These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.
Pubmed for Handhelds
PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS
Search MEDLINE/PubMed
Title: Symmetric and asymmetric manual materials handling. Part 1: Physiology and psychophysics. Author: Drury CG, Deeb JM, Hartman B, Woolley S, Drury CE, Gallagher S. Journal: Ergonomics; 1989 May; 32(5):467-89. PubMed ID: 2767042. Abstract: To study the physiological and psychophysical costs of symmetric and asymmetric manual materials handling, two tasks were performed by 30 industrial subjects. In both tasks, box weight and handle position were varied. The symmetric task, lifting and lowering between floor and conveyor, showed handles to be beneficial. The asymmetric task was palletizing and depalletizing 36 boxes between a pallet and a conveyor. Both palletizing and depalletizing proved strenuous for females with heart rates exceeding 140b/min. All handle positions were better than No Handles, but the best handle position changed from asymmetric for 9 kg boxes to symmetric for 13 kg boxes. The effect of handles was equivalent to a weight change of 1-2 kg for Heart Rate and Rated Perceived Exertion, but much higher (2-14 kg) for Body Part Discomfort measures.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]