Can Chinese MAWL be used for designing manual handling tasks?

摘要

Previous studies have employed collected MAWL (maximal acceptable weight of lift) data as criteria for designing manual handling tasks because MAWL relates to one's limitation of muscle strength. However, whether the Chinese MAWL can still be used for job design is questionable because the Chinese are relatively weaker than Western subjects in their upper extremities. To clarify this, in the present study 24 male Chinese subjects psychophysically determined their MAWL and MAWLo (maximal acceptable weight of lower) under task conditions of three lifting frequencies and two lifting ranges. The results indicated that subjects' MAWLo were significantly lower than their MAWL, especially when infrequent tasks were performed (including tasks of one time maximum and one lift (lower)/min, all p<.05). This could be attributed to a relatively disadvantageous position in the upper extremities at the beginning stage of these lowering tasks. This finding strongly implies that it is not enough to consider only Chinese MAWL when designing manual handling tasks; MAWLo data should not be ignored.