Low cost mechanical assistive aid for workers carrying head loads

Abstract

The principal activity in the unorganized sectors like brick kilns, construction sites etc. is load carrying. The workers typically carry heavy loads on their head for over 12 hours every day. This affects their health and renders them as a victim of health issues like musculoskeletal disorders. In order to offset the causes leading to these health issues, a low cost mechanical assistive aid for workers to carry loads on their head is proposed in this paper. Using this assistive aid, the load acting on the head is distributed to the shoulder and the hip, and the results show that 60 to 65 percent of the load is distributed to the hip which reduces the pressure applied on the spine.