Snook and Ciriello tables

The objective of the Snook and Ciriello Tables is to provide guidelines for the evaluation and design of manual load handling tasks considering the limitations and capabilities of workers, contributing to the reduction of low back injuries (Snook 1987). The tables define the Maximum Acceptable Weight, which corresponds to the greatest weight that a person can handle at a given frequency and for a given time, without becoming stressed or excessively fatigued. The maximum acceptable weight refers indistinctly to both the weight of the load, when the manipulation is a lifting, lowering or holding, and the force exerted when the manipulation is a pushing or pulling. The maximum acceptable weights are determined for five percentiles of the population: 10, 25, 50, 50, 75 and 90. That is, the maximum acceptable weights for the action to be safe for 10, 25, 50, 75 and 90% of the male or female population.