"Heave-ho" To Heavy Lifting

Safety In Numbers

Pencils and calculators can also qualify as ergonomic assists, when used in conjunction with the lifting equation for two-handed, manual lifting tasks developed by the National Institute for Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The equation first calculates recommended weight limit (RWL), or the load weight that nearly all healthy workers could lift over a substantial period of time without an increased risk of developing lower back pain. To arrive at the RWL, load constant is multiplied by reduction coefficients for horizontal hand location, vertical hand location, vertical travel distance, asymmetric angle, frequency, and hand-to-object coupling of the lift. The load weight is then divided by the RWL to calculate the lifting index (LI), or a relative estimate of the level of physical stress associated with a manual lifting task.