Docks, receiving & dispatch
Loading dock manual handling
Free online manual handling awareness training for dock work — where the floor changes height, the weather gets in, and there is always a truck waiting.
Go straight to the assessment
Trained before? Answer 20 real warehouse scenarios — no time limit. Score 75% and your certificate is issued the same day.
Start the assessmentLearn first, then the assessment
8 short modules on lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling, about 55 minutes. Free, and your progress is saved as you go.
Start the free courseEither way you pay $39 only after you pass · unlimited attempts · no account needed
Course & assessment
Free
Certificate
$39 one-off
What the dock adds
The same lift, in a worse place to do it
Dock handling is not a different technique. It is ordinary handling done on uneven footing, in poor light, in whatever weather is happening, with someone watching the clock.
The floor is not one level
Dock, plate, trailer bed. Three surfaces, small changes in height, and a ramp that moves under load. Your footing changes mid-carry, which is when balance goes.
Trailers are long, dark and badly lit
The last few metres of a container are the worst conditions on the site: low light, no airflow, and loads stacked higher than anywhere else.
Weather is part of the job
Rain blows in, surfaces get slick, hands get cold or sweaty. The dock is the one place in the warehouse where the outside gets a vote.
Turnaround pressure is constant
A truck waiting is a cost somebody is counting. That pressure is real, and it is the single biggest reason people carry two cartons instead of one.
Vehicles are moving nearby
Forklifts, pallet jacks, reversing trucks. Handling a load badly is worse here because recovering from a stumble puts you somewhere you do not want to be.
Container destuffing is hand work
Floor-loaded containers mean hundreds of individual lifts, often from awkward heights, in the order the loader chose rather than the order you would pick.
Back of the container
The last three metres
Forty feet of floor-loaded cartons, and you are at the far end. The light from the dock does not reach, the air has not moved all day, and the remaining stack is above your head because that is how it was loaded. The driver has somewhere to be and you have been at it for an hour.
What the course would have you notice: this is above-shoulder lifting, in poor light, in a confined space, while fatigued, under time pressure. Five risk factors in one task — which is why container work accounts for a disproportionate share of dock injuries. The control is not lifting better. It is breaking the stack down to a workable height first, even though it feels slower.
Fully online
Work through it on your phone during a break or on a laptop at home. Nothing to install.
About an hour
Eight short modules with concise, practical content. Stop and resume whenever you like.
Free assessment
20 scenario-based questions. Pass mark is 75%, and you can retry as many times as you need.
Pay only if you pass
Training and assessment cost nothing. The optional certificate is $39 AUD after you pass.
How it works
Four steps from start to certificate
01
Start the free training
Open module one — no signup, no payment details.
02
Work through 8 modules
Short lessons, warehouse examples and quick knowledge checks.
03
Sit the free assessment
20 multiple choice questions. 75% to pass, unlimited retries.
04
Add a certificate (optional)
Passed? Get your Certificate of Completion for $39 AUD.
Questions
Loading dock questions
Keep reading
Related pages
Who it's for
Where you work
About the training
This is non-accredited general awareness training and does not issue a nationally recognised Statement of Attainment. Always confirm your employer's specific training requirements.
Get your manual handling certificate
Go straight to the assessment, or learn first with the free course. Pay $39 only when you pass.