<p>The work of airfield fuel attendants involves lifting, lowering, holding and pulling hoses in different postures. It is therefore not easy for the company’s practitioner to estimate the musculoskeletal loadings as part of the risk assessment, using simple methods. In the context of this contribution, the external forces involved in handling the hoses were recorded on site. The postures were documented using video recordings and photographs. Furthermore, the frequencies of the respective activities were compiled by the participating company which, in addition, immediately introduced initial preventive measures. In order to describe the situative musculoskeletal load quantitatively and thus like a bottleneck analysis, compressive and shear forces at the lumbosacral joint were calculated for the individual materials handling activities. Derived therefrom, cumulative dose values for the current load spectrum show that occupational causation of disc-related spinal diseases cannot be ruled out a priori. This applies, in particular, when considering a “worst-case scenario” with the assumption of maximum load level as well as maximum duration of the respective activity. Then, the work-related prerequisites in occupational disease evaluation procedures can be regarded as fulfilled after around 20 years of work. Preventive approaches should focus on handling activities that involve the highest individual loadings: the lifting and lowering of the tank hoses at the aircraft. Such an advantage could be achieved using technical lifting aids in combination with organisational measures for ergonomic handling the hoses so that load peaks and the biomechanical overload risk could significantly be reduced.</p>