Our Ergonomic Load Calculator is designed to assist the Ergonomist, Safety and Health Specialist, and other Professionals interested in improving health and safety practices in their workplace.  The calculator is designed to estimate the amount of horizontal force necessary to move loads (on wheels) using inputs from particular workplace environments.  These forces are those required to move loaded carts, castered equipment or machinery on wheels, or product being propelled down an assembly line.  The calculator will combine conditions related to the state of the "vehicle health", floor condition, terrain and footing as well as the weight of the load being moved in estimating these forces.

After determining the required force to move the load, the calculator performs an ergonomic evaluation of the environment for pushing or pulling the load, using a human worker.  Taking input from a number of different variables related to the proposed worker and application, the calculator provides an ergonomic estimate of the amount of force that a single worker should apply: the so-called “Human Performance Capability.”

The data used to compute the “Human Performance Capability” was an extracted analysis taken from the following references and studies performed by the authors:

1. S.H. Snook and VM Ciriello, "The design of manual handling tasks: revised tables of maximum acceptable weights and forces," Ergonomics, v34, n9, 1991.  

2. S.A. Konz, Work Design: Industrial Ergonomics, 3rd ed., Publishing Horizons, Inc., 1990.  

3. A. Mital, AS Nicholson, and MM Ayoub, A Guide to Manual Material Handling, 2nd ed., Taylor and Francis, 1997.

A result table is provided to compare the estimated force requirement and the expected human performance capability.  If required force exceed human performance capability several recommendations for safe ergonomic practices are provided.

We strongly suggest that ergonomic solutions be immediately implemented in cases where force exceeds capacity.  While injuries may not yet have been observed, the direct and indirect cost associated with an injury or workers compensation claim will far exceed the minimal cost of preventative equipment and/or redesigned procedures to reduce or remove any potential problems.