ABSTRACT

Psychophysics, biomechanics, and physiology represent the three primary approaches to the ergonomic design of manual handling tasks. All three approaches consider the acute responses of the human body. Physiology and biomechanics typically consider the responses of the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems, respectively. Psychophysics, on the other hand, considers the perceptions (or sensations) of humans in response to stimuli of different magnitudes (typically load weight or forces) while performing manual handling tasks.