Manual Materials

Handling / Lifting

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Material Handling
• Lifting/Lowering
• Pushing/Pulling
• Carrying
• Weights
• Frequency
• Load Center of Gravity
LITERATURE
• Hoogendoorn et al. (2000) found an in-
creased risk of low back pain in workers
who lifted a 25 kg load more than 15
times per day.
• Magora (1972) found that low back
symptoms were more common in workers
who regularly lifted weights of 3 kg or
more than in those who sometimes lifted
such weights. Interestingly, low back
symptoms were even more common in
those who rarely lifted weights.
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Manual Materials Handling
Approaches
(For assessing MMH capabilities and for setting
recommended workload limits.)

• Biomechanical Approach
• Physiological Approach
• Psychophysical Approach

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MANUAL MATERIALS HANDLING-
THE PRIMARY FOCUS

• low back injuries/LBP.

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 The Spinal Column

Cervical

Thoracic

Lumbar

The types of LBI:- strains and sprains, dislocation of the lumbar

disc, fracture, joint inflammation (mostly L4/L5 and L5/S1;
occasionally other joints such as the shoulder and hip),
laceration of muscle tissue, contusion, and nerve (sciatic)
involvement, often leading to activity limitation and workplace
accidents.
BACK INJURIES AND
LIFTING & CARRYING
• Grieve and Pheasant (1982), the trunk can fail in
three ways when a weight is lifted:
1. The muscles and ligaments of the back can fail
under excessive tension.
2. The intervertebral disc may herniate as the
nucleus is extruded under excessive compression.
3. The abdominal contents may be extruded through
the abdominal cavity owing to excessive intra-
abdominal pressure.
These injuries are often referred to colloquially as
‘muscle strains or tears’, ‘slipped discs’ and ‘hernias’. 12
PREVENTION OF MANUAL
HANDLING INJURIES IN THE
WORKPLACE
• The most common approach in most
industries is to train workers to lift
safely.
• it is safer to ‘lift with the knees and not
with the back’.
• Selection/training/job design
• Significantly fewer back injuries were
found in companies where the loads
were acceptable to more than 75% of
the workforce.
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Tentative guidelines for safe lifting
(McGill and Norman, 1992)
• Maintain normal lumbar lordosis & use the hip joints to flex/ext. of trunk.
• Do not lift immediately after prolonged flexion – allow time for the disc
nucleus to equilibrate and for the posterior ligaments to regain their
stiffness.
• Avoid lifting shortly after rising from bed.
• Follow the pre-stress system. Lightly co-contract the stabilising muscles of
the trunk to remove slack from the system and stiffen the spine.
• Choose a posture that minimises the load moment on the lumbar spine (i.e.
that gets you close to the load) but don’t compromise point 1.
• Avoid twisting (either to reach the load or to pick it up).
• Exploit the acceleration profile of the load (experienced lifters only).
Grasp the load and extend the trunk rapidly to impart explosive
momentum. The ‘ballistic’ effect will keep the load moving through weak 14
postures until it can be ‘caught’ in a strong, upright posture.
POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF THE USE OF
ABDOMINAL BELTS
• Although the mechanism is unclear, belts do seem to provide
some type of protection in light tasks such as grocery selection.
Previously injured workers benefit the most.
• With heavy tasks, the evidence is less clear and there are real
concerns about whether belts create a false sense of security
and encourage workers to lift heavier weights.
• There are real concerns about possible side effects of
occupational belt use. Although there is no evidence for
deconditioning of the trunk muscles, chronically increased IAP in
the workplace may bring with it cardiovascular and other risks.
• The possible benefits of abdominal belts for occupants of
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vehicles, exposed to vibration and shock are unknown.
Job Risk Factors
• Weight of the Object
• Location (position of load w.r.t. worker)
• Frequency of Lifts
• Stability of the Load
• Hand Coupling
• Workplace Geometry Twisting /
Stooping
• Environmental Factors
Personal Risk Factors
• Gender
• Age
• Anthropometry
• Lifting technique
• Attitude
• Strength
• Training
SOME TASK FACTORS THAT EXACERBATE
POSTURAL STRESS IN MANUAL
HANDLING
• Having to grasp or hold the load at a distance from the
trunk
• Having to twist the trunk while supporting or lifting a
load
• Having to lift or lower objects placed below knee or
above shoulder height
• Having to lift or move the load through large vertical or
horizontal distances
• Having to hold or carry the load for long periods
• Having to lift or carry frequently
• Having to lift while seated 18
General principles for the control of manual
handling hazards in the workplace

• Avoid hazardous manual handling as

much as possible.
• Assess any hazardous operations and
redesign the task to obviate the need to
move the load or automate or mechanise
the process.
• Reduce the risk by providing mechanical
assistance, redesigning the load itself or
redesigning the workspace.
HOW TO MINIMIZE THE WEIGHT TO BE
HANDLED
• Assign the job to more than one person.
• Use smaller containers.
• If possible, mechanize the process.
• Machines, rather than employees, should transfer loads between
surfaces.
• Change the job from lifting to lowering, from lowering to
carrying, from carrying to pulling, and from pulling to pushing.
• Use handles, hooks or similar features to enable workers to get
a firm grip on objects to be lifted.
• Reduce the weight of containers used to transfer objects.
• Balance and stabilize the contents of containers to avoid sudden
shifts in load during a lift.
• Design containers so that they can be held close to the body.
• Treat work surfaces to allow for ease of movement of containers.
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Modified from Ayoub (1982) with permission of the Journal of Occupational Medicine.
Maximum acceptable weights are about 16% lower if no handles are used (Ciriello et al., 1993).
HOW TO MINIMISE REACH AND LIFT
DISTANCES
• Increase height at which lift is initiated; decrease height at
which it terminates.
• Stack objects no higher than shoulder height.
• Store heavy components on shelves between shoulder and
knuckle height.
• Avoid deep shelves.
• Avoid side to side lifting from seated position.
• Provide access space around components to cut down on
the need for manual repositioning.
• Storage bins or containers should be fitted with spring-
loaded bottoms.
• Use sloped surfaces to gravity-feed items to the point of
lifting.
• Provide free space around and under the work surface to
increase functional reach.
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Modified from Ayoub (1982) with permission of the Journal of Occupational

Medicine.
HOW TO INCREASE THE TIME
AVAILABLE FOR LIFTING

• Increase the time by relaxing the standard

time for the job.
• Reduce the frequency of lifts.
• Introduce job rotation to parcel out lifting
between workers.
• Introduce appropriate work–rest cycles.

Modified from Ayoub (1982) with permission of the Journal of Occupational Medicine. 22
NIOSH LIFTING INDEX

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NIOSH Lifting Equation
• Objective: Reduce occurrence of
lifting-related LBP

• 1981 and 1991 equations

• 1981 limited to sagittal plane

• 1991 includes asymmetry and coupling

CRITERIA USED IN THE NIOSH LIFTING
EQUATION
Consideration Criterion Cut-off
value
Biomechanical Maximum disc 3.4 kN
compression

Physiological Maximum energy 9.2–19.7

expenditure kJ/min

Psychophysical Maximum
acceptable weight
For 75% of females
and 99% of males
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THE REVISED NIOSH LIFTING EQUATION
DOES NOT APPLY IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING
OCCUR:
• Lifting/lowering with one hand
• Lifting/lowering for over 8 hours
• Lifting/lowering while seated or kneeling
• Lifting/lowering in a restricted work space
• Lifting/lowering while carrying, pushing or pulling
• Lifting/lowering with wheelbarrows or shovels
• Lifting/lowering with high speed motion (faster
than about 30 inches/second)
• Lifting/lowering with unreasonable foot/floor
coupling (<0.4 coefficient of friction between the
sole and the floor)
• Lifting/lowering in an unfavorable environment 27
(i.e., temperature significantly outside 19-26°C
range; relative humidity outside 35-50% range)
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 (e.g., up
to 8 hours) without an increased risk of
developing lifting-related LBP. 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 the following

equation:

RWL = LC x HM x VM x DM x AM x FM x CM
LIFTING INDEX (LI)
NIOSH Approach to lifting task evaluation.
(A) H = distance of load from mid point; V = height of hands
above floor; D= distance through which load is lifted; 30

(B) Angle of asymmetry of lift, A.

TERMINOLOGY AND DATA DEFINITIONS

Graphical representation of
Hand position
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Graphical representation of
angle of asymmetry ’A’
 LIFTING DURATION
Three-tiered classification of lifting
duration specified by the distribution
of work-time and recovery-time (work
patter). Duration is classified as either
short (1 hour), moderate (1-2 hours), COUPLING
or long (2-8 hours), depending on the CLASSIFICATION
work pattern.
Classification of the quality of the
hand-to-object coupling (e.g. handle,
cut-out, or grip). Coupling quality is
SIGNIFICANT CONTROL classified as good, fair, or poor.
Significant control is defined as a condition
requiring precision placement of the load at
the destination of the lift. This is usually the
case when (1) the worker has to re-grasp
the load near the destination of the lift, or
(2) the worker has to momentarily hold the
object at the destination, or (3) the worker
has to carefully position or guide the load at 33

the destination.
The RWL is defined by the following equation:

RWL = LC x HM x VM x DM x AM x FM x CM

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 Metric system
Load constant LC 23 kg
Horizontal HM 25/H
multiplier
Vertical VM 1-(0.003|V-75|)
multiplier
Distance DM 0.82+4.5/D
multiplier
Asymmetric AM 1-(0.0032A)
multiplier
Frequency FM From Table 5
multiplier
Coupling CM From Table 7
multiplier
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NIOSH Worksheet
NIOSH job analysis worksheet
Department………… Job description
Job title……………. ………………….
Analysis name……… ………………….
Date……………….. ………………….
Step 1: Measure and record task variables
Object Hand location (cm) Vertical Asymmetric angle Frequency Duration Object
weight (kg) Origin Destination distance (cm) (degrees) rate (Hours) coupling
(lifts/minute)
L avg. L max. H V H V D Origin A Destination A F C

Step 2: Determine the multipliers and compute the RWL’s

RWL = LC x HM x VM x DM x AM x FM x CM
Origin RWL = 23 x 🔲 x 🔲 x 🔲 x 🔲 x 🔲 x 🔲. = ………….. kg

Destinations RWL = 23 x 🔲 x 🔲 x 🔲 x 🔲. x 🔲 x 🔲. = ………….. kg

A CASE STUDY

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Recommended loads for lifting
(UK Manual Handling Regulation)
BIOMECHANICAL APPROACH
FOR BODY MECHANISM AT
WORK

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THANKS

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