A survey of lifting and lowering tasks

Abstract

An assessment of 1063 lifting and lowering tasks was conducted, and the individual task parameters were analyzed. The survey was conducted as part of an epidemiological study of the relationship between low-back workers’ compensation claims and the physical demands of lifting and lowering tasks. The primary objective of the study was to provide summary statistics of the parameter values of a large sample of actual lifting and lowering tasks. The 10, 25, 50, 75, and 90 percentile values of the parameters of the lifting tasks, defined in accordance with the NIOSH lifting equation, are presented. A secondary objective of the study was to compare the results to a previous survey of lifting and lowering tasks. The results showed fairly strong agreement with the previous survey with the exception of load and frequency. The median load from the current survey was approximately one half the value found previously whereas the median frequency was approximately double. The potential reasons for these differences are explored. The results are also compared to several epidemiologic studies of repetitive lifting/lowering. Relevance to industry Prevention of work-related low-back disorders continues to be a critical component of workplace health and safety programs. The parameters of lifting and lowering tasks are summarized to provide benchmarks for practitioners as well as researchers investigating lifting and lowering tasks in the laboratory.