General lifting settings

The General lifting settings dialog defines global parameters that apply to every task in the lifting assessment. Open it with the gear button on the lifting-task bar.

Its appearance depends on the selected temporal organization.

One lifting period

Use this when the activity is one continuous lifting period. Enter only its duration.

Regular pattern of periods

Use this when equal lifting periods and equal recoveries repeat. Enter each period’s duration, number of periods, and recovery between consecutive periods.

Custom sequence of periods

Use this when lifting durations or recovery times differ. Each row is a period. Its recovery occurs after that period, so the last period does not need a subsequent recovery.

Use the arrows to reorder periods, the minus button to delete one, and Add period to insert a row.

No.	Control	Function
1	Temporal organization	Selects one period, a regular pattern, or a custom sequence.
2	Period duration	Sets the period duration or each row’s lifting time in a custom sequence.
3	Number of periods	Sets how many times the regular pattern repeats.
4	Recovery between periods	Sets the time without the analyzed lifting between consecutive periods.
5	Sequence actions	Reorders or deletes periods in a custom sequence.
6	Temporal summary	Displays total times and resulting assessment blocks.
7	Load constant	Defines the base load constant used by the analysis.
8	Anthropometric adjustment	Adapts certain multipliers to the model’s anthropometry.
9	Add period	Adds a period to the custom sequence.

Purpose of the dialog

Lifting mode can analyze one or several tasks. General settings apply to the complete assessment independently of the selected task.

They define temporal organization, load constant, and optional anthropometric adjustment. Task-specific frequency, load, coupling, origin, and destination are entered under Lifting-task settings.

All periods currently share the same profile: every period contains the same lifting tasks at the same frequencies. Periods describe when that profile is performed; they are not additional NIOSH tasks and cannot contain different task sets.

Verify that both the task profile and temporal organization represent the actual activity.

Temporal organization

Selector 1 provides:

One lifting period: one continuous duration.
Regular pattern of periods: repeats the same lifting period and recovery.
Custom sequence of periods: defines and orders periods with different durations and recovery times.

Changing this option changes the visible temporal controls but not the defined tasks or their frequencies.

Period duration

Control 2 sets how long lifting occurs during a period. In a regular pattern, all periods have the same duration. In a custom sequence, each row has its own duration.

Duration contributes to selection of the frequency multiplier. The same task and frequency can therefore produce different results in different temporal blocks.

Number of periods

Control 3, shown only for a regular pattern, sets how many times the period repeats.

The number of periods is not the number of NIOSH tasks. An analysis can have several tasks in one period, one task in several periods, or another compatible combination under the shared profile.

Recovery between periods

Control 4 sets the time during which the analyzed lifting does not occur between consecutive periods. It can be a break or another activity sufficiently light relative to lifting demand.

A regular pattern uses the same recovery between all periods. A custom sequence can use a different recovery after each period except the last.

Recovery does not directly modify a multiplier. Ergoniza Intelligent uses it to determine whether two periods form independent assessment blocks or must be combined.

Temporal summary

Area 6 updates automatically:

total lifting time, the sum of period durations;
total recovery time, the sum of recovery intervals;
total elapsed time, lifting plus recovery;
resulting assessment blocks and each block’s duration category.

If recovery is insufficient to separate periods, the summary displays a warning and evaluates them as one block. Once the long-duration category is reached, the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation does not define an RT/WT ratio for separating periods; subsequent corresponding periods therefore remain in the same block while ordinary industrial breaks are considered.

Assessment blocks and determining block

An assessment block contains one or more periods that must be assessed together according to their accumulated duration and the recovery between them.

Every block is calculated and the results compared. The block with the least favorable index is the determining block and provides the representative overall result. Other block results remain available for review and are neither added nor averaged. If several blocks have the same maximum result, all are determining blocks.

Temporal limits

Total elapsed time—lifting plus recovery—cannot exceed eight hours. A block also cannot be assessed when it accumulates more than eight lifting hours. If either limit is exceeded, Ergoniza Intelligent states that the temporal organization cannot be assessed using the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation and provides no NIOSH results for that configuration.

Load constant

Selector 7 defines the load constant, the equation’s base value before its multipliers are applied. The standard value is 23 kg.

From this constant, the system applies multipliers for lifting geometry, distance, height, asymmetry, frequency, duration, coupling quality, and other factors.

Do not change this value without a clear technical justification. Doing so changes the calculation basis and can substantially affect the Recommended Weight Limit and Lifting Index.

When to change the load constant

Normally retain the default. Change it only in special circumstances, such as:

applying a specific methodological variant;
performing exploratory analysis with another base value;
using a documented technical decision for an alternative constant;
adapting the calculation to a previously defined internal criterion.

Document any alternative value and do not directly compare its results with analyses using the standard constant.

Anthropometric adjustment

Control 8 adapts certain geometric parameters to the configured human model.

When enabled, Ergoniza Intelligent uses model height and sex, together with corresponding body dimensions, to estimate reference hand height and reach limits.

This can change the multipliers related to vertical load location, horizontal distance, vertical travel, and coupling quality and can therefore change the Recommended Weight Limit and Lifting Index.

Review these data under Model parameter settings.

When to use anthropometric adjustment

Enable it when the analysis should represent the configured human model. Leave it disabled to use the equation’s standard anthropometric references.

Verify the model’s height and sex before enabling it.

Relationship with lifting results

These values can affect:

Recommended Weight Limit;
Lifting Index;
single-task and multitask interpretation;
task comparison;
the overall activity assessment.

See Load-lifting analysis results.

Recommended procedure

Select the temporal organization representing the real activity.
Enter period durations and recovery times.
Review total times and blocks in the temporal summary.
Keep the load constant at 23 kg unless a technical reason supports another value.
Enable anthropometric adjustment when factors should adapt to the configured model.
Review every task and frequency in the shared profile.
Recheck results after changing a period, recovery, or general parameter.

Precautions

Changing the load constant changes the calculation basis.
Temporal periods and NIOSH tasks are different concepts.
Recovery must represent an interval without the analyzed lifting, not merely a lower frequency.
Insufficient recovery combines the corresponding periods into one block.
All periods currently share the same tasks and frequencies.
Total elapsed time and each block must remain within evaluable temporal limits.
Anthropometric adjustment requires correctly configured body parameters.
For several tasks, temporal organization must be consistent with the complete task set.

Relationship with the Technical foundations

For methodological details, see:

These sections explain duration, load constant, recovery, anthropometric adjustment, task definition, and interpretation of the main lifting results.