Baggage handling at Munich Airport

Status:

completed 02/2025

Aims:

Baggage handling is among the forms of unskilled work performed at Munich Airport (MUC), and involves highly repetitive handling of loads. It includes the manual transfer of baggage items from baggage carts to conveyor belts in the airport terminal.

Results of a risk assessment, based on observation and performed by Munich Airport’s occupational safety and health delegates, indicated the incidence of high musculoskeletal loads during this activity. Furthermore, Munich Airport’s occupational medical department reported an elevated number of working days lost due to incapacity for work caused by musculoskeletal complaints among workers in this area of activity.

A transfer belt (Power Stow A/S) was trialled at Munich Airport as a potential preventive measure for relieving physical stress on workers tasked with baggage handling. This short, semi-automatic conveyor belt bridges the gap between the baggage cart and the terminal’s conveyor belt. Before the launch of this project, the level of effective relief of stress upon the musculoskeletal system attained by this equipment had not been sufficiently quantified.

The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IFA) was commissioned by the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions for local authorities in Bavaria (KUVB) and for the public sector in Bavaria (Bayerische Landesunfallkasse) to carry out pilot CUELA measurements at the airport as part of an extended consultation. The CUELA measurements took place in September 2024. Movement and stress analysis was carried out on five baggage handlers.

The measurement-based study results support Munich Airport in producing a risk assessment of the affected workplace (i.e. without unloading equipment), particularly with regard to stress on the shoulder and back.

In the interests of prevention, the transfer belt unloading equipment was to be analysed for its potential to relieve stress. The stress relief observed was to be quantified objectively.

Activities/Methods:

The physical stress caused during transfer of baggage from the cart to the conveyor belt was studied both with and without use of the unloading equipment. The unloading equipment was installed at Munich Airport in September 2024 for the purpose of testing.

In the course of the project, five male full-time employees (age: 30 ± 5.7 years; height: 181 ± 5 cm; BMI: 23.4 ± 2.7) were studied who had been trained in use of the unloading equipment. To determine the physical load, kinematics were recorded and analysed by means of the CUELA measurement method, with use of technology for whole-body motion capture (Awinda, Co. Movella) and heart rate measurement (Forerunner, Co. Garmin). The vertical ground reaction forces were measured by means of insoles equipped with capacitive sensors inserted into the test subjects’ safety footwear. The project also delivered pilot measurements for evaluation in principle of the scope for integrating this force measurement system (Loadsol, Co. Novel) into the CUELA measurement procedure for measurement-based workplace assessment.

Results:

The analysis of the whole-body kinematics showed that the unloading equipment has no positive influence on torso inclination during the unloading process. Its use was also found to favour imbalanced performance of the work. Study of the ground reaction forces revealed that the effort exerted can be reduced significantly when the equipment is used correctly. The values measured by means of the insoles proved plausible in consideration of the average baggage item weights (18 kg) stated by Munich Airport. The approximated mean load weights were input into the biomechanical model ("CUELA Dortmunder"). This enabled the lumbar compression force to be analysed both specific to the situation, i.e. during individual unloading processes, and cumulatively in the form of a daily shift dose. It was found that although the equipment significantly reduced the compression force, the daily shift dose nevertheless remained at a high level owing to the high number and mass of the baggage items being moved.

Measurement of the heart rate proved to be insufficiently instantaneous to permit a reliable conclusion regarding possible relief of the cardiovascular system by the unloading equipment. At the same time, it was apparent that the methodology used to record the load weight (by means of force measurement insoles) requires further development for use in the field. Series of tests are currently being conducted to validate the force measurement insoles in the context of occupational human factors.

Overall, the results suggest that the unloading equipment has the effect of relieving back stress. They therefore support decision-making by Munich Airport during planning and implementation of preventive restructuring measures at the existing terminal and planning of construction of a new terminal. In addition, the findings enable work organization measures to be selected, particularly with regard to training of workers and raising of awareness among them. Recommendations for this purpose are to be taken into account, for example as part of new training programmes. The results are also suitable for application to comparable baggage handling systems at other airports.

The results of the study were prepared for the shoulder register project (IFA-4258, SchulterKatast), and made use of in it.

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