Working in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) is associated with high physical and mental workload for Registered Nurses (RNs) and Healthcare Assistants (HCAs). In particular, workplace-related injuries often accompany manual hazardous tasks that include lifting, holding, carrying, pushing, and pulling. This research aimed to investigate the frequency of manual hazardous tasks and respective physical workloads in kilograms conducted by RNs and HCAs according to shifts and RACF providers to demonstrate the risk level for workplace-related injuries and overloading of the human musculoskeletal system.

Our research showed that RNs implemented 10 high-risk nursing actions and moved 546 kilograms of weight, whereas HCAs experienced a physical workload of 1,175 kilograms and 18 manual hazardous tasks per shift. HCAs are exposed to a 53 per cent higher physical workload and implement 80 per cent more manual hazardous tasks than RNs per shift. The most intense work demand for RNs was during the night shift, while for HCAs, it was the morning shift.

If a health and safety practitioner aspires to be regarded as a professional, they need to be or become “critical consumers” of research, including grey literature that can inform a risk assessment or decision. However, some free-to-access grey literature may be of variable reliability. As part of a continuing research project, some sources of grey literature believed to be reliable are identified and criteria are suggested to enable judgement of reliability of grey literature. A downloadable set of bibliographic records of some grey literature is described that will help search for potentially relevant, reliable documents.