Upper extremity muscular load during carpet vacuuming with household upright cleaners

Ergonomics of household vacuuming has received little attention despite the pervasive nature of this task. The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess the level of muscular load of the upper extremity during carpeted floor vacuuming with household upright cleaners, which represent the most common type of vacuum cleaners in the US. Eighteen participants conducted five different vacuuming tasks with three upright cleaner models. Electromyography data from seven upper extremity muscles were recorded and analyzed. Normalized muscle activation levels were significantly higher in women compared to men across the five tasks for each muscle group. Median muscular load ranged from 4.5% to 47.5% of the maximum voluntary contraction capacity for female participants and from 2.7% to 23.6% for male participants. These results suggest that household vacuuming with upright vacuum cleaners is physically intensive work, especially for women. Study findings have potential implications for the design of upright vacuum cleaners.