A Job Severity Index for the Evaluation and Control of Lifting Injury

Abstract

Two large field studies were conducted to test the validity of the Job Severity Index (JSI) as an engineering tool for the control of manual materials-handling injury. Comparisons were made between the calculated JSIs of 453 individuals working in 101 different jobs and the injuries sustained by the same individuals over a period of 1057881 exposure hours (529 exposure years). The results revealed the existence of a job severity threshold above which the incidence, severity, and cost of injury dramatically increased. It was concluded that the JSI method can effectively be used to control injuries caused by the manual lifting of loads.

Physical load during work and leisure time as risk factors for back pain

“…Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria . On the basis of a screening of the references of the articles on these studies and recent reviews (9, l l ) , an additional 9 studies were included (94)(95)(96)(97)(98)(99)(100)(101)(102)(103)(104). The selection of studies for inclusion, from a random sample (N=100) of the papers identified in Medline by the second reviewer, led to an initial 2% disagreement.…”

“…The selection of studies for inclusion, from a random sample (N=100) of the papers identified in Medline by the second reviewer, led to an initial 2% disagreement. Five of the 36 selected studies were excluded post hoc for the following reasons: (i) there was low variability in physical load because the study population was restricted to workers with lifting tasks (50,51,95,98,99), (ii) the physical exposures at work were measured by means of a questionnaire on which only 1 of a list of items could be ticked (85), and (iii) the early retirements that were studied did not necessarily have a back disorder as the main diagnosis (25,26). Thus a total of 31 studies was finally included in this review, comprised of 28 cohort studies (27-49, 52-76, 78, 82-84, 86-94, 96, 97, 100, 102-104) and 3 case-referent studies (77,79-81, 101).…”

Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-92-0001-2444, SANCAP Abrasives, Inc., Alliance, Ohio.

“…5,25,26 Occupational risk factors for low back injuries include manual handling tasks, 27 twisting, 28 bending, 28 falling, 29 reaching, 30 lifting excessive weights, 28,31,32 prolonged sitting, 29 and vibration. 28,33 Some nonoccupational risk factors for low back injury include obesity, 34 genetic factors, 35 and job satisfaction.…”

Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-92-0073-2337, United States Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Denver, Colorado.

“…Surveillance of WRMDs (including the use of health-care-provider reports) can aid in identifying high-risk workplaces, occupations, and industries and in directing appropriate preventive measures. 11 Occupational risk factors for low back injuries include manual handling tasks, 12 twisting, 13 bending, 13 falling, 14 reaching, 15 lifting excessive weights, 13,16,17 prolonged sitting, 14 and exposure to vibration. 13,18 Some nonoccupational risk factors for low back injury include obesity, 19 genetic factors, 20 and job dissatisfaction.…”