ABSTRACT
Material handling is among the most frequent and severe causes of injury all over the world, with strains in the low back prevalent. The exertion of muscle strength while lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying, and dragging loads are dynamic efforts, in the form of heavy work. Low back pain is common even in younger age groups, and certain occupations are particularly prone to suffer from it: nurses, labourers, farmers, baggage handlers, and warehouse workers frequently suffer from back disabilities. Everyday experience and formal epidemiological studies have long demonstrated the expected relations: the level and the dose of strain caused by load handling determine incidence and severity of injuries. Naturally, the abilities to tolerate load handling strain differ among individuals. Numerous agencies and commercial outfits have developed systematic and rather sophisticated courses for instructing nurses, warehouse workers, miners, and masons, to mention a few, to perform material handling in safe ways.
