In 1999, the Mainz-Dortmund Dose Model (MDD) was presented as a suggested uniform procedure for quantifying and assessing the load on the spine in accordance with the prerequisites for Occupational Disease No. 2108. The introduction and use of the MDD led to comments in the scientific literature. Comprehensive remarks on the Mainz-Dortmund Dose Model as a procedure for the retrospective assessment of the manual handling of materials and work in extreme postures were provided by Liebers and Caffier last year in this journal (issue 9, 2001). Those remarks, however, do not concern the MDD method itself in many cases, but the legal basis of the occupational disease, or aspects of the procedure for evaluating occupational diseases unspecific to the MDD:
1) the present definition of the occupational disease focussing on
lifting and carrying of „heavy“ objects and postures with „extreme“
inclination of the trunk,
2) the unclear criteria in the corresponding sheet of instructions,
3) the incorrect collection of data for assessing an individual case,
4) the limited knowledge about the exposure at the workplace.
From the MDD authors’ point of view, the remarks of Liebers and Caffier may lead to misinterpretations. The main aspects of the method are therefore reiterated below.