Key Elements of an Ergonomics Process: Developing Surveillance Tools to Evaluate Risk Factors

Abstract

Risk is defined as the exposure to the chance of injury or loss. Developing models or methods to evaluate the level of risk for a particular exposure comes from controlled experimentation. Cumulative trauma disorders are one type of loss that contributes to significant pain and suffering for people and for the industry in which these people work. However, no simple model exists which show how physical risk factors may contribute to the development of cumulative trauma disorders. This paper concentrates on efforts to evaluate ergonomic risk and associated outcomes on manufacturing and assembly jobs using existing ergonomic assessment tools to accurately assess risk. This paper concentrates on preliminary results as it relates to the upper extremity.