Ergonomic assessment tool for real-time risk assessment of seated work postures

Abstract

This paper presents a posture assessment tool which utilizes the depth sensing techniques of a 3D imaging sensor for ergonomic risk assessment of seated worker’s postures during controlled manual handling tasks. The tool, which has been developed to utilize the manual handling guidelines by the Health and Safety Regulators of some selected countries to measure and assess the postures of the upper bodies of Operators, is tested to ascertain its effectiveness in assessing seated postures. The tool offers real-time posture assessment with real-time feedback to inform Operators on when to adjust awkward seated postures. An experiment has been performed to record, assess and display the work postures of some seated Operators in real-time with ‘Good’ and ‘Awkward’ postures identified with real-time feedback provided to the Operators. Results show that the tool can assess seated work postures in real-time which helps to reduce the rate of occurrence of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders.