Arizona state miner., 1925-09-05
Several States Limit the
Weight a Woman May
Lift in Industries.

Washington. How many pounds
can woman lift? This Is not
a question as to the maximum lifting
feat that has been accomplished in a
circus or on the vaudeville stage, but
has to do with the weights which work
ing women may handle without jeop-
ardizing their health.
Five states have undertaken to reg
ulate by laws or CODES the weights
which women may lift, but industrial
experts declare that no fair and sat
isfactory standards have been estab-
lished either in this country or abroad.
California has a law which forbids
women to lift receptacles which weigh
IS pounds or more. Ohio prohibits
the employment of women in any ca
pacity which neceSsitates their lifting
weights of 25 pounds or over. Penn
Sylvania DEGREES that women shall not
handle, in core rooms, cores which
weigh more than Is pounds. These
are parts of molds used in iron and
steel casting. New York in it's in
dustrial code, rule $50, provides that
women shall not handle cores which
weigh more than 25 pounds.
Method of Lifting important.
1t is recognized, however, that the
problem cannot be solved by writing
into law or code the maximum num-
Der of pounds which a woman may lift.
A great deal depends upon the way in
which anything is lifted and the dis
tance, reach and stretch which it en-
tails. To lift % pounds from one
table to another of the same height
does not require as much energy and
strain as a lift Is pounds from the
floor to a shelf over ones head.
In order to ascertain the seriousness
in Industry In New York state had the
figures compiled for a given year Of
all the women in the state who re-
ceived compensation as a result of
strain from lifting. The year ending
June 80, 1925, the tenth year for COM
pensatiOn cases, was selected for the
survey, and the report shows that 100
women received compensation of the
character indicated during that period.
These 100 women averaged 13
weeks disability, and the amount of
their compensation averaged $1O9 All
of the disabilities were temporary ex-
cept two. One woman who suffered
from a permanent partial disability
was employed in a hotel and the other
in an Office building.
Most Injured in Factories.
Almost one-haIf of the women incur
ring disabilities from lifting weights
too heavy for them to handle-46, to
to be exact, were employed in manufac-
turing establishments. Thirty-one were
engaged in clerical and personal serv-
ice, 20 were employed in trade, by
public utilities and / in building con-
StructiOn.
In the manufacturing group there
was one case of strain from lifting in
each of the following: Foundries,
hardware, sheet metal ware, wire, beds,
construction machinery, wood turning,
confectionery, tobacco, clothing, fur
nishing goods, needle trades, shoddy,
cotton goods, woOlen goods, ink, soap
and paper.
In the clerical and personal service
classification the largest number Of
cases, IA, occurred in hotels and clubs,
while there we're 13 cases in apartment
and Office buildings.
In the trade group the largest num-
Der Of accidents took place in food, de-
partment and fve-and-ten-cent stores
--13 in all.
The New York state department of
labor says that the analysis of these