The objectives of this study were, firstly, to apply an efficient approach to assess both optimal handle diameter and angle by subjective perception of heaviness, and secondly, to evaluate one-hand power grip on alternative container handles, using weight discrimination as a criterion. Twelve student subjects (six males and six females) participated in the four experiments designed in this study. Six handle diameters (25.4 mm (1″), 31.8 mm (1.25″), 38.1 mm (1.5″), 44.5 mm (1.75″), 50.8 mm (2″) and 57.2 mm (2.25″)) and six handle angles (radial 20° (R20), radial 10° (R10), neutral (NO), ulnar 10° (U10), ulnar 20° (U20) and ulnar 30° (U30)) were evaluated. The results indicated that the containers were perceived less heavy when handle diameter was about 51 mm (2″) and handle angle was about neutral position. Further, insignificant influences of handle diameter and handle angle on human's ability to discriminate weight difference were found when the standard weight was 8.2 kg. Relevance to industry The results of this study can be applied to handle design in manual material handling tasks.