Evaluation and quantification of manual materials handling risk factors.
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 performance was not changed. Simplifying the RNLE by removing several variables did not significantly reduce the RNLE's predictive performance. These modifications to the RNLE show promise for increasing both the usability and utility of the RNLE.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9208, USA. r.sesek@utah.edu
Richard
R
Sesek
David
D
Gilkey
Phillip
P
Drinkaus
Donald S
DS
Bloswick
Robin
R
Herron
D016001:Confidence Intervals; D006801:Humans; D017770:Lifting; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D009314:National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation