International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 31 (2003) 11–16 A survey of lifting and lowering tasks Patrick G. Dempsey* Liberty Mutual Research Center for Safety and Health, 71 Frankland Road, Hopkinton, MA 01748 USA Received 13 March 2001; accepted 15 April 2002 Abstract An assessment of 1063 lifting and lowering tasks was conducted, and the individual task parameters were analyzed. The survey was conducted as part of an epidemiological study of the relationship between low-back workers’ compensation claims and the physical demands of lifting and lowering tasks. The primary objective of the study was to provide summary statistics of the parameter values of a large sample of actual lifting and lowering tasks. The 10, 25, 50, 75, and 90 percentile values of the parameters of the lifting tasks, defined in accordance with the NIOSH lifting equation, are presented. A secondary objective of the study was to compare the results to a previous survey of lifting and lowering tasks. The results showed fairly strong agreement with the previous survey with the exception of load and frequency. The median load from the current survey was approximately one half the value found previously whereas the median frequency was approximately double. The potential reasons for these differences are explored. The results are also compared to several epidemiologic studies of repetitive lifting/lowering. Relevance to industry Prevention of work-related low-back disorders continues to be a critical component of workplace health and safety programs. The parameters of lifting and lowering tasks are summarized to provide benchmarks for practitioners as well as researchers investigating lifting and lowering tasks in the laboratory. r 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Lifting; Lowering; Materials handling; Low-back disorders 1. Introduction Manual materials handling (MMH) continues to represent a major loss source in the workplace. For example, these losses typically represent approximately 30% of incidences and direct costs in the UK and the US (David, 1985; Dempsey and Hashemi, 1999; Nicholson, 1985). Thus, there is still a need for research and practice to address the design and evaluation of MMH exposures. Ciriello and colleagues reported the results of a survey of over 25,000 MMH tasks gathered throughout the US (Ciriello and Snook, 1999; Ciriello et al., 1999). These data were collected during analysis of MMH tasks for the purpose of loss prevention. In most cases, the analyses were performed either because the tasks were judged to represent a potential loss source or due to actual workers’ compensation claims attributed to the exposure. Thus, the measurement of task *Tel.: +1-508-435-9061; fax: +1-508-435-8136. E-mail address: patrick.dempsey@libertymutual.com (P.G. Dempsey). 0169-8141/03/$-see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0169-8141(02)00104-X