Delivering meat carcasses/cuts to craft-butcher shops: an investigation of work characteristics and manual handling hazards.

This study investigated delivery scenarios of service drivers working in the retail meat industry. The methodology included analysis of accident reports, and field investigations of deliveries at craft-butcher shop premises, including semi-structured interviews with managers and workers. The findings provide greater clarity about the hazards in this job, and suggest for peripatetic delivery activities, four main factors on which decisions about risk and good practice may be made: composition of the orders; characteristics of the delivery vehicle/truck; handling method most often used; and, the road/access conditions.

Patient safety during assistant propelled wheelchair transfers: the effect of the seat cushion on risk of falling.

This article is a report of a study of the effect of the seat cushion on risk of falling from a wheelchair. Two laboratory studies and simulated assistant propelled wheelchair transfers were conducted with four healthy female participants. For the laboratory studies there were three independent variables: trunk posture (upright/flexed forward), seat cushion (flat polyurethane/propad low profile), and feet condition (dangling/supported), and two dependent variables: occupied wheelchair (wheelchair) center of gravity (CG), and stability.

Ready steady push--a study of the role of arm posture in manual exertions.

This study investigated arm posture and hand forces during bi-manual pushing. Nine male and eight female participants performed isometric exertions at two reach distances (0 and elbow-grip) and six different positions of the hand interface (handle), defined by the plane (longitudinal, lateral, horizontal) and orientation (0 degrees and 45 degrees). Electrogoniometer instruments were used to measure the displacements/postures of the wrist and elbow joints and the forearm, and force measuring strain gauges were used to measure the exerted hand forces (x-, y- and z-components).

City bus driving and low back pain: a study of the exposures to posture demands, manual materials handling and whole-body vibration.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate worker exposure to posture demands, manual materials handling (MMH) and whole body vibration as risks for low back pain (LBP). Using validated questionnaire, information about driving experience, driving (sitting) posture MMH, and health history was obtained from 80 city bus drivers. Twelve drivers were observed during their service route driving (at least one complete round trip) and vibration measurements were obtained at the seat and according to the recommendations of ISO 2631 (1997), for three models of bus (a mini-bus, a single-decker bus, a double-decker bus).

Pouring liquid from a pot-kinematics of an everyday task.

An experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of handle design on postures in the use of pots. Six combinations of handle (sloping, vertical and curved) and spout designs (long and short) were tested during grasping, lifting and pouring. The fill load was 1000 ml of water at the prevailing room temperature (about 20 degrees C) and three males and three females were involved as subjects.

Postures adopted when using a two-wheeled cylinder trolley.

Upper limb and trunk positions were investigated when subjects exerted force to start and move a two-wheeled cylinder trolley with four different handles. Three of the handles had orientations 35 degrees, 50 degrees and 70 degrees in the sagittal plane (relative to the back of the trolley). The fourth was the 50 degrees handles fitted with a link bar.