Effects of a new industrial lifting belt on back muscular activity, hand force, and body stability during symmetric lifting

This work investigated how wearing a new design of back belt affects erector spinae activity, hand force, and body stability. The belt was first tested with static holding tasks and found to significantly decrease the back muscle activity. Actual lifting tasks were further carried out to test the effect of the belt. Ten male subjects performed a symmetric lifting task of low-lying loads (11 and 16 kg) at natural toting velocity, using either a squat or stoop lifting posture, both with and without a belt. The study measured various independent variables using electromyography (EMG), load cells, and motion capture device. The results demonstrated that the belt reduced the load on the erector spinae, as well as the triceps brachii and biceps brachii. The overall mean values of the peak (hand) force did not appear significantly affected while wearing the belt, but the force peaks appeared postponed. The belt did not alter body stability while lifting. From the present findings, the belt effectively changed the force distribution during lifting, at least reducing the muscle load on the back. The belt may be a potentially useful device for symmetric industrial lifting tasks.