An ergonomic assessment of the airline baggage handler

53The fleet service clerks, or baggage handlers, worked in the inside and outsideaircraft, baggage transfer, mail facility, cabin service and the baggage room. Some otherduties of these baggage handlers included but were not limited to manual baggage andmail transfer, from one location to another.The training class consisted of a video, booklet, hands-on training, and a booklet.A video was developed by a medical professional that discussed the anatomy of the backand spine, biomechanics related to lifting, a how-to on warm-up exercises, and home andafter injury care. The video also used real airline employees to keep its degree of realismand relativity.In conjunction with the video, the baggage handlers in this group were required toparticipate in a 30-minute class, where they would perform each lifting exercise andwarm-up technique(s) expressed in the video before an instructor. Lifting props wereprovided. The instructor critiqued the handlers on their abilities to perform eachinstruction. A booklet was used which reiterated of the techniques shown in the videoand was used in class.Data collected and used in the study included a belt questionnaire, lost workdays,restricted workdays, total number of lumbar injuries, number of lost workday case lumbarinjuries, and number of restricted workday case lumbar injuries, total workerscompensation cost, and the number of hours worked.3.6.5 Incident RateOver half of the baggage handlers stopped using the weightlifting back-belt: 158 out of272. Fifty eight percent of them stopped using the back belt before the eight-month studyperiod had ended. Of this fifty eight percent, two new treatment groups were created to