Safety App Of The Week

September 30, 2013 No Comments

Below is our “Safety App of the Week”.  These weekly features are published every Monday.  New apps are tested on Apple iPads and rated from ♥ to ♥♥♥♥♥ (♥♥♥♥♥ is the best).  Prior app of the week articles are archived here.

HT NIOSH Lift Calculator

Official Description  

“By some estimates, the effects of manual material handling represent the biggest single contributor to worker injury in the United States. According to the 2010 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, overexertion injuries (which include injuries related to lifting) are the most disabling of all workplace injuries, accounting for $13.4 billion in direct costs.

In 1991, NIOSH (The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) developed the NIOSH Lifting Equation to “assist in the identification of ergonomic solutions for reducing physical stressors associated with manual lifting.” This model has been widely used by industrial safety professionals since its creation.

Now you can take it with you. The certified professional ergonomists (CPEs) at Humantech developed htLiftCalc to quickly and easily perform the NIOSH Lifting Equation whenever and wherever you need it. It is available for use in both metric and standard measurement. You can use this application at the job site to evaluate both existing and proposed lifting conditions to determine the Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) of a specific job or task. It can also help you prioritize hazardous jobs that require ergonomic intervention. “1

Thumbs Up

  • only $2.99
  • no registration or sign in required
  • well organized – easy and logical to use without any instruction
  • can choose ether U.S. standard or metric units
  • based upon the latest version of the NIOSH Lifting Guidelines
  • unacceptable lifting results are highlighted in yellow or red
  • can not “save” survey results, however you can “email” them 
  • available in both iPhone and iPad versions
  • can be used off-line

Thumbs Down

  • data entry sliders too small for accurate entries on an iPhone – however, the sliders worked good on an iPad
  • no place on survey form to enter the date or location (could enter this data as a “comment” though)
  • can not attach photos or videos
  • “words” are used to define input terms (e.g. angle of asymmetry) – “diagrams” would be preferred
  • The short and very basic instructions included with this app are adequate for an ergonomist who has previously used the NIOSH Lifting Formula.  But without more detailed instructions, someone new to the NIOSH Lifting Formula would probably need to read the lengthy ”Applications Manual for the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation” before using this app.

 

Overall Rating

  • iPad –  ♥♥♥♥
  • How does this app compare to the previously reviewed LiftRight lifting app?  We prefer the LiftRight app (and it’s free too)!

¹ Descriptions courtesy of Apple Inc.

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