicable) the handling risks - you should then be training (and selecting, if necessary) personnel to work within that system. The primary benefit of any training (in my opinion) is to make sure that workers are aware of the risks, and so when faced by such conditions they are more able to recognise the dangers and would, hopefully, take risk reduction measures. (There are also clearly training requirements in relation to any handling equipment that might be available for use.) The problem with training (whether kinetic or otherwise) is that a) there is little evidence to say that it reduces back injury incidence; b) it is dependent on the competence of the trainer; c) it is dependent on the worker following the advice given; d) it is dependent on the relevance of the training to the tasks of the worker, and e) it is dependent on the particular task (not all can be executed using 'prescribed' techniques). (Clearly, ergonomics is the only way forward.)