A method for developing organisation-wide manual handling based physical employment standards in a military context

Carstairs, Greg L.; Ham, Daniel J.; Savage, Robert J.; Best, Stuart; Beck, Ben; Billing, Daniel C.

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2018.02.008

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The search terms included exoskeleton, wearable robot, or robot suit with the additional terms industrial, military, manual handling, material handling, lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, and striking. The included search terms were determined by using the definition of manual handling as set by research into Australian Army tasks (Carstairs et al, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The loading required for military manual handling tasks is heavier than what would be required of personnel in many other industries (Forde & Buchholz, 2004;Roja, Kalkis, Reinholds, & Roja, 2016). For instance, in a military context lift-to-platform tasks (shoulder/chest-press movement) require loads of 25.6 ± 8.5 kg to be lifted while lift-carry-lower tasks (isometric arm hold movement) require loads of 31.1 ± 17.1 kg to be carried distances of 127.8 ± 126.2 m (Carstairs et al, 2018). In comparison, in an industry context, e.g., in large international airports, the weight of baggage handled by security personnel ranges between 10 and 23 kg (Gebhardt, 2019).…”

Section: Military Manual Handling Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, lift-carry-lower tasks are mostly unilateral (load only on one side of the body) (74%) (Carstairs et al, 2018) and require asymmetrical muscle activation in the spine to maintain stability due to an increase in internal torsional forces. This review found no studies that tested unilateral loading.…”

Section: Military Manual Handling Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Australia 43% of serious injuries in the workplace are due to traumatic joint, ligament, muscle and tendon injuries, at an annual cost of AU$19.5 billion for treatment, over-employment, overtime, retraining and investigation (Safe Work Australia, 2019). Forty-five percent of serious workplace injuries were due to manual handling, a term used to describe tasks in which human force is used to manoeuvre an object's position (Carstairs, Ham, Savage, Best, Beck, & Billing, 2018). Manual handling injuries are of particular concern in physically demanding Defence Force occupations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A comprehensive analysis of Australian Army personnel categorized 79% of all physically demanding tasks as manual handling (Carstairs et al, 2018) encompassing four movement patterns: vertical lifting (305 tasks), locomotion with load (153 tasks), push/pull (38 tasks), and repetitive striking (30 tasks). These movement patterns were further categorized into 10 task-based clusters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exoskeleton Application to Military Manual Handling Tasks

et al. 2020

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Objective The aim of this review was to determine how exoskeletons could assist Australian Defence Force personnel with manual handling tasks. Background Musculoskeletal injuries due to manual handling are physically damaging to personnel and financially costly to the Australian Defence Force. Exoskeletons may minimize injury risk by supporting, augmenting, and/or amplifying the user’s physical abilities. Exoskeletons are therefore of interest in determining how they could support the unique needs of military manual handling personnel. Method Industrial and military exoskeleton studies from 1990 to 2019 were identified in the literature. This included 67 unique exoskeletons, for which Information about their current state of development was tabulated. Results Exoskeleton support of manual handling tasks is largely through squat/deadlift (lower limb) systems (64%), with the proposed use case for these being load carrying (42%) and 78% of exoskeletons being active. Human–exoskeleton analysis was the most prevalent form of evaluation (68%) with reported reductions in back muscle activation of 15%–54%. Conclusion The high frequency of citations of exoskeletons targeting load carrying reflects the need for devices that can support manual handling workers. Exoskeleton evaluation procedures varied across studies making comparisons difficult. The unique considerations for military applications, such as heavy external loads and load asymmetry, suggest that a significant adaptation to current technology or customized military-specific devices would be required for the introduction of exoskeletons into a military setting. Application Exoskeletons in the literature and their potential to be adapted for application to military manual handling tasks are presented.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%