Minimizing Low Back Cumulative Loading during Design of Manual Material Handling Tasks: An Optimization Approach

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSWe present a practical method for minimizing low-back cumulative loading that leverages digital human modeling capabilities and optimization using an evolutionary algorithm. We demonstrate use of the method in a simulated lifting task. Our results show that this method is robust to different routines for calculating cumulative loading. The proposed method can aid ergonomics engineers in addressing a potential risk factor early in the design stage, even in the absence of an established threshold limit value, and it provides a time saving by eliminating the need to adjust workplace parameters across many design possibilities.