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Postural Loading Assessment in Assembly Workers of an Iranian Telecommunication Manufacturing Company

Kamalinia M., Saraji G. N., Kee D., Hosseini M., Choobineh A

International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics

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2013

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Vol. 19, No. 2

311--319

EN

Background. Changes in industries and work practices have coincided with work-related musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs). This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of MSDs and to assess postural loading in assembly workers of an Iranian telecommunication manufacturing company. Methods. Data were collected from 193 randomly selected workers in 4 units of the company. The Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire and the UBC ergonomic checklist were used as data collection tools. Loading on the upper body assessment(LUBA) was used to assess postural loading. Results. Lower back symptoms were the most prevalent problems among the workers (67.9%). LUBA showed that most assembly workers (94.3%) had experienced considerable and high postural loading (postural load index, PLI > 5). Regression analyses revealed that lighting, rotation, contact stress, repetition, gender and age were factors associated with symptoms. Conclusion. Work-related MSDs occurred at a high rate among workers. Postural loading requires consideration. Any ergonomic intervention should focus on eliminating ergonomic factors associated with symptoms.

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Effect of External Load at Varying Hand Positions on Perceived Discomfort

Kee D., Na S., Chung M. K.

International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics

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2013

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Vol. 19, No. 3

397--408

EN

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of external load at varying hand positions on discomfort, and to provide a new classification of external load. An experiment was carried out in which 16 postures with an external load of 0, 1.5, 3 kg were tested. The postures were controlled by 2 independent variables of hand distance and hand height. The subjects were instructed to rate their perceived discomfort with magnitude estimation after holding a given posture for 1 min. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) exhibited that the main effects of the 3 independent variables were statistically significant for discomfort. Discomfort increased linearly with external load and hand distance. Hand height showed a quadratic relation with discomfort, which exhibited a slightly different trend from hand distance and external load. Based on the results, a new classification of external load was proposed with 3 classes grouped by perceived discomfort.

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A Comparison of Three Observational Techniques for Assessing Postural Loads in Industry

Kee D., Karwowski W.

International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics

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2007

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Vol. 13, No. 1

3--14

EN

This study aims to compare 3 observational techniques for assessing postural load, namely, OWAS, RULA, and REBA. The comparison was based on the evaluation results generated by the classification techniques using 301 working postures. All postures were sampled from the iron and steel, electronics, automotive, and chemical industries, and a general hospital. While only about 21% of the 301 postures were classified at the action category/level 3 or 4 by both OWAS and REBA, about 56% of the postures were classified into action level 3 or 4 by RULA. The inter-method reliability for postural load category between OWAS and RULA was just 29.2%, and the reliability between RULA and REBA was 48.2%. These results showed that compared to RULA, OWAS, and REBA generally underestimated postural loads for the analyzed postures, irrespective of industry, work type, and whether or not the body postures were in a balanced state.