Task demands for shovelling in non-erect postures

Abstract

Five male subjects were trained to work in non-erect task postures and then shovelled in five task postures: normal erect, under ceilings set at 80 and 60% of normal stature; kneeling without ceiling restraint; and, kneeling under a ceiling set at 80% of kneeling height. The steady-state data for all five task postures were averaged with a resulting heart rate of 131 beats min⁻¹ and an oxygen uptake of 1·41⁻¹ These averaged values compared very well with studies of actual coal miners shovelling in normal working environments

Keywords:

• Shovelling
• Posture
• Task demands