Gender differences in exerted forces and physiological load during pushingand pulling of wheeled cages by postal workers

The aim was to determine gender differences regarding exerted forces and ph ysiological load during push/pull tasks simulating the daily working practi ce of postal workers. Eight female and four male workers handled four-wheel ed cages under eight conditions corresponding to the cage weight (130, 250, 400, 550 kg) and the direction of force exertion (pushing, pulling). For e ach of the five dependent variables, average force, initial force, ending f orce, oxygen uptake and heart rate, two analyses of variance with repeated measurements were performed, i.e. with and without correction for the worke r's body weight, body height and maximum capacity regarding the dependent v ariable. Exerted forces and physiological load were high for the cages weig hing 400 and 550 kg. Gender differences were significant for all dependent variables (p = 0.030-0.000). When the personal factors were included in the model, male workers exerted significantly higher average forces and ending forces than their females, while differences regarding initial forces and physiological load were not significant. However, none of the personal fact ors were significantly related to any of the dependent variables. It is con cluded that gender differences in exerted forces were not caused by differe nces in anthropometry and maximum capacity, but due to application of diffe rent work methods by women in order to balance work demands and work abilit y.