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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the kinematic and kinetic differences in lifting technique between expert manual materials handlers and novice lifters. Since there is little research available, it was hypothesized that lifting patterns developed by the expert lifters would differ from novice lifters and that these differences could be used as teaching guidelines for novice lifters entering manual materials handling jobs. Three groups of subjects with no history of low back pain were tested at the DuPont Canada, Nylon Plant (Kingston). Ten novice lifters, ten expert lifters of equal age to the novice group, and ten older expert lifters were tested in this study. All subjects performed several lifting tasks while spinal (T1, L1, and S1) and wrist motions were monitored with the FASTRAK$\sp{\copyright}$ electromagnetic tracking system. Subjects lifted loads of 5, 15 and 25 Kg in a box with handles from the floor to shoulder height in the sagittal plane. Each load was lifted six times, and an ensemble average was created over five lifts to characterize individual lifting technique. Data analyses of a number of discrete kinematic and kinetic lifting variables indicated that novice and expert lifters differed very little in lifting technique. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
