The impact of drywall handling tools on the lower back

Details

• Personal Author:
  Davis K ; Hess JA ; Kincl LD
• Description:
  Carpenters and other construction workers who install drywall have high rates of strains and sprains to the low back and shoulder. Drywall is heavy and awkward to handle resulting in increased risk of injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate several low-cost coupling tools that have the potential to reduce awkward postures in drywall installers. Five coupling tools were evaluated using the Lumbar Motion Monitor that measures trunk kinematics and predicts probability of low back disorder group membership risk (LBD risk). Workers answered surveys about their comfort while using each tool. The results indicate that use of the 2-person manual lift and the J-handle provide the best reduction in awkward postures, motions, low back sagittal moment, and LBD risk. The two-person manual lift appears to be the safest method of lifting and moving drywall, though using the two-person J-handle also significantly reduces injury risk. Given that carpenters are skeptical about using equipment that can get in the way or get lost, a practical recommendation is promotion of two-person manual lifting. For singleperson lifts, the Old Man tool is a viable option to decrease risk of MSDs. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Construction Industry Construction Materials Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Low Back Disorders Back-injuries Biomechanics Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Drywall Equipment-design Hand-tools Manual-lifting Manual-materials-handling Materials-handling-equipment Measurement-equipment Motion-studies Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Musculoskeletal Disorders Posture Risk-analysis Tools

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• ISSN:
  0003-6870
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  305-312
• Volume:
  41
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040843
• Citation:
  Appl Ergon 2010 Mar; 41(2):305-312
• Contact Point Address:
  Jennifer A. Hess, Labor Education and Research Center, 1289 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1289, USA
• Email:
  jhessdc@gmail.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  The Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  Applied Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20050630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f46fb3a0a3601eade29777337b5af893f6fc2bbc84f440ba99915bc3a63324535ee51647be604e489b49840a1b39a35b037fd60f5fd3bf3e07b23576309058f2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193562/cdc_193562_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 717.37 KB ]