This study was conducted in a warehouse at a vaccine production centre where improvement to existing storage and working conditions were sought through the construction of a new refrigerated store section (2-8C°). Warehousing tasks were videotaped and ergonomics analysis tools were used to assess the risk of developing MSDs. Specifically, these tools were the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA)...

This paper describes a case study of a neighborhood pub in British Columbia, Canada. This case study is an examination of three common pub occupations-bartending, waitressing and cooking (n = 17). The aims of this study are to determine the biomechanical loads of job tasks identified as physically demanding for the three occupations analyzed, to assess the potential risk of musculoskeletal inju...

Musculoskeletal models may enhance our understanding of the dynamic loading joints during manual material handling. This study used state-of-the-art musculoskeletal to determine effects load mass, asymmetry angle, horizontal location and deposit height on knees, shoulders lumbar spine lifting. Recommended weight limits lifting indices were also calculated using NIOSH equation. Based 1832 lifts ...

This study investigated the ability of the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation (RNLE) to measure the risk of low back injury as verified by employee health outcomes. In addition, several basic risk factors and combinations of risk factors presumed related to low back disorders were explored. The RNLE was modified to allow analysis of one-handed and two-handed, asymmetric lifts. Predictive performanc...

OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of the Revised National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equation (RNLE) to predict risk of low-back pain (LBP). BACKGROUND In 1993, NIOSH published the RNLE as a risk assessment method for LBP associated with manual lifting. To date, there has been little research evaluating the RNLE as a predictor of the risk o...

This paper presents near optimal solution method to find safe work place design using harmony search algorithm. Revised NIOSH equations are considered to minimize relative estimate of the physical stress associated with a manual-lifting job. The proposed algorithm will assist occupational safety and health practioners in evaluating lifting tasks and reducing the incidence of low back injuries i...

Background: The revised National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equation (RNLE) is commonly used for risk assessment of manual handling, and can estimate low back pain (LBP) biomechanical stressors of lifting and/or lowering of loads. The aim of this study was to evaluate manual material handling by using the RNLE, LBP, and LBP disability index (LBPDI) among worker...

Present study is focused to analyze the association between the low back injury risk and work factors in few small scale casting firms of Northern India. Lifting Index (LI) was used as a decisive factor to ascertain the risk level of low back injury. Four different jobs performed by 40 different workers of three small scale casting units were investigated with the help of NIOSH lifting equation...

Ten young male participants were tested their psychophysically determined 4-h maximum acceptable weight of lifting (MAWL) of 90-degree asymmetric lifting for three lifting frequencies (1 lift/min, 2 lifts/min, 4 lifts/min) and three lifting containers (50 x 35 x 15 cm, 70 x 35 x 15 cm, 50 x 50 x 15 cm). The results showed that the MAWL decreased with increasing frequency and container width or ...