Estimation of Low Back Disorder Risk for the ACGIH TLVs

Abstract

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Lifting Value (TLV) lifting assessment method was designed to identify potentially safe lifting weights as a function of location of the lift, duration and frequency, assessed at the origin of the lift. However, there may be scenarios where the destination of the lift may present greater risk than the origin. This study utilized a measure of low back disorder risk to evaluate if the destination of a lift could be assessed in addition to the origin of the lift. Results indicated that the destination of the lift could be evaluated using the ACGIH TLV assessment method. Additionally, the TLVs identified by the ACGIH were consistent with low risk values of the measure of low back disorder risk utilized in this study.