| Manual Materials Handling (MMH)
create special problems for many different
workers worldwide. Labourers engaged in jobs
which require extensive lifting/lowering,
carrying, and pushing/pulling of heavy materials
have suffered increasing rates of
musculo-skeletal injury, especially to the back.
The occupational health and safety community is
beginning to recognize the problems MMH presents
for workers, and this Guide reflects and supports
that concern. The
Guide includes all activities involved in MMH
(lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, and
holding), as opposed to other existing guides
that focus only on manual lifting.
Recommendations are provided in the form of
design data that can be used to design different
MMH work activities.
The scope of the problem
is outlined within the Guide; the factors that
influence a person's capacity to perform MMH
activities that should be modified to reduce the
risk of injury are discussed, and the various
design approaches to solving the MMH problem are
reviewed. The book provides specific design data
in six distinct chapters and concludes with a
description of various mechanical devices that
are available to aid MMH activities.
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