ABSTRACT
Screening of material handlers, that is, the selection of persons suitable for stressful material handling, is an important and difficult task. It is important because its success determines whether or not a person can expect to perform load handling safely and in good health, or whether this individual is at risk of an over-exertion injury. The medical examination tries to identify an individual's impairments that would make this person vulnerable to overexertion injury risks or, conversely, to identify persons who are healthy and able to perform material handling. Developments have resulted in scales of acceptable effort for military applications and for manual material handling, including carrying, pushing, pulling, lowering, and lifting. The physiological approach tries to identify physiological capabilities, or limitations, regarding load handling. It is reasonable and legitimate to measure a person's ability to perform physically straining work, such as load handling, in order to assure that this individual will not be overexerted.
