Physical load and workload
Regular lifting and carrying of heavy loads or one-sided strain on the body can permanently damage joints and spine.
Drag menhirs
All work is ultimately physical. Yes, even at a university!
The only question is: When does the physical activity become a (serious) burden? There are criteria for estimating stress, such as heavy physical work or one-sided stress. Lifting heavy cartons and carrying them over longer distances or carrying heavy crates in one hand are examples that everyone knows. But the load is not really measurable.
The work should not be too heavy and evenly distributed over the body. If you constantly have to work bent over due to lack of space or the better accessibility of your work equipment (e.g. you wire computers under your desk all day long) or over your head (you mainly whirr lights on the ceiling), we speak of so-called forced postures, which can lead to permanent damage to the spine in the long run.
The guiding characteristic method
In order to better assess such loads and to adhere to certain limits, the so-called control characteristic method has proven its worth. It is based on a kind of checklist and points system, the result of which at the end allows an assessment to be made as to whether the work as a whole poses a risk to your health.
One-sided stress and monotony
Do you know the derogatory phrase go stamp?
The background from the point of view of occupational safety is the very one-sided strain and also the monotony of constantly repeating a single work step (see also psychological strain). We all consider this to be absolutely unreasonable and therefore a kind of punishment, and rightly so!
In Chaplin's classic "Modern Times", this is also thematized in that the protagonist with his two wrenches performs only a certain movement throughout the day and at some point only sees screws that have to be tightened.
Stamping is a synonym for one-sided, monotonous work that leads to illness in the long run.
