Page 2 of 4 Fire exits and routes to them are kept free from obstructions. Fire doors are not wedged open. Fire extinguishers are in place and not obstructed. Fire alarms are clear and audible. There is no build up of combustible rubbish. Provisions have been made for any disabled person to be evacuated. New members of staff are briefed on action to be taken when the alarms sound, the fire escape routes, positions of fire appliances and alarm points. 1. UNDERTAKING RISK ASSESSMENTS 1.1 You must firstly identify the manual handling operations that cannot be avoided and which present the potential to place staff at risk. This does not mean that every task needs to be assessed and the Health and Safety Executive have developed a filter to screen out straightforward cases. The filter (Figure 1) is based on a set of numerical guidelines that provide an approximate boundary within which a load is unlikely to create a risk of injury sufficient to warrant a detailed assessment. Working within the following guidelines will cut the risk and reduce the need for a more detailed assessment and it is believed that the use of the guidelines will provide a reasonable level of protection to around 95% of men and women. However, even those operations lying within the boundaries identified should be avoided or made less demanding wherever it is reasonably practicable to do so. Figure 1 2. GUIDELINES FOR LIFTING AND LOWERING (REFER TO FIGURE 1) 2.1 Use Figure 1 to make a quick and easy assessment. Each box contains a guideline weight for lifting and lowering in that zone. (As you can see, the guideline weights are reduced if handling is done with arms extended, or at high or low levels, as that is where injuries are most likely to occur).