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http://dx.doi.org/10.12812/ksms.2020.22.2.031

Analysis of Accuracy and Reliability for OWAS, RULA, and REBA to Assess Risk Factors of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders  

Cheon, Woohyun (School of Industrial Engineering, University of Ulsan)
Jung, Kihyo (School of Industrial Engineering, University of Ulsan)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science / v.22, no.2, 2020 , pp. 31-38 More about this Journal
Abstract
The study evaluated the accuracy and intra-rater reliability for OWAS (Ovako Working posture Analysing System), RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment), REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) to improve their evaluation accuracy and reliability. Participants (n = 163) with undergraduate degree were recruited in this study and trained for 6 hours about the ergonomic assessment methods. Ergonomic assessments were conducted using OWAS, RULA, and REBA for a representative work with dynamic posture found in manufacturing industries. The study compared action categories (overall level) and detailed evaluation scores for individual body part. Action categories of the participants significantly differed from the golden reference defined by ergonomic experts. The participants underrated or omitted scores for truck (37.4% of the participants) and legs (52.8%) in OWAS. Similarly, the participants underrated or omitted additional scores for all body parts except the hand and wrist in RULA (53.5%) and REBA (54.8%). On the other hand, the participants overrated scores for the hand and wrist in RULA (55.2%) and REBA (39.9%). The results found in this study can help of selecting focus points and parts during assessment and education to improve accuracy and reliability of the ergonomic assessment methods.
Keywords
OWAS; RULA; REBA; Ergonomic risk assessment; Musculoskeletal disorders;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 4  (Citation Analysis)
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