Maximum Manually Liftable Weight According to Regulations
- 04/03/2022
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By law, a worker—whether male or female, adult or adolescent—should not lift a weight disproportionate to their physical condition. For this reason, limits have been established for manual handling of loads (MMC).
These limits were initially set by Legislative Decree 626/94, later repealed and replaced by Legislative Decree 81/08, which refers to a European standard (ISO 11228).
According to ISO 11228, the maximum weight that can be lifted under optimal conditions (i.e., without bending or twisting the back), categorized by gender and age, is as follows:
- 25 kg for men
- 15 kg for women
- 15 kg for adolescent males
- 10 kg for adolescent females
Additionally, the law (Article 1, Article 28, and Annex XXXIII) sets out recommendations based on the worker’s age and gender, as shown in the following table:
| Age | Men, occasional lifting | Men, frequent lifting | Women, occasional lifting | Women, frequent lifting |
| 16 - 18 | 19 kg | 14 kg | 12 kg | 9 kg |
| 18 - 20 | 23 kg | 17 kg | 14 kg | 10 kg |
| 20 - 35 | 25 kg | 19 kg | 15 kg | 11 kg |
| 35 - 50 | 21 kg | 16 kg | 13 kg | 10 kg |
| 50+ | 16 kg | 12 kg | 10 kg | 7 kg |
For pregnant women, the limits are as follows:
| During the first 7 months of pregnancy | 10 kg |
| From the 7th month onwards | 0 kg |
Furthermore, the law mandates that employers must provide adequate training on correct manual handling techniques and procedures (Article 169, paragraph 2).
Failure to assess risks related to manual handling carries a penalty of imprisonment from 3 to 6 months or a fine ranging from €2,500 to €6,400.
Failure to provide worker training and instruction results in imprisonment from 2 to 4 months or a fine ranging from €1,200 to €5,200.