ENIE 441

Industrail Safety Engineering

Class-14
NIOSH Lifting Equation

● The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) first
developed an equation in 1981 to assist safety and health practitioners
evaluate lifting demands in the sagittal plane (NIOSH 1981).
● Because the 1981 equation could only be applied to a limited number of
lifting tasks, namely sagittal lifting tasks, the 1981 equation was revised and
expanded in 1991 to apply to a larger percentage of lifting tasks.
● NIOSH Lifting Equation is being widely used by occupational health
practitioners because it provides an empirical method for computing a
weight limit for manual lifting.
Lifting Index (LI)

● LI is a term that provides a relative estimate of the level of physical stress

associated with a particular manual lifting task.
● The estimate of the level of physical stress is defined by the relationship of
the weight of the load lifted and the recommended weight limit (RWL).
● LI= Load weight (L)/RWL
Lifting Index (LI) Interpretation

● LI = 0 (i.e., no risk)
● 0 < LI ≤ 1 (i.e., minimal risk)
● 1 < LI ≤ 3 (i.e., moderate risk)
● LI > 3 (i.e., high risk)
Recommended Weight Limit (RWL)

● The RWL is the principal product of the revised NIOSH lifting equation.
● The RWL is defined for a specific set of task conditions as the weight of the
load that nearly all healthy workers could perform over a substantial period
of time (eg. Up to 8hrs) without an increased risk of developing lifting
related LBP.
Recommended Weight Limit (RWL)

● By healthy workers, we mean workers who are free of adverse health

conditions that would increase their risk of musculoskeletal injury.
● The RWL is defined by:
RWL=LC*HM*VM*DM*AM*FM*CM
The Multipliers

RWL=LC*HM*VM*DM*AM*FM*CM
● LC- Load Constant
● HM- Horizontal Multiplier
● VM- Vertical multiplier
● DM- Distant Multiplier
● AM- Asymmetry Multiplier
● FM- Frequency Multiplier
● CM- Coupling Multiplier
Lifting Task

● Defined as the act of manually grasping an object of definable size and

mass with two hands, and vertically moving the object without mechanical
assistance.
Load Weight

● Weight of the object to be lifted, in pounds or Kg including the container.

Horizontal Location (H)

● Distance of the hands away from the mid-point between the ankles, in
inches or cm.
Horizontal Multiplier (HM)

● The horizontal multiplier is determined as follows:

The lower the
multiplier
HM = (25/H) value the
worse the
condition!
where H is the horizontal distance in cm
Vertical Location (V)

● Distance of the hands above the floor.

Vertical Multiplier (VM)

● The vertical multiplier is determined as follows:

The lower the
multiplier
VM = (1 – 0.003 V − 75 ) value the
worse the
condition!
where V is the vertical height in cm
Vertical Travel Distance (D)

● Absolute value of the difference between the vertical heights at the

destination and origin of the lift.
Distance Multiplier (DM)

● The distance multiplier is determined as follows:

The lower the
multiplier
DM = (0.82 + (4.5/D)) value the
worse the
condition!
where D is the total distance moved in cm
Asymmetry Angle (A)

● Angular measure of how far the object is displaced from the front (Mid
sagittal plane)of the workers body at the beginning or ending of the lift, in
degrees (measures at the origin and destination of lift)
● The asymmetry angle is defined by the location of the load relative to the
workers mid saggittal plane, as defined by the neutral body posture, rather
than the position of the feet or the extent of body twist
Asymmetry Angle (A)
Asymmetry Multiplier (AM)

● The asymmetry multiplier is determined as follows:

The lower the
multiplier
AM = (1 – (0.0032A)) value the
worse the
condition!
where A is the asymmetric angle in degrees
Hand Coupling

● Loads equipped with appropriate coupling/handles/grippers facilitate lifting

and reduce the possibility of dropping the load.
The lower the
multiplier
value the
worse the
condition!
Lifting Frequency

● Average number of lifts per minute over a 15 minute period.

The lower the
multiplier
value the
worse the
condition!