Posted By Nigel Hammond Here's a trick trick manual handling question for your quiz; What's the most damaging to the back? - lifting 30Kg of lead or 30Kg of feathers. People often remember the old school trick question and say " they are both the same". The correct answer of course is the feathers because it would be a larger load - with a centre of gravity further out from the body - resulting in a far greater leaverage on the spine.