title: Lifting strength in two-person teamwork.
abstract: This study examined the effects of lifting range, hand-to-toe distance, and lifting direction on single-person lifting strengths and two-person teamwork lifting strengths. Six healthy males and seven healthy females participated in this study. Two-person teamwork lifting strengths were examined in both strength-matched and strength-unmatched groups. Our results showed that lifting strength significantly decreased with increasing lifting range or hand-to-toe distance. However, lifting strengths were not affected by lifting direction. Teamwork lifting strength did not conform to the law of additivity for both strength-matched and strength-unmatched groups. In general, teamwork lifting strength was dictated by the weaker of the two members, implying that weaker members might be exposed to a higher potential danger in teamwork exertions. To avoid such overexertion in teamwork, members with significantly different strength ability should not be assigned to the same team.
authors.affiliation: a Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Hsien
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017770:Lifting; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: asymmetric; capability; efficiency; teamwork