Ergonomics testing reveals workers are injuring themselves more quickly than guidelines suggest

Early findings indicate ISO push/pull standards need to be reevaluated and more testing is needed

New findings suggest that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) push/pull requirements might not go far enough to protect workers. More testing is needed to better represent real-life situations and in turn, become more effective for injury prevention.

Caster Connection, manufacturer of casters and wheels, collaborated with the Spine Research Institute at The Ohio State University, in conjunction with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, who together, discovered the importance of replicating authentic movement for injury prevention in push/pull testing.

Joe Lyden

“Occupationally-related low back disorders and shoulder musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of lost work days and are a costly occupational safety and health problem facing a variety of industries,” said Joe Lyden, president of Caster Connection. “These injuries occur because organizations vary in the type of push/pull gauge they’re using – varying test results from one organization to the next.”

Additional findings include:

  • In order to be accurate for real-life situations, acceleration in testing should be much higher than ISO guidelines advise
  • Workers are injuring themselves more quickly than guidelines suggest and before they even realize it
  • Current guidelines do not reflect how people are using carts in real-life situations
  • The force required to push a cart differs from the force required to pull a cart and people don’t typically test pulling

The objective of this particular study was to provide recommendations for practitioners in regard to push/pull force assessment that improves the accuracy and precision of hand force estimates, thus making the SRI push/pull guidelines more applicable. More testing is required to determine the gold standard for new guidelines.

For more information about the early findings of the study, visit www.casterconnection.com/research. The study in its entirety will be available online in 2020.

 

Free Magazine & eNewsletter

Printed Monthly Magazine

Published monthly, Material Handling Wholesaler offers feature columns and special coverage of relevant industry issues and products.

Digital Monthly Magazine

Published on the fourth Thursday of each month, Material Handling Wholesaler offers feature columns and special coverage of relevant industry issues and products.

Material Handing Wholesaler Weekly Newsletter

Our Weekly newsletter is emailed every Tuesday and contains the latest Industry Events and People News, Source Directory, and important Industry Links.

Forklift International Weekly Hot Sheet Newsletter

Published every Monday morning with the latest material handling equipment
available for sale.

Share the Post:

Related Posts

Our Current Issue

Free Magazine & eNewsletter

Our magazine is published and mailed monthly, Material Handling Wholesaler offers feature columns and special coverage of important industry issues. Subscription is FREE to qualified readers.

Weekly Newsletter – Get the latest industry events and people news in this weekly e-newsletter as well as direct access to Wholesaler’s Source Directory and link.

Current Supplements







Storage Solutions announced rebrand and expansion at ProMat 2025

Storage Solutions (SSI) has announced a new logo and yellow brand identity at ProMat 2025. Storage Solutions, a Jungheinrich Company,…

Episode 571:Rethinking retail return logistics with Fillogic and Loop Returns

The world of logistics is changing fast, and nowhere is that more evident than in retail return logistics. In this…

2024 balance sheet: Gebrüder Weiss prevails in a difficult market environment

International logistics leader reports 10% net revenue gain year over year and in North America, strategic expansion drives revenue growth…

SVT Robotics unveils new cloud-based portal for SOFTBOT® platform

Providing unprecedented automation visibility across multiple sites. New capabilities enable advanced monitoring, streamline automation management, and optimize IT resources.  SVT…

Bradford Systems announced partnership with Rainbow Dynamics

Bradford Systems has announced a strategic partnership with Rainbow Dynamics. This collaboration aims to revolutionize storage and retrieval systems across…