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A Step-by-Step Guide to
Evaluate Lifting Injury Risk

by MARK MIDDLESWORTH

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| Evaluating Lifting Injury Risk
Introduction
This is a great ergonomic evaluation tool for manual material handling tasks.
Developed by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, this
lifting calculator is very simple in design and application.
The tool is an adaptation of the NIOSH Lifting Equation (1,2), which is based on
scientific research on the primary causes of work-related back injuries. This
calculator can be used to perform simple ergonomic risk assessments on a wide
variety of manual lifting and lowering tasks, and can be also used as a screening
tool to identify lifting tasks which should be analyzed further using the more
comprehensive NIOSH Lifting Equation.

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Lifting Calculator
Note: If the job involves lifts of objects with a number of different weights and/or from a number of different locations, use Steps 1 through 5 above to:
1. Analyze the two worst case lifts -- the heaviest object lifted and the lift done in the most awkward posture.
2. Analyze the most commonly performed lift. In Step 3, use the frequency and duration for all of the lifting done in a typical workday.
Lifting Calculator as given by the State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries
STEP 1
Find the actual weight of objects the employee lifts. Actual Weight = ________ lbs.
STEP 2
Determine the Unadjusted Weight Limit. Where are the
employee's hands when they begin to lift or lower the
object? Mark that spot on the diagram to the right. The
number in that box is the Unadjusted Weight Limit in
pounds.

Unadjusted Weight Limit = _________ lbs.

STEP 3
Find the Limit Reduction Modifier. Find out how many times
the employee lifts per minute and the total number of hours
per day spent lifting. Use this information to look up the
Limit Reduction Modifier in the table below.
Is this a hazard? Compare the Weight Limit calculated in Step 4 with the Actual Weight lifted from Step 1. If the
Actual Weight lifted is greater than the Weight Limit calculated, then the lifting is a WMSD hazard and must be
reduced below the hazard level or to the degree technologically and economically feasible.
How bad is it? The Lifting Index (LI) is a ratio of load lifted to RWL. LI = Actual Weight Weight Limit
STEP 5
STEP 4
Adjusted Weight Limit _______ lbs.
Limit Reduction Modifier _______
Weight Limit = _______ lbs.
x
(from step 3)
Calculate the Weight Limit. Start by copying
the Unadjusted Weight Limit from Step 2.
Unadjusted Weight Limit = ______ lbs.
If the employee twists more than 45 degrees
while lifting, reduce the Unadjusted Weight
Limit by multiplying by 0.85. Otherwise, use
the Unadjusted Weight Limit
Twisting Adjustment = _______
Note: For lifting done less than once every five minutes, use 1.0
Limit Reduction Modifier = ________
Lifting Index = _______
(Actual Weight Weight Limit)

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| Evaluating Lifting Injury Risk
Data Collection
To use the calculator, you will first need to collect the data needed to perform the
evaluation. This information can be obtained by observing the job being
performed, interviewing workers, and reviewing productivity and other work
records.
You will need the following information for each lifting or lowering task
evaluated:
1. Weight of objects the employee lifts.
2. Location or posture when employee performs lift.
3. Frequency of lifting number of times employee performs lift.
4. Duration of lifting number of hours per day spent lifting.
Jobs that require a wide variety of lifting and lowering tasks are a little harder to
evaluate. If you are evaluating a multi-task job, I would suggest that you keep it
simple by analyzing lifting requirements in two or three ways.

For example:

1) Analyze the worst case data by using the heaviest objects lifted from the most
awkward positions. Use the frequency for these lifts only, not the total number of
lifts. It's not accurate to use the heaviest weight lifted with the frequency for all
lifting, if there is a wide variety of lifting required.

2) Analyze the most commonly performed lifts.
3) Perform the analysis by using the average weight and position, using the
frequency and duration for all of the lifting done in a typical workday.


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| Evaluating Lifting Injury Risk
Using the Lifting Calculator - Example
Step 1: Find the actual weight of objects the employee lifts. For multi-task jobs
with a variety of lifting and lowering, you can use the heaviest object lifted and/or
an average weight. In this example, the average weight lifted is 32 lbs.
Step 2: Determine the Unadjusted Weight Limit. Where are the employee's
hands when they begin to lift or lower the object? Note that spot on the
calculator diagram. The number in that box is the Unadjusted Weight Limit in
pounds. To determine the horizontal reach, measure the midpoint between the
hands from the midpoint between the ankles.







Unadjusted Weight Limit = 35 lbs.
Step 3: Find the Limit Reduction Modifier. Find out how many times the
employee lifts per minute and the total number of hours per day spent lifting.
Use this information to look up the Limit Reduction Modifier in the table below. If
the average number of lifts per minute over an 8 hour shift is 1, the Limit
Reduction Modifier would be .75 as noted below.

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| Evaluating Lifting Injury Risk

Step 4: Calculate the Weight Limit.
Start by copying the Unadjusted Weight Limit from Step 2.
Unadjusted Weight Limit = 35 lbs.
If the employee is required by the job to twist more than 45 degrees while lifting,
reduce the Unadjusted Weight Limit by multiplying by 0.85 and entering that
number in pounds. (For example, 35lbs. x .85 = 29.75 lbs.) Otherwise, use the
Unadjusted Weight Limit. In this example, there is no twisting required by the job
and therefore no twisting adjustment made.
Adjusted Weight Limit = 35 lbs. (Would be 29.75 lbs. if twisting more than 45
degrees was required.)
Now, multiply the Adjusted Weight Limit by the Limit Reduction Modifier from
Step 3 of .75 to get the Weight Limit. (35 lbs. x .75 = 26.25 lbs.)
Weight Limit = 26.25 lbs.
Step 5: Is this a hazard? Compare the Weight Limit (26.25 lbs.) calculated in Step 4
with the Actual Weight lifted (32 lbs.) from Step 1. If the Actual Weight lifted is
greater than the Weight Limit calculated, then the lifting is a WMSD hazard and

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| Evaluating Lifting Injury Risk
must be reduced below the hazard level or to the degree technologically and
economically feasible.
Actual Weight of 32 lbs. is greater than the Weight Limit of 26.25 lbs. Therefore,
this lifting task is considered a hazard and control measures should be
implemented if possible.
Lifting Index
The Lifting Index (LI) provides a relative estimate of the level of physical demands
and stress associated with a particular manual lifting or lowering task. The
estimate of the level of physical stress is defined by the relationship or ratio of the
weight of the Actual Weight and the Weight Limit. The Lifting Index is defined by
the following equation:
Actual Weight Weight Limit = Lifting Index
In our example lifting task above, we can calculate the Lifting Index as follows:
32 lbs. 26.25 lbs. = 1.22 Lifting Index = 1.22
The higher the Lifting Index, the smaller the percentage of workers capable of
safely performing the lifting and lowering job demands over time and the greater
the injury risk. The ergonomic goal should be to design all lifting jobs to achieve a
Lifting Index of 1.0 or less.
The Lifting Index great tool to compare the relative risk of multiple job tasks and
prioritize ergonomic improvement efforts. For example, several high risk jobs
could be ranked in order according to the Lifting Index and a control strategy
could be developed according to the rank ordering.


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| Evaluating Lifting Injury Risk
References
1) Waters et al., Revised NIOSH Equation for the design and Evaluation of Manual
Lifting Tasks, Ergonomics, 1993 Jul; 36(7);749-76

2) Waters et al., 1994 Applications manual for the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation,
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication no. 94-10