A new procedure for determining the risk of injury associated with manual pushing and pulling was developed based upon characteristics of the user population (i.e. age, gender and stature) and task requirements (i.e. working height, task frequency and travel distance). The procedure has been integrated into international (ISO, 2004) and European (CEN, 2004) standards for determining recommended force limits for pushing and pulling that can be adapted to suit the user population. These limits consider the muscular strength of the intended target population, as well as the compressive loads on the lumbar spine. Examples are provided to demonstrate variability of the proposed `safety' limits for different task scenarios.     «

A new procedure for determining the risk of injury associated with manual pushing and pulling was developed based upon characteristics of the user population (i.e. age, gender and stature) and task requirements (i.e. working height, task frequency and travel distance). The procedure has been integrated into international (ISO, 2004) and European (CEN, 2004) standards for determining recommended force limits for pushing and pulling that can be adapted to suit the user population. These limits con...     »