Matthias Jäger publishes “The Dortmund Lumbar Load Atlas”
Lower back complaints are among the most common illnesses in the working world. Not only heavy loads or forced postures play an important role, but also the duration and frequency of load phases. “The Dortmund Lumbar Load Atlas”, by Matthias Jäger, is a handbook for the recognition of incorrect and excessive loads and for the prevention of diseases in the lower back. This is intended to improve the ergonomic design of workplaces and workflows.

Manual load handling has been shown to be one of the typical causes of back complaints and diseases in everyday work. Manual load handling includes tasks such as lifting, pulling or pushing and carrying objects. Due to the biomechanical relationship, it also includes, for example, shovelling bulk goods in the construction industry and moving people in care. In some cases, very high or even excessive forces act on the spine and especially on the intervertebral discs.
collection of load values
The atlas now published offers a comprehensive collection of load values in the form of force, moment or pressure on the lumbar spine during different manual load handling activities. It also provides criteria for their evaluation and for recognising possible overloading of the lumbar spine during individual activities as well as through the load intensities of work shifts and the entire working life. In the sense of a textbook, the biomechanical principles and epidemiological correlations to the risk of overload are explained. As a handbook, it is a reference and reference work of typical stresses and stress limits for the ergonomic improvement of workplaces. The book is aimed at all persons involved in the design, evaluation and redesign of manual load handling.
Background
The ergonomic design of workplaces and workflows is an ongoing research topic in occupational medicine and by Matthias Jäger. In the MEGAPHYS project, which lasted several years, a handbook on the “Multi-stage risk analysis of physical stress” has already been produced in cooperation with six research partners. In addition, the Dortmund research flowed into the revision of the regulations of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). “The Dortmund Lumbar Load Atlas” was created as a summary and extension of previous research. The atlas is the first international register of biomechanical loading and load capacity of the lower back for manual load handling.