Fatigue and Recovery of Muscles for Pulling Tasks

Cannan Yi, Huali Zuo (), Caijun Zhao, Kai-Way Li (), Hong Hu, Fan Tang and Tong Long
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Cannan Yi: School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421102, China
Huali Zuo: School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421102, China
Caijun Zhao: School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421102, China
Kai-Way Li: School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421102, China
Hong Hu: School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421102, China
Fan Tang: School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421102, China
Tong Long: School of Safety and Management Engineering, Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421102, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-14

Abstract: Manual materials handling (MMH) contributes to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace. The development and recovery of muscle fatigue are essential in work/rest arrangements for MMH tasks. A pulling experiment, including a muscle fatigue test and a muscle fatigue recovery test, was conducted. In the muscle fatigue test, the participant performed a pulling task on a treadmill with a walking velocity of 1 km/h until they could no longer do so. The load was either 30 or 45 kg. The maximum endurance time ( MET ) was recorded. The pull strength ( PS ) of the participant both before and after the pulling task was measured. The subjective ratings of muscle fatigue after the pulling task were recorded. In the muscle fatigue recovery test, the participant took a rest after performing the pulling task. The participants reported their subjective ratings of muscle fatigue on the CR-10 scale after taking a rest for a time period t, where t = 1, 2,…, 6 min. The PS of the participant was then measured again. It was found that the load significantly affected the MET for pulling tasks. The load was insignificant to the decrease of the PS , but was significant to the decrease rate ( PS decrease per min) of the PS . The PS decrease rate for the 45 kg condition (30.8 ± 16.5 N/min) was significantly higher ( p < 0.05) than that of the 30 kg condition (15.4 ± 5.5 N/min). The recovery time significantly affected the PS and CR-10 . Two MET models were established to explore the development of muscle fatigue in pulling tasks. A PS model was constructed to describe the recovery of muscle force. A CR-10 model was proposed to show the subjective ratings of recovery. These models are beneficial for determining the work/rest allowance for pulling tasks.

Keywords: manual materials handling task; pulling task; muscle fatigue; muscle fatigue recovery; musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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