A thorough investigation on pushing activities in industry: The impact of the variation in the speed of motion and load conditions on initial and sustained forces

Pushing and pulling wheeled objects represent a significant part of manual material handling activities in in-dustry. Medical investigations and epidemiological studies proved the correlation between such activities and the occurrence of lumbago, low back pain and adverse effects on the shoulders. The ISO 11228–2:2007 provides the recommended limits for pushing and pulling. Such values are the results of psychophysical studies realized under prescribed speed conditions referring to a slow walk. However, observation of real industrial and service sector environments reveals that workers are required to perform pushing activities at higher speed of motion. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the variation in the speed of motion and load conditions on push forces. 96 subjects performed a total of 2592 trials consisting of pushing an industrial trolley for warehouse applications, at different speed values and load conditions. Results confirm the presence of correlation between the increasing speed of motion and push forces. The findings have practical value for researchers, occupational physicians and ergonomics practitioners.