• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.171-181
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• 2009

This study was carried out to evaluate a musculoskeletal symptom and the work posture of the nurses in an operating room who have worked in the present department for more than one year. The job analysis of operating room nurses for ergonomic work posture analysis is divided into 14 tasks. On the basis of that, a survey research and ergonomic work posture analysis are also carried out. Among 41 operating room nurses of a cancer center in Kyonggi province who responded to the self-administered questionnaire, 20 nurses were observed and videorecorded to apply Rapid Entire Body Assessment(REBA) to ergonomic work posture analysis from April 16, 2007 to May 18, 2007. The results of analysis are as follows. The prevalence rate of musculoskeletal symptoms was 75.6% and its prevalence rates by part of the body are these followings; lower back and leg/foot 43.9%, shoulder 36.6%, neck 34.1%, hand/wrist/ finger 22.0%, arm/elbow 14.6%. In accordance with the results of ergonomic work posture analysis, 4 tasks that have a REBA score of 8 have high-risk levels and require an immediate management. It shows there is a significant correlation with overall musculoskeletal symptoms and objective workloads that are estimated by REBA. In conclusion, the work conditions of operating room nurses should be improved. It is also necessary that inappropriate work postures and ergonomic work conditions are improved to prevent musculoskeletal disorders of operating room nurses.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.375-382
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• 2019

Objectives: This study was to examine the features of work and posture analysis outputs in assessment of exposure to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk factors in general hospital nurses. Methods: Work and posture analyses were carried out using observational approaches for nurses at general hospitals across Korea. With development of a taxonomy for assessing exposure to MSD risk factors, nursing tasks were documented in frequency (%time) for 8 hours a day in work analyses. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) scores were obtained for mode and maximum risk levels, respectively, during posture analyses. Results: A total of 27 nurses were observed while conducting 7 nursing tasks at 6 general hospitals. For both the work analyses and posture analyses, the taxonomy was developed and used. In the work analyses, 'Video display terminal task' and 'Nursing examination/ treatment' were the highest as 25%time for 8 hours a day, followed by 'Patient care' and 'Room rounding' as 13%time in order. In the posture analyses, the mode REBA scores were 2 or less for all nursing tasks while the maximum REBA scores were 7 for upper limbs at 'Room rounding' and 6 for trunk/neck/legs at 'Patient care'. Conclusions: The results showed the study nurses are occasionally at a risk for MSD, a medium level as designated in the REBA risk level, suggesting that it is important to control awkward posture at the nursing tasks such as 'Room rounding' and 'Patient care', in priority, for preventing MSD in the hospital sector including the study general hospitals.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2015

In forest work, working conditions are very hard to improve. The good posture is believed to bring about direct improvements such as accident prevention. Therefore, this research carried on analysis of working posture in forest work (construct in stepping-stone) using OWAS analysis system. According to the analytical results provided by OWAS, the ratio of category III (Work posture has a distinctly harmful effect on the musculoskeletal system) has shawn that worker 2 was 32.2%, worker 1 was 25.2% and worker 3 was 15.5%. Furthermore, the ratio of category IV (Work posture with an extremely harmful effect on the musculoskeletal system) has shown that worker 2 was 9.8%, worker 3 was 1.4% and worker 1 was 1.2%. According to the OWAS method, percentage of OWAS action categories III and IV in the worker 2 was higher than another workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2014

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common work-related peripheral neuropathy. In addition to grip force and repetitive hand exertions, wrist posture (hyperextension and hyperflexion) may be a risk factor for CTS among workers. However, findings of studies evaluating the relationship between wrist posture and CTS are inconsistent. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a meta-analysis of existing studies to evaluate the evidence of the relationship between wrist posture at work and risk of CTS. Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar were searched to identify relevant studies published between 1980 and 2012. The following search terms were used: "work related", "carpal tunnel syndrome", "wrist posture", and "epidemiology". The studies defined wrist posture as the deviation of the wrist in extension or flexion from a neutral wrist posture. Relative risk (RR) of individual studies for postural risk was pooled to evaluate the overall risk of wrist posture on CTS. Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. All were cross-sectional or case-control designs and relied on self-report or observer's estimates for wrist posture assessment. The pooled RR of work-related CTS increased with increasing hours of exposure to wrist deviation or extension/flexion [RR = 2.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.646-2.43; p < 0.01: Shore-adjusted 95% CI: 1.32-2.97]. Conclusion: We found evidence that prolonged exposure to non-neutral wrist postures is associated with a twofold increased risk for CTS compared with low hours of exposure to non-neutral wrist postures. Workplace interventions to prevent CTS should incorporate training and engineering interventions that reduce sustained non-neutral wrist postures.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.43-52
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• 2005

A two-dimensional posture measurement system was developed to evaluate the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) easily on various conditions of work. The posture measurement system is an essential tool to analyze the workload for preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Although several posture measurement systems have been developed for workload assessment, some restrictions in industry still exist because of its difficulty on measuring work postures. In this study, an image recognition algorithm was developed based on a neural network method to measure work posture. Each joint angle of human body was automatically measured from the recognized images through the algorithm, and the measurement system makes it possible to evaluate the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders easily on various working conditions. The validation test on upper body postures was carried out to examine the accuracy of the measured joint angle data from the system, and the results showed good measuring performance for each joint angle. The differences between the joint angles measured directly and the angles measured by posture measurement software were not statistically significant. It is expected that the result help to properly estimate physical workload and can be used as a postural analysis system to evaluate the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in industry.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.419-426
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• 2011

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate a work of guards, using an ergonomic method(work analysis and posture analysis). Background: Most studies about guards were conducted in the field of medical, problems of shift, and the physical problems of old workers and social problems. But, guards consist of vulnerability group so it needs an ergonomic research in musculoskeletal disorders. Method: A head of an ergonomic estimation was work analysis(determination of combined task, work tool, work time and frequency of combined task) and posture analysis(upper body and lower body) of workers based on the video. Results: The result showed that combined task of guards was classification of patrolling, security, cleaning and waiting. The security indicated the highest ratio in the work time of combined tasks. The results of posture analysis for guards indicated high value in neutral. But, lower arm indicated high value in bending(left: 59%, right: 50%). Conclusion: The results of ergonomic methods indicated that guards' physical work load was not high during work, but comfortable work environment would be required for old guards. Application: If an ergonomic rule can be integrated into existing work environments, the risk of occupational injuries and stress will be reduced.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.24 no.69
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• pp.51-64
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• 2001

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of working posture. work/rest ration, and task type on the physical workload in automobile assembly jobs. Ten healthy male university students participated as subjects in the experiment. East subject performed 18 experimental session with combination of 3 working posture 3 work/rest ratio and 2 task types. To examine the effect of various working conditions on workload, DMG analysis was performed on 4 different muscles in the neck an arm area, Also RPE scale and heart rate were taken as response variables. The result showed that all working conditions considered in the experiment had significant effects on the workload concluding that labor intensity in auto assembly jobs should be adjusted with respect to different levels of working posture, work/rest ratio, and task type. Detailed analysis are presented in the paper.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2003

Despite rapid technological advance and increased automation facilities, many jobs and activities in our living require manual materials handling(MMH). These include wide variety of activities such as moving things, lifting bags. boxes or cartons, etc. Many studies found that handle could affect on maximum acceptable weight of lifting, but there were few studies f3r the effects of work posture and coupling in lifting tote box. This study performed that ten male college students were required to lift a tote box with and without handle for three postures (bending, straight, right angle posture). From the experiment, following results were obtained. (1) MVC reduced maximum 23% by type of handle. (2) MVC was highest in straight posture, but was lowest in right angle posture. (3) As a result of ANOVA, MVC paid attention to posture and coupling. (p<0.01) (4) To all handle types, biceps brachii activity was increased in right angle posture. but reduced in straight posture. (5) To all posture, biceps brachii activity was most lively in no handle. The results of MVC measurement, subjective rating, EMG analysis, statistic analysis showed that maximum acceptable weight of lifting was influenced by type of handle and straight posture was more comfortable than other postures. Based on these results, it was concluded that acceptable weight of lifting has to differ for work posture and coupling.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.601-608
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• 2013

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of distance between trunk and desk on forward head posture and muscle activity of neck and shoulder muscles during computer work. METHODS: Twenty subjects who have healthy conditions were asked to perform computer work in two conditions (distance between trunk and desk was 0 and 15 cm). Forward head angle was analyzed with a SIMI motion analysis system. Surface electromyography recorded the upper trapezius and splenius capitis muscles. The significance of differences in distance between trunk and desk (0cm and 15cm) was tested by paired t-test. The alpha level was set at .05. RESULTS: The results showed that the change of forward head angle was significantly higher during the computer work when the distance between trunk and desk was 15cm than 0cm. The muscle activity of upper trapezius and splenius capitis was also significantly higher during the computer work when the distance between trunk and desk was 15cm than 0cm. CONCLUSION: Our study suggest that the distance between trunk and desk was should minimized for prevention of forward head posture during computer work.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.36-49
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• 1998

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the work postures and upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders(CTDs) in female medical insurance bill reviewers(n=448). This study included diagnosis for CTDs, anthropometry and job analysis (workstations and posture). The characteristics of subject were 33.6 years of average age and 8.7 years of average work duration. The results were as fallows. Ergonomic conditions of workstation were unsuitable compared with anthropometry result. The height of work surface(79.5 cm) and chair(43.0 cm)were high. work space was small, and legs space under the table was limited. Work postures were awkward compared with recommended neutral postures. Neck flexion($21.0-36.0^{\circ}$), elbow elevation, shoulder abduction ($46.0-47.0^{\circ}$). wrist radial and ulnar deviation, forearm supination and pronation, and wrist repeated motion(12.7-21.5 freq./min) were analyzed as hazardous risk factors by job analysis. The prevalence of CTDs was 32.8 % by medical diagnosis. The prevalence rate of CTDs in hazardous work posture group was significantly greater than safe work posture group both neck-shoulder (relative prevalence = 5.2, p<0.001) and wrist-hand (relative prevalence = 2.5, p<0.05).