• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.119-124
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• 2009

Purpose: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equation (NLE) is a useful tool to ergonomically analyze a workload. The NLE has high reliability and it can assess tasks by analyzing the work process. The purpose of this case study was to try using the NLE to analyze the workload of transferring patients by physical therapists in the hospital setting. Methods: We observed a physical therapist (PT) transferring patients from a wheelchair to a tilt table and a therapeutic table in one day. Two types of patient transferring methods were evaluated; (1) the manual single person method of stand, pivot and transfer, and (2) manual two person lifting under the thigh and grasping the waist for totally dependent patients. Results: The NIOSH lifting indexes of a person grasping the waist during the manual two person lifting were 5.52~4.48 according to the patient's weight. The NIOSH lifting indexes were 3.34 and 4.48 for the tasks performed by the manual single person method. Conclusion: Because transferring patients is not done very frequently, patients transferring tasks by a PT are not included as one of the musculoskeletal disorder related risky work criteria of the Korea Ministry of Labor. But the NIOSH lifting indexes of a person grasping the waist during the manual two person lifting and the manual single person method were over the NIOSH recommended weight limit threshold.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.43-50
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate applicability of NIOSH lifting equation(NLE) to analysis of workload for patient transferring. In principle, the NLE is not applied to analyzing workload of patient transferring, because 1) the task is generally performed by two or more persons; 2) unlike ordinary objects, human body of patients is basically unstable load with their location of the center of mass significantly varying during lifting activity; and 3) the task is done in a restricted work space. This study was conducted through comparison of NIOSH lifting indexes(LIs) and L5/S1 compressive forces by 3DSSPP for patient transferring tasks performed by 2~6 persons. The results showed that LIs are linearly correlated with L5/S1 compressive forces with correlation coefficient of 0.92, which resulted in a significant simple linear regression equation for LIs and L5/S1 compressive forces. Consequently, it was concluded that the NLE is applicable to transferring patient only with slight modification. Based on the results, instead of 1.0 originally used by NIOSH, the LI of 1.5 was proposed as a gauge to estimate whether or not the task needs corrective action to reduce risk for developing lifting-related low back pain.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.104-113
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• 2005

A variety of ergonomic assessment methods of lifting tasks known as a major cause of work-related lower back pain have been used. But there is a limited information in choosing the most appropriate assessment method for a particular job and in finding out strengths and weakness of the methods. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the ergonomic risks of lifting tasks in a marine diesel engine production industry by three lifting ergonomic assessment tools widely used: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH) Revised Lifting Equation(NLE), the Washington Administrative Code 296-62-0517(WAC), and the Snook Tables. Lifting index(weight of load/Recommended Weight Limit) of NLE($LI_{NLE}$) was above 1 at 34 tasks(75.6%) of a total number of 45 lifting tasks. LI of WAC($LI_{WAC}$) was above 1 at 11 tasks(24.4 %). LI of Snook Table($LI_{Snook}$) was above 1 at 29 tasks(64.4%). Thus, LI was high in orders of $LI_{NLE}$ > $LI_{Snook}$ > $LI_{WAC}$. There were significantly high correlations among three Lls(p<0.01). The correlation coefficients between $LI_{NLE}$and the other three Lls($LI_{WAC}$ and $LI_{Snook}$) were r=0.93 and r=0.88, respectively. The linear regression equations were y = 0.444x + 0.11(r=0.93) between $LI_{NLE}$ and $LI_{WAC}$, y = 0.93x + 0.008(r=0.88) between LI(NLE) and $LI_{Snook}$. The LI values by WAC was significantly lower than those by the other tools. The compared features, strength and limitation among these tools were described in this paper.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.90-95
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• 2007

The objective of this study was to find the musculoskeletal stress problems at chicken farms in Korea. One typical chicken farm was surveyed in this study. NLE(NIOSH Lifting Equation), REBA(Rapid Entire Body Assessment), and OWAS(Ovako Working Analysis System) were used to evaluate the extent of the musculoskeletal stress. It was found that there were some tasks which required fast innovation. It was also found that the RWL (Recommended Weight of Lift) was 4.6Kg. that was lower than weights which were handled by these workers.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.284-289
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• 2006

In 2003, Korean government made the 11 scopes of overburdened work[Ministry of Labor(MOL), Notification No. 2003-24] to prevent musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs). MOL Notification was established based on 'Washington Administrative Code 296-62-051, Ergonomics'. When initially investigating the contents, the labor unions and the specialists pointed out the possibility of devaluation on risk factors of MSDs. The present study aimed to compare the result of the NIOSH revised lifting equation(NLE) analysis with the MOL Notification(No.8, 9, 10) on manual lifting tasks. A study sample of 568 manual lifting tasks (automobile parts, foods, and tire manufacture) were evaluated for this study. All 502 tasks exceed lifting index(LI) of 1.0, but 276 tasks(55.0%) out of 502 tasks were evaluated non-over burdened work for musculoskeletal system by the MOL Notification. Particularly, 47 tasks(30.9%), in spite of exceeding LI of 3.0, were evaluated non-over burdened work. This study has shown the possibility of devaluation on risk factors of MSDs, when evaluated by MOL Notification. Therefore, it will be necessary to repeal or complement the scope of over-burdened work(MOL Notification) to prevent musculoskeletal disorders.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.69-75
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• 2009

It is well-known that lifting capacity of a worker is influenced by body posture during the task. When a task analyst make use of RULA and REBA Trunk and upper arm angles are recorded in a separate item. It means that the interaction between the angles of two body segments may be ignored in a final score. The NLE(NIOSH Lifting Equation) has been used to supplement this problem. However, there is no study to validate the result of RWL (Recommended Workload Limit) under the existence of interactions between trunk and upper arm angles. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of the interaction between trunk and upper arm angles. Three responses, including NMVC(normalized maximum voluntary contraction), RWL(Recommended Weight Limit) and subjective judgment in psychophysical method (Borg's scale), were recorded according to the combinations of three trunk angles and nine upper arm angles. The results showed that lifting capacity is highly influenced by interaction of two body segments(trunk and upper arm). It means that the task workload has to be analyzed along with the interaction of trunk angles and upper arm angles when the task analyst assesses potential risk factors on the postures. This study may be able to be a fundamental study to develop an assessment method for lifting task analyses according to body postures.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.96-100
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• 2012

Low back pain (LBP) is a major issue in modern industrialized society which is mainly caused by manual material handling (MMH) tasks. The objective of this study was to provide scientific data for establishing work standard for Korean workers throughout the laboratory experiment including some specific lifting tasks. Thirty male college students were recruited as participants. The maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), recommended weight limit (RWL), and psychophysical safety weight using Borg's CR-10 scale were studied. Results showed that the RWL was 8.4% MVC higher than the proposed psychophysical safety weight. Based on this result, it is suggested that the NIOSH lifting equation (NLE) should not be directly applied to Korean without reasonable modifications. The ratio of psychophysical safety weight to MVC was ranged from 20.1 to 26.4%. It is expected that use of the methodology in this study may provide better expectation of the work ability of Korean for reducing lower back pains caused by MMH.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.153-159
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to assess the ergonomic risks of lifting tasks in a marine diesel engine manufacturing industry using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH) Revised Lifting Equation(NLE). Average Lifting Index(LI=Weight of Load/Recommended Weight Limit) of a total number of 45 lifting tasks was $1.6{\pm}0.7$. The LIs were above 1 at 34 tasks(75.6%), and above 2 at 11 tasks(24.4%). Parts management showed the highest average LI value (LI=2.3) in all departments, which resulted from high frequency and heave load of lifting. The common and significant ergonomic risk factors in the processes were the heavy weight of diesel engine parts and the long horizontal distance. In addition, some lifting tasks had such potential risk factors as the long vertical distance, the high frequency of lifts or the long work duration.

• 한국산학기술학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국산학기술학회 2011년도 춘계학술논문집 2부
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• pp.1044-1047
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• 2011

본 연구는 소방대원의 현장 작업자세 평가와 분석을 통하여 소방대원의 근골격계 부담작업 유해요인을 분석하고자 한다. B시에 소재하고 있는 소방서의 남자 소방대원을 대상으로 소방 현장에서 많이하는 자세 중 요구조자 이송작업자세, 방수작업자세, 유압구조장비 작업자세, 만능도끼작업 자세를 인간공학적 평가 기법인 Rapid Entire Body Assessment(REBA), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment(RULA)와 NIOSH Lifting Equation(NLE)를 이용하여 평가하고 분석하였다. 자세 분석결과, RULA 분석에서 모든 작업이 최고 점수인 7점으로 평가되었고 REBA는 5점에서 10점까지로 RULA분석에 비하여 낮은 점수를 나타내었다. 따라서, 소방대원들의 작업환경과 자세에 문제가 많다는 것을 알 수 있었다.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.239-247
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• 2008

Low back disorders (LBDs) have been the most common musculoskeletal problem in Korean workplaces. It affects many workers, and is associated with high costs to many companies as well as the individual, which can negatively influence even the quality of life of workers. The _evaluation of low back disorder risk associated with manual materials handling tasks can be performed using variety of ergonomic assessment tools such as National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Revised Lifting Equation (NLE), the Washington Administrative Code 296-62-0517 (WAC), the Snook Tables etc. But most of these tools provide limited information for choosing the most appropriate assessment method for a particular job and in finding out advantage and disadvantage of the methods, and few have been assessed for their predictive ability. The focus of this study was to _evaluate spinal loads in real time with lifting and pulling heavy cow leathers in variety of postures. Data for estimating mean trunk motions were collected as employees did their work at the job site, using the Lumbar Motion Monitor. Eight employees (2 males, 6 females) were selected in this study, in which the load weight and the vertical start and destination heights of the activity remained constant throughout the task. Variance components (three dimensional spaces) of mean trunk kinematic measures were estimated in a hierarchical design. They were used to compute velocity and acceleration of multiple employees performing the same task and to repetitive movements within a task. Therefore, a results of this study could be used as a quantitative, objective measure to design the workplace so that the risk of occupationally related low back disorder should be minimized.