Citation

Bridger RS, Freidberg SS. Safety Sci. 1999; 32(2-3): 103-111.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Fifty management level employees in Western Cape light and medium industries completed structured interviews on the subject of manual handling. All of the firms had low levels of mechanisation and regarded manual handling as important to their core business. Participants estimated safe loads for frequent and infrequent lifting. The mean loads were found to be of similar magnitude to those recommended by NIOSH in the USA. There was a slight tendency to overestimate the maximum allowable load for infrequent lifting and underestimate the amount that could be handled repetitively. Lifting technique and wearing an abdominal belt while lifting caused participants to make large adjustments to their initial estimates. The findings suggest that if managers perceive the lifting conditions to be safe they will allow heavier loads to be lifted than if the conditions are perceived to be unsafe.