Assessment methods of ergonomic risks
Gyula Szabó PhD. Eur.Erg.
Bánki Donát Faculty of Mechanical and Safety
Engineering
Óbuda University, Budapest, Hungary
EASOM Summer School 2017
Ergonomics
• Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific
discipline concerned with the understanding of
interactions among humans and other elements of a
system, and the profession that applies theory,
principles, data and methods to design in order to
optimize human well-being and overall system
performance.
• (International Ergonomics Association, 2000)
ISO 26800:2011 - Ergonomics -- General
approach, principles and concepts
Questions
• Problem
• Knowledge
• Purpose
• Implementation
Parts of body at risk
• Low back
• Neck
• Shoulder
• Elbow
• Hand
• Knee
• Ankle
• Shoulder
• Upper arm
• Forearm
• Wrist
• Hand
Does your work involve tiring or painful positions?
(Q24a) EWCS 2015 European Working Conditions Survey 2015
Does your work involve repetitive hand or arm movements?
(Q24e) EWCS 2015 European Working Conditions Survey 2015
MSD
Physical risk factors
• Repetition
• Force
• Posture
• Vibration
• Combination of factors
• Cumulative damage
Factors to affect the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders
Workplace
designTool usage Material
Job
characteristics
Work organisation
Task demand / external load
Force PostureFrequency
and durationVibration
Personal characteristics
Human
Long term Short term
Fatiguetissue changes
Cumulative
Tramta DisordersCompletely
reversible with rest
Indirect risk factors
Modifying Factors
Direct Risk Factors
Respons of the
body
Effect to the
worker
internal load
Modifying Factors
Negative effectsPositive
effects
Improvement
Requirements
• Easy usability for identification of ergonomic hazard,
risks.
• The results have to be quntified or showed in green,
yellow, or red.
• The terms of use has to be clear.
• Has to be legislation based, not only international
experienced based.
• Has to cover a wide risk of WMSD.
• Fit the competency of user (not require special
trainings).
• Fit the way of use (not require special tools).
The application
• As a part of health and safety risk assessment,
• During installation,
• During ergonomic review,
• Screening of ergonomic situations (example:
accidents),
• In occupational and health studies
Checklists
Subjective discomfort Survey
Subjective discomfort Survey - Results
Sittig Standing Mixed
OWAS
Ovako Working-postures
Analysis System
BRIEF 1
•Testhelyzet
•Erő
•Időtartam
•Gyakoriság
Manual handling Assessment Chart
JSI – Job Strain Index
REBA – Rapid Entire Body Assessment
A
group
Neck
Trunk
Leg
"A" table
Terhelés/Erő
Megfogás
B
group
Upper arm
Lower arms
Csukló
"B" table
R L
L R
R L
"C" táblázatból
A score
C score
B score
Activity
score
REBA score
OCRA (Occupational Repetitive Actions )
And the others on-line
http://www.nexgenergo.com/ergonomics/ergomast.html
Composite Ergonomics Risk Assessment
wMSDs still persists
The Composite Ergonomic Risk Assessment
A paper-pencil method which is easy to use for
anyone after some practice, and which gives a
simple evaluation after a separate determination of
the different ergonomic risks.
A workbook which allows detailed assessments and
provide risk levels in borderline cases, according to
the standard methods given a detailed evaluation,
which method occupational safety and health
professionals can use after a few days training.
An imaging-based method, which is based on
observations of real activity.
The Composite Ergonomic Risk Assessment
• The method according to EN 1005 series of standards
for appropriate assessment of the elements, namely:
posture,
manual handling,
effort,
repetitive movements,
• Plus
Subjective discomfort,
Workplace history,
Improvement ideas
Ergonomic Assessment Worksheet
Apps
Graphs of some calculated joint degrees
Motion Capture
OSCAR 1981-86 Anybody 1987-89 Anthropos 1990-99
Avatar history (human engineering szoftwares 1981-1989)
Avatar history (human engineering szoftwares 1996-2001)
Ergomax 1999 - 2001 Ergonaut 1996 - 2001 CharAT 2001 -
Avatar history (human engineering szoftwares 2004-)
IDO-Ergonomics 2004 - ViVeLab - ViVeHuman 2016 -
Evolution of Ergonomic Risk Assessment Tools
The background
FBr
= FB * m
v * m
f * m
d
MME
= Mref
* CM * C
T * C
V * C
A * C
MF * C
F
RMSD
=N
ME
TC
* CTT
* CI * C
BT* C
E * C
PH * C
MI
Thank you for your attention!
And don’t forget to make some good, too.
