Ergonomic Risk Assessment Tools and Postures During Lifting Tasks: A Systematic Research Review
Keywords:
Lifting, Rapid Entire Body Assessment, REBA, NIOSH Lifting, Goniometer, Electromyography (EMG)Abstract
Ergonomic risk factors such as awkward working posture has been associated with occupational injury and fatigue, especially in lifting tasks. This review was performed to analyze and summarize the studies about posture, ergonomic risk assessment tools and the activation of the muscle by EMG in lifting task. This review was carried out based on relevant articles published in PubMed, Science Direct, and Health Science Journals. Afterward, the outcomes were analyzed and narrative summarized by classification into four issues as 1. ergonomic risk assessment tools of lifting workers in industries, 2. postures of lifting, 3. posture assessment by goniometer and 4. muscle activation during lifting by measuring electromyography (EMG). The results showed that there were 20 research studies met the criteria from 276 enrolled citations and indicated that the REBA and NIOSH lifting equation were used in lifting task. Different working postures in lifting revealed that impact the parts of the body. Few studies were performed posture assessment and the most common method used to assess muscle activation was EMG in terms of identifying force and fatigue while working or after improved the workstation. The suggestion for further studies is that there should be considering both tools of self-report by subjective assessment and objective assessment by such ergonomics assessment tools and direct methods with measurement in order to complete field study under real working conditions.
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