Modelling Crouch Technique to Lift Low-Lying Objects

Abstract

Lifting a leading cause of lower back pain (LBP) has several industrially
hygienic technique of accomplishment. One of the named crouch technique has been
modelled in this study and fitted into empirical data of Nigeria female adult working
population. The study was motivated by the need to provide a guiding principle for
industrial engineers involved in designing jobs that are ergonomically friendly, especially at
workplaces in Sub-Sahara African countries where repetitive manual lifting is still
prevalently practised, and thereby constitute health hazard. We found out that adopting
acute postural angle (less than 300
) while undertaking crouch-lifting poses a serious risk
factor that may cause severe lower back disorder and that the magnitude of the muscle
loading within the power zone and the attendant stresses at the hip are of the order of 30 of
the body weight of the subject. It is therefore cautioned that bending the trunk considerably
while undertaking crouch-lifting is an unsafe act.