Development and experimental verification of an ergonomic shopping bag handle

BACKGROUND: Plastic shopping bags are used world over. However, users may suffer pain in or injury to their fingers because of the relatively thin plastic handles of those bags. Due to such drawbacks of the available bag handles, new designs are needed. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop a handle that can be used to carry many bags simultaneously. This handle was ergonomically designed and manufactured with soft grip. Then, an experiment was performed to test the usefulness of the developed handle. METHODS: The cardiac cost, discomfort ratings, activity levels of eight muscles, and peak plantar pressure (PPP) were the response variables in the experiment. The carrying style (with or without the handle), carrying method (dominant hand or both hands), and weight carried (5%, 10%, or 15% of the subject's body weight) were the independent variables in the experiment. Twenty-six healthy, young volunteers participated in the experiment. RESULTS: It was found that carrying grocery bags in both hands using the bag handle was preferable to the other carrying methods because it reduced the cardiac cost, muscular stress, PPP, and average discomfort ratings. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that the developed shopping bag handle provides an ergonomic solution for carrying multiple heavy plastic bags.