I work in a factory and I am being offered a position that will require a lot more lifting than the average job in the factory. The last person who had it hurt his back really bad and is now doing a desk job. I am thinking about doing this job but fellow workers tell me it is an OSHA violation to lift more than 75lbs by myself. The actual material that I would be lifting would actual exceed 75lbs by over 2x's. Most of the material ranges from 140lbs-190lbs. I tried looking on OSHA's website but its a dead end as far as searching for what I want. I am really not sure if this statement is true or not. I would say about 4-5 people have told me about this but they are all regular workers so of course they could just have heard a rumor and keep spreading it. So i was hoping somebody on here may be familiar with any lifting standards.

I live right on the border of Virginia and Maryland. The factory actually is on both states. Part of the outdoor of the factory is in Maryland but the office and main facility is in Virginia so I would think it would go under Virginia's law.

Thank you for your time.

There are no lifting standards.

Don't take the job unless the company provides material handling equipment.

There are no lifting standards.

Don't take the job unless the company provides material handling equipment.


There is not material handling equipment. Its all physical lifting.

We provide temp employees to companies.

We talked one client we had for years into installing Tommy Gates on their trucks since we had a huge number of injuries, mostly back strain, while the temps there were unloading appliances to install at the homes of the client's customers. Had they not listened to us, we would have had to lose them as a client.

We won't take on new clients that have routine heavy lifting without material handling equipment.

The company really needs to look at what it is doing. The costs of having an employee injured, particularly if their is lost time involved, are far greater than the few dollars it takes to get the job done safely.

I am off my soap box now.