Effects of load handling and aging on balance control

Mishaps such as falls are a major cause of occupational injuries. Singapore has a number of 6.9 recorded fatalities and 520 recorded non-fatalities per 100,000 employees according to figures provided by LABORTA - Labour inspectorate records for occupational injuries cases. The over-loading and aging factors are the 2 prime concerns that increase the chances of occupational injuries. The industry of interest here is the construction industry which requires workers to perform manual material handling tasks. 6 Young and 6 Mature male healthy participants are selected to undergo the experiments at different loading conditions. COP-based measures are calculated basing on experimental data and (put through the analysis of COP Graphs, Descriptive Statistics, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation Coefficients.) From the results analysis, the Mature group tends to sway more than the Young group at various loading conditions. This indicates that the Young group can handle heavier loads better than the Mature group. Therefore, the Young group is more suitable in the construction industry than the Mature group. Safety precautions must be imposed to minimize the chances of occupational injuries even if the construction workers are examined to be fit for the industry.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering