Development and Validation of an Easy-to-Use Risk Assessment Tool for Cumulative Low Back Loading: The Lifting Fatigue Failure Tool (LiFFT)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gallagher S ; Huangfu R ; Schall MC Jr. ; Sesek RF
• Description:
  Recent evidence suggests that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) may be the result of a fatigue failure process in affected tissues. This paper describes a new low back exposure assessment tool (the Lifting Fatigue Failure Tool [LiFFT]), which estimates a "daily dose" of cumulative loading on the low back using fatigue failure principles. Only three variables are necessary to derive the cumulative load associated with a lifting task: the weight of the load, the maximum horizontal distance from the spine to the load, and the number of repetitions for tasks performed during the workday. The new tool was validated using two existing epidemiological databases: the Lumbar Motion Monitor (LMM) database, and a database from a U.S. automotive manufacturer. The LiFFT cumulative damage metric explained 92% of the deviance in low back disorders (LBDs) in the LMM database and 72-95% of the deviance in low back outcomes in the automotive database (depending on the outcome measure). Thus, LiFFT is practitioner friendly and its cumulative damage metric highly related to low back outcomes. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Database Environmental Exposure Epidemiology Fatigue Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Low Back Pain Cumulative Loading Databases Exposure Levels Fatigue Failure Lifting Lifting Capacity Low Back Pain MSD Muscular Disorders Musculoskeletal System Disorders Risk Assessment Tools

  More +
• ISSN:
  0003-6870
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  142-150
• Volume:
  63
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051208
• Citation:
  Appl Ergon 2017 Sep; 63:142-150
• Contact Point Address:
  Sean Gallagher, 3304 Shelby Center, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849
• Email:
  seangallagher@auburn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Applied Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f037ec0e3994ca0c28568fa21012568c68007f08bd081392184d23d65cd41e0ff4ad20d49f45af70e6f880ccc892aceb2cf41c355124fd4c1268d4ddeda06d74
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211289/cdc_211289_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.65 MB ]