Abstract
Manual material handling is very prevalent in warehousing and large home improvement stores. Product is often shipped on pallets and then loaded to carts or pallet jacks. The objective of the current study was to evaluate two potential interventions: an adjustable pallet carousel and adjustable cart, using the NIOSH lifting index. Thirteen experienced males completed de-palletizing tasks under 4 conditions: pallet to flat cart, pallet to adjustable cart, carousel to flat cart, and carousel to adjustable cart. The carousel reduced the LI by about 20% while the adjustable cart had limited impact. Based on the NIOSH LI, the carousel provide a reduction in risk but remained elevated (e.g. LI>3.0) and the adjustable cart was less effective (LI>4.6). Caution is needed to interpret these results as the spine loads may be significantly reduced and provide a different picture.
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