NIOSH announced the release of a new report that can help occupational health and safety practitioners more accurately and efficiently assess postural stress of workers performing their duties at work.
The report, Observation-Based Posture Assessment: Review of Current Practice and Recommendations for Improvement, describes a research-based approach to classifying the severity of torso and arm posture. This approach has been demonstrated to improve the accuracy and efficiency of workplace posture analysis, NIOSH says. Authors address enhancements such as the benefits of digital video, computer software, training and use of visual cues. Additionally, the report provides practitioners with useful tips for digitally recording and analyzing workers’ posture, NIOSH says.
The purpose of the document is to help practitioners assess working posture for the prevention and control of occupational musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). 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, NIOSH says.
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 MSDs.
Here are a few tips for recording and analyzing workers’ posture:
- Record the task from multiple views and encourage the worker to avoid loose-fitting clothing.
- If possible, have one of those views be perpendicular to the plane of the joint movement.
- Zoom in on limb segments so that the joint of interest is as large as possible in the camera field of view.
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