Researchers from the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) have teamed up with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the US to produce the document Observation-Based Posture Assessment: Review of Current Pactice and Recommendations for Improvement.
The purpose of this document is to help practitioners assess working posture for the prevention and control of occupational musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Quantitative or semiquantitative descriptions of posture are inputs to many job analysis tools applied in MSD prevention and control. Studies of the relationship between risk factors (such as posture, repetition, and force) and resulting MSD prevalence have used various approaches to characterizing working posture, including observation-based methods. Posture classification by systematic observation of a worker is commonly used in research and by practitioners, such as ergonomists, industrial hygienists, and safety professionals, to help inform job design decisions and establish safe work limits to reduce MSD injury risk in the workplace.
The
document
describes
an
observational
approach
for
assessing
postural
stress
of
the
trunk
and
upper
limbs
that
is
intended
to
improve
risk
analysis
for
prevention
of
musculoskeletal
disorders.
The
approach
is
supported
by
several
recent
research
studies.
These
studies
have
evaluated
how
much
time
it
takes
observers
to
classify
specific
trunk
and
upper
limb
postures,
how
frequently
observers
are
likely
to
make
posture
classification
errors,
and
the
magnitude
of
these
errors.
The
document
also
presents
more
general
guidelines
for
the
video
recording
of
posture
and
for
the
posture
analysis
process.