Load carriage, human performance, and employment standards.
The focus of this review is on the physiological considerations necessary for developing employment standards within occupations that have a heavy reliance on load carriage. Employees within military, fire fighting, law enforcement, and search and rescue occupations regularly work with heavy loads. For example, soldiers often carry loads >50 kg, whilst structural firefighters wear 20-25 kg of protective clothing and equipment, in addition to carrying external loads. It has long been known that heavy loads modify gait, mobility, metabolic rate, and efficiency, while concurrently elevating the risk of muscle fatigue and injury. In addition, load carriage often occurs within environmentally stressful conditions, with protective ensembles adding to the thermal burden of the workplace. Indeed, physiological strain relates not just to the mass and dimensions of carried objects, but to how those loads are positioned on and around the body. Yet heavy loads must be borne by men and women of varying body size, and with the expectation that operational capability will not be impinged. This presents a recruitment conundrum. How do employers identify capable and injury-resistant individuals while simultaneously avoiding discriminatory selection practices? In this communication, the relevant metabolic, cardiopulmonary, and thermoregulatory consequences of loaded work are reviewed, along with concomitant impediments to physical endurance and mobility. Also emphasised is the importance of including occupation-specific clothing, protective equipment, and loads during work-performance testing. Finally, recommendations are presented for how to address these issues when evaluating readiness for duty.
a Centre for Human and Applied Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
Nigel A S
NA
Taylor
a Centre for Human and Applied Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
Gregory E
GE
Peoples
b Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
Stewart R
SR
Petersen
D049628:Body Size; D004651:Employment / Q000592:standards*; D061388:Firefighters; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D018763:Muscle Fatigue; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000592:standards*; D010807:Physical Endurance; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012307:Risk Factors; D016526:Workload / Q000592:standards*
backpacks; coût d’oxygène; employment standards; firefighter; load carriage; militaire; military; normes de travail; oxygen cost; pompier; sac à dos à armature; transport de charge; travail de la respiration; ventilation; work of breathing