Effects of work experience and exertion height on static lifting strengths and lift strategies of experienced and novice female participants

• We examine the effect of working experience and lifting height on strengths of female subjects.
• 23 experienced workers and 23 novices determined their lifting strengths under 15 heights.
• Workers with daily working experience may have learned to change the postures to avoid overloading.

In this study, 46 female experienced workers and inexperienced novices (23 each) were recruited to determine their maximum lifting strength at 15 exertion heights between 10 and 150 cm from the floor. The results revealed that the experienced workers' strengths at all 15 heights exhibited relatively little fluctuation, and were approximately 50–70 N lower than those of novices when heights were ≤50 cm. No differences in strengths were observed at 60–150 cm between the groups. The experienced workers tended to adopt a consistently deep squat at lower heights (≤50 cm) and a more erect posture with stiffened arms at higher heights (≥70 cm), resulting in lower L4/L5 disc compression forces and shoulder moments than in novices, respectively. In contrast to the lifting techniques adopted by experienced workers to effectively avoid overloading, the findings suggest that novice female workers who lack experience should be cautious and trained for performing lifting tasks.Relevance to industryThis study demonstrated that a discrepancy exists in lifting strengths between experienced and inexperienced female handlers at various heights. Findings from this study offers a reference for lifting task design and effective posture training on lifting, regarding the weighting of various shelves.