The Effects of Operator Position, Pallet Orientation, and Palletizing Condition on Low Back Loads in Manual Bag Palletizing Operations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gallagher S ; Heberger JR
• Description:
  Many mining commodities are packaged and shipped using bags. Small bags are typically loaded onto pallets for transport and require a significant amount of manual handling by workers. This specific task of manual bag handling has been associated with the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), especially low back disorders. This study evaluates the biomechanical demands of different work layouts when performing manual palletizing of small bags, and evaluates the biomechanical stresses associated with different stacking techniques. Results indicate that peak forward bending moments as well as spinal compression and shear forces are higher when the pallet is situated at the side of the conveyor as opposed to the end of the conveyor. At low levels of the pallet, controlled bag placement results in higher peak forward bending moments than stacking at higher levels and when dropping the bag to lower levels. The results of this study will be used to inform the development of an audit tool for bagging operations in the mining industry. Relevance to industry: In many cases for workers loading small bags, compression forces exceed the NIOSH criterion of 3400 N. Orientation of the pallet has a significant impact on spinal compression, and positioning the pallet at the end of the conveyor reduces the estimated compressive loading on the lumbar spine by approximately 800 N. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Biomechanical Phenomena Fatigue Mining Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accidents Author Keywords: Low Back Biomechanics Back-injuries Bag Stacking Biomechanics Fatigue Failure Injuries Manual-lifting Manual-materials-handling Mining-industry Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Palletizing Stress Work-environment Workers

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0169-8141
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OMSHR - Office of Mine Safety and Health Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  84-92
• Volume:
  47
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046015
• Citation:
  Int J Ind Ergon 2015 May; 47(3):84-92
• Contact Point Address:
  John R. Heberger, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office of Mine Safety and Health Research, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0070
• Email:
  JHeberger@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:13654e769d8050feb6c7906837eeb38715e9b4c0aaa0249793c562b7f551bd9cf3e9f6079b53ec6fc15870b29cdf374cd6f315490b77c5795ccf47c8f85e64fa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228122/cdc_228122_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1014.16 KB ]