Bituminous Insurance Companies

Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Materials Handling

Manual materials handling (MMH) work contributes to a large percentage of the over half a million cases of musculoskeletal disorders reported annually in the United States. Musculoskeletal disorders often involve strains and sprains to the lower back, shoulders, and upper limbs. They can result in protracted pain, disability, medical treatment, and financial stress for those afflicted with them, and employers often find themselves paying the bill, either directly or through workers’ compensation insurance. At the same time, employers must cope with the loss of the full capacity of their workers.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has published a new brochure (NIOSH Publication No. 2007–131), entitled Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling. This brochure is written for managers and supervisors in industries that involve the manual handling of containers. It offers suggestions to improve the handling of rectangular, square, and cylindrical containers, sacks, and bags.

The first section lists the benefits of improving work tasks and contains information on risk factors, types of ergonomic improvements, and effective training, and sets out a four-step proactive action plan. The plan helps the supervisor identify problems, set priorities, make changes, and follow up.

The second section provides ways to improve lifting, lowering, filling, emptying, or carrying tasks by changing work practices and/or the use of equipment, and provides ideas for using equipment instead of manually handling individual containers.

The “Resources” section contains additional information on administrative improvements, work assessment tools, and comprehensive analysis methods. This section also includes an improvement evaluation tool and a list of professional and trade organizations related to materials handling.

These ergonomic guidelines are advisory only, having been promulgated with the sole intent of offering information for interested parties. They should be regarded only as a guide that the user may or may not choose to adopt, to modify, or to reject. They do not constitute a comprehensive or complete analysis and should not be relied upon as such.

The Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling may be downloaded from the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-131/pdfs/2007-131.pdf

COPYRIGHT ©2007, ISO Services Properties, Inc.

The information contained in this publication was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. ISO Services Properties, Inc., its companies and employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with either the information herein contained or the safety suggestions herein made. Moreover, it cannot be assumed that every acceptable safety procedure is contained herein or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or require further or additional procedure.