Toward a quantitative definition of manual lifting postures

Manual lifting techniques are commonly defined in terms of the postures adopted at the start of the lift. Quantitative definition is problematic, however, because the absolute joint angles adopted to lift an object are influenced by task parameters, such as the initial height of the load. We present an argument for the use of a postural index (the ratio of knee flexion from normal standing to the sum of ankle, hip, and lumbar vertebral flexion) to define the postures adopted at the start of lifting. Stooped postures adopted at the start of a lift correspond to postural indices close to 0, whereas full squat postures correspond to postural indices close to 1. We use angular kinematic data gathered from 71 individuals lifting loads of varying mass from a range of starting heights to illustrate the utility of this index. Although average absolute joint angles were influenced by load mass and initial load height, the average postural index remained unchanged. For example, changes in starting height from 9 cm to 63 cm accounted for between 19% and 67% of the variance in joint positions at the start of the lift but only 1% of the variance in average postural index. This suggests that the postural index provides a method of defining lifting posture that is independent of specific joint positions.