Hi gramsay I have attended two Manual Handling "train the trainer" courses over the years. Both course ran over a number of days. I was not impressed; in keeping with the forum rules I will not name the providers. The basic theories and content of the Manual Handling Regulations were good and well covered. However in common with a number of other training providers, they teach you how to lift a small cardboard box. That was the limit of the practical training. They said that the same principles applied whatever the item being lifted; I was distinctly underwhelmed. In deciding which training organisation to use, ask them what training aides / props will be used. Also find out if they do industry specific training. From a personal perspective I am now wary of companies that spend less time on practical demonstrations than on well crafted PowerPoint's. PH2

Not exactly local to you but I recommend the IOSH train the trainer course for anyone reading this post.

Thanks for your answers, folks, I really appreciate your experience. I had deleted a sentence in my first post about avoiding courses which concentrate too much on lifting an empty cardboard box, thinking I was being too flippant, but I can see I'm not the only one sharing that problem! I'm definitely trying to avoid that kind of course. I feel like I have a fairly good understanding of MH issues, but what I'd like is some formal training to back that up, and to discover what gaps there are in my knowledge. I've put together a small group of employee representatives to look in detail at some of our manual handling issues (which are not technically complex) and want to give them all the support I can. Betta, I had a look on IOSH's site yesterday but couldn't see any course listed, I'll drop them an email though - thanks.