<p>On January 1 1997, 178 nurses at the Centre for the Health of Older People in Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds, agreed on a New Year’s resolution with a difference. A ‘no lift' policy was to be implemented on six care of older people wards, in the day hospital and the multispecialty outpatients department. The site was the first large scale area to implement a full no lift policy in the United Leeds Teachings Hospitals NHS Trust. Initially, this was in response to Manual Handling Operations Regulations (DoH 1992) and the Health and Safety Commission’s Guidance of Manual Handling of Loads in the Health Service (1992).</p>