MMC-ISO — Manual Material Handling (ISO 11228-1)
An international standardised compliance protocol establishing ergonomic limits and risk estimation for manual lifting, lowering, and carrying.
What is MMC-ISO?
ISO 11228-1 integrates international data across four scientific approaches — epidemiological, biomechanical, metabolic/physiological, and psychophysical. It establishes an absolute baseline Reference Mass (typically 25 kg for the general working population under ideal conditions) and applies reduction multipliers as real-world conditions stray from the ideal.
When to use MMC-ISO
Use when setting corporate safety policy, conducting regulatory compliance audits, or designing production spaces involving manual lifting of objects 3 kg or more across standard 8–12 hour shifts.
Primary citation: ISO 11228-1:2021. Ergonomics — Manual handling — Part 1: Lifting, lowering and carrying.
What MMC-ISO assesses
The body segments and task variables evaluated in a MMC-ISO assessment.
What it assesses
- Object mass and lifting frequency
- Transport distance and load dimensions
- Grip coupling quality
- Trunk twisting angles
Scoring and action levels
Final score range: Lifting Index (LI) / simplified Annex tables
Developed by: ISO 11228-1
MMC-ISO is coming to Ergocure.ai
MMC-ISO is part of our validated method roadmap. Our engine adds new methods on shared infrastructure — when MMC-ISOgoes live it will run from the same on-device capture and certified-ergonomist review as our live methods. In the meantime, tell us your environment and we'll map the live methods that fit today.
Related assessment methods
Methods commonly used alongside MMC-ISO in a complete ergonomic assessment.
Be first to know when MMC-ISO lands
MMC-ISO is on our roadmap. Request a pilot of our live methods today, and we'll flag MMC-ISO the moment it goes live.