RULA Score Research Articles

Ergonomic tetrapod reduces the MSDs risk and productivity of steel-bar assembly for reinforcement concrete beams

The digitalization of construction has been carried out to meet the demands of the industrial era 4.0. However, there is still a lot of construction work that is preform manually, such as the steel-bar assembly for reinforcement concrete beams. Based on the 2019 ILO report, it can be seen that fatal work-related illnesses reached 86%, much higher than work accidents, which was 14%. Of the various fatal illnesses due to work, MSDs requires the highest health compensation costs, which reach 40%. The previous study showed that the steel-bar assembly was done in awkward working posture (squatting, bending, twisting repeatedly) with high risk of MSDs (Rula score: 7) and needs improvement immediately. This research was conducted through experiment with pre-posttest control group design. The specific target of this research is to reduce the MSDs risk and increase the productivity by supporting the workers with the ergonomic tetrapod as the working table. The subjects were two groups of students at Civil Engineering Department Politeknik Negeri Bali, with 14 students in each group.

Industrial Ergonomics Risk Analysis Based on 3D-Human Pose Estimation

Ergonomics is important for smooth and sustainable industrial operation. In the manufacturing industry, due to poor workstation design, workers frequently and repeatedly experience uncomfortable postures and actions (reaching above their shoulders, bending at awkward angles, bending backwards, flexing their elbows/wrists, etc.). Incorrect working postures often lead to specialized injuries, which reduce productivity and increase development costs. Therefore, examining workers’ ergonomic postures becomes the basis for recognizing, correcting, and preventing bad postures in the workplace. This paper proposes a new framework to carry out risk analysis of workers’ ergonomic postures through 3D human pose estimation from video/image sequences of their actions. The top-down network calculates human body joints when bending, and those angles are compared with the ground truth body bending data collected manually by expert observation. Here, we introduce the body angle reliability decision (BARD) method to calculate the most reliable body-bending angles to ensure safe working angles for workers that conform to ergonomic requirements in the manufacturing industry. We found a significant result with high accuracy in the score for ergonomics we used for this experiment. For good postures with high reliability, we have OWAS score 94%, REBA score 93%, and RULA score 93% accuracy. Similarly, for occluded postures we have OWAS score 83%, REBA score 82%, and RULA score 82%, compared with expert’s occluded scores. For future study, our research can be a reference for ergonomics score analysis with 3D pose estimation of workers’ postures.

A human-oriented design process for collaborative robotics

ABSTRACT The potential of collaborative robotics often does not materialize in an efficient design of the human-robot collaboration. Technology-oriented approaches are no longer enough in the Industry 4.0 era. This work proposes a set of methods to support manufacturing engineers in the human-oriented design process of integrated production systems to obtain satisfactory performance in the mass customization paradigm, without impacting the safety and health of workers. It founds the design criteria definition on five main pillars (safety, ergonomics, effectiveness, flexibility, and costs), favors the consideration of different design alternatives, and leads their selection. The dynamic impact of the design choices on the various elements of the system prevails over the static design constraints. The method has been experimented in collaboration with the major kitchen manufacturer in Italy, which introduced a collaborative robotics cell in the drawers’ assembly line. It resulted in a more balanced production line (10% more), a verified risk minimization (RULA score reduced from 5 to 3 and OCRA score from 13.30 to 5.70), and a greater allocation of operators to high added value activities.

Posture Analysis With Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) Method at Students of Three Study Programs in Sari Mulia University

The spread of COVID-19 cases is taking place in a very fast time so that it has an impact on all sectors. One of the sectors affected is educational institutions. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 cases, all learning processes are carried out with an online learning system. Online learning causes an increase in sitting activities rather than standing activities, specially activity in front of a smartphone or laptop. Sitting activities that last for a long period of time can result in ergonomic risks. The purpose of the study was to analyze posture using the RULA method. Research was conducted on students of three study programs, namely Industrial Engineering, DIV-Health Promotion and Management with respondents 53 people. This study was conducted with a survey to see the posture of students when attending online lectures. From the results of the study obtained that the posture of students with RULA worksheet is in the range of 4 to 7. For rula score is mostly at a score of 6 as many as 24 students (45.28%). For RULA scores with scores of 5 and 7 as many as 10 people (18.86%). And rula score at a value of 4 as many as 9 people (16.98%).

​Ergonomic Evaluation of Developed Manual Fruit Harvesting Device

Background: Ergonomics in agriculture assumes pronounced importance as it is a multidisciplinary science that endeavors to make a better fit between the job and the worker to ensure their health and safety. Methods: In the current study, a evaluation of developed manual fruit harvester was done suitable for selective harvesting and comparison was done with traditional system on ergonomic grounds. Result: The mean working heart rate (HR) during kinnow harvesting operation was 102.09 beats per min, and 108.53 beats per min for traditional and developed method respectively. The ODR (overall discomfort rating) value ranged from 4 to 5 and 0 to 4 and the BPDS value ranged from 40.66 to 59.58 and 30.91 to 51.33 in harvesting operation by traditional and developed system respectively The average RULA score for traditional method was found 7 and action level 4 which fall in the range of very high risk level and changes are required immediately. The average RULA score for developed method was found 4 and action level 2 which fall in the range of low risk level and changes may be required.

Evaluation of the working posture and upper extremity musculoskeletal complaints among dentistry students

Objective: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among dentists is high and adversely affects the quality of life. In this study, we aimed to evaluate musculoskeletal complaints, working postures, and the risk of MSDs among dentistry students across different departments. Methods: 180 dentistry students were divided into six groups according to their departments. For evaluation of the musculoskeletal complaints, we used the standardized Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire. The working postures and the potentiality of MSDs were evaluated using the ‘Rapid Upper Limb Assessment’ (RULA). Results: We found that 92.8% of the students had musculoskeletal pain during the last 12 months, and the highest prevalence of symptoms was reported for the neck (68.3%) and the upper back (62.2%). The mean RULA score of the students was 5.02 ± 1.31, indicating a high risk of MSDs. The highest RULA mean score was in the pedodontics group. Conclusion: Our study found a high prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints and high RULA scores among all the dentistry students. Therefore, ergonomic solutions should be developed to regulate their working postures according to the relevant department to prevent future disorders and if necessary, students should encourage to seek professional medical help.

Work Posture Simulation Using Catia VSR20 at Virgin Coconut Oil Production

This study aims to measure the posture of a worker by analyzing the level of occupational health risk and the level of fatigue of the physical load in a posture with a high level of posture risk and proposes to improve posture to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. RULA is a method used to evaluate work posture, CATIA V5R20 software is used to simulate workers while doing work, and heart rate are the data used to identify the level of physical workload. The results of the work posture analysis show that the workers at station coconut husk stripping have the highest level of risk with a RULA score of 7 (red), which means that the work is very tiring and at risk of experiencing MSDs and needs to improve immediately.Based on the analysis of the classification of physical workloads, it shows that 76% of the coconut husk stripping work activity is a heavy and tiring workload category for the work. The proposed posture improvement shows a decrease in score.

Preliminary Validation of a Low-Cost Motion Analysis System Based on RGB Cameras to Support the Evaluation of Postural Risk Assessment

This paper introduces a low-cost and low computational marker-less motion capture system based on the acquisition of frame images through standard RGB cameras. It exploits the open-source deep learning model CMU, from the tf-pose-estimation project. Its numerical accuracy and its usefulness for ergonomic assessment are evaluated by a proper experiment, designed and performed to: (1) compare the data provided by it with those collected from a motion capture golden standard system; (2) compare the RULA scores obtained with data provided by it with those obtained with data provided by the Vicon Nexus system and those estimated through video analysis, by a team of three expert ergonomists. Tests have been conducted in standardized laboratory conditions and involved a total of six subjects. Results suggest that the proposed system can predict angles with good consistency and give evidence about the tool’s usefulness for ergonomist.

Development of a fully automated RULA assessment system based on computer vision

The purpose of this study was to develop an automated, RULA-based posture assessment system using a deep learning algorithm to estimate RULA scores, including scores for wrist posture, based on images of workplace postures. The proposed posture estimation system reported a mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.86 on the validation dataset obtained by randomly splitting 20% of the original training dataset before data augmentation. The results of the proposed system were compared with those of two experts’ manual evaluation by computing the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), which yielded index values greater than 0.75, thereby confirming good agreement between manual raters and the proposed system. This system will reduce the time required for postural evaluation while producing highly reliable RULA scores that are consistent with those generated by manual approach. Thus, we expect that this study will aid ergonomic experts in conducting RULA-based surveys of occupational postures in workplace conditions.

Prediction of slaughterhouse workers’ RULA scores and knife edge using low-cost inertial measurement sensor units and machine learning algorithms

The high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) has been a concern in the meat-processing industry, owing to the manual nature of the work and the high upper-limb and neck exposure to movements that can lead to WRMSD. The ability to perform an accurate and fast assessment of WRMSDs remains a challenge in industrial environments. Most assessment methodologies rely on standard survey-based methods, which are time- and labor-intensive. In this paper, we present an application of inertial measurement units (IMUs) to measure human activity, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to perform task classification and ergonomic assessments in workplace settings. We present the results obtained by using simple low-cost IMUs worn on slaughterhouse worker wrists to capture information on their movements. We describe the use of this information to detect the risk factors of the wrists/hands that can lead to WRMSDs. The results indicate that by using low-cost IMU-based sensors on the wrists of slaughterhouse workers, we can accurately classify the sharpness of the knife and predict the worker RULA score.

Surgeon Positioning During Awake Laryngeal Surgery: An Ergonomic Analysis.

While it is acknowledged that otolaryngologists performing microlaryngeal surgery can develop musculoskeletal symptoms due to suboptimal body positioning relative to the patient, flexible laryngoscopy and awake laryngeal surgeries (ALSs) can also pose ergonomic risk. This prospective study measured the effects of posture during ergonomically good and bad positions during laryngoscopy using ergonomic analysis, skin-surface electromyography (EMG), and self-reported pain ratings. Prospective cohort study. Eight participants trained in laryngoscopy assumed four ergonomically distinct standing positions (side/near, side/far, front/near, front/far) at three different heights (neutral-top of patient's head in line with examiner's shoulder, high-6 inches above neutral, and low-6inches below neutral) in relation to a simulated patient. Participants' postures were analyzed using the validated Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA, 1 [best] to 7 [worst]) tool for the 12 positions. Participants then simulated ALS for 10 minutes in a bad position (low-side-far) and a good position (neutral-front-near) with 12 EMG sensors positioned on the limbs and torso. The position with the worst RULA score was the side/near/high (7.0), and the best was the front/near/neutral (4.5). EMG measurements revealed significant differences between simulated surgery in the bad and good positions, with bad position eliciting an average of 206% greater EMG root-mean-squared magnitude across all sampled muscles compared to the good posture (paired t-test, df=7, P < .01), consistent with self-reported fatigue/pain when positioned poorly. Quantitative and qualitative measurements demonstrate the impact of surgeon posture during simulated laryngoscopy and suggest ergonomically beneficial posture that should facilitate ALSs. 3 Laryngoscope, 131:2752-2758, 2021.

Posture analysis of women involved in papad making process in Ganjam district of Odisha

Papad making activity consists of repetitive actions and long hours of working in awkward posture which may lead to Musculoskeletal disorder in the long run. An attempt was therefore made to evaluate the posture assumed by workers in selected activities of papad making process. The postures assumed in selected sub-activities were assessed by using RULA, OWAS and flexi curve. From the survey it was found that women carried out papad making activity in a daily basis for 4-5 hours/day. The process of papad making requires a combination of postures like sitting, squatting, bending, and standing. Most of the sub activities were done in sitting-cum forward bending postures. Repetitive movements were found in upper limbs whereas static postures were maintained by lower limbs. RULA method was used to assess the postures assumed by upper limbs and lower limbs in ball making and rolling sub-activities of papad making. A RULA score of ‘5’ in ball making indicated ‘to investigate further and changes are required soon’, where as in rolling process a score of ‘7’ indicated ‘investigation and change immediately’. OWAS posture analysis was carried out in sun drying activity for two sub activities of picking papads and carrying papads both scored ‘2’ which fell under 2nd action category that indicated “Light stress and no immediate action is necessary, but changes should be considered in future.” Therefore, ergonomic intervention is required to lower the risk of musculoskeletal disorder among the workers by improving the working postures with the help of workplace modification and using advanced tools.

Ergonomic Analysis Based on Digital Human Modelling: Adjustable School Furniture Design for Secondary School Students

There are many reasons that affect students' academic achievement and health. One of the reasons is that school furniture is not ergonomic. Designed in this paper are student chairs and desks, which are height adjustable and inclinable, are suitable for the anthropometric characteristics of the students and which would ensure that students maintain their ideal body postures in design oriented classes, especially while making drawings. The student desk and the chair were designed in consideration of the anthropometric data obtained from the students. The height-adjustable seat can be used at three different heights according to the leg length of the students and the designed table can be used inclined. Ergonomically evaluation of the school furniture designed was carried out through RULA – Rapid Upper Limb Analysis. During the tests and the analyses, Digital Human Models (DHM) matching the anthropometric measures determined within the study were used. Risk assessments were conducted in this study with the help of the ergonomics analyses carried out with DHMs. In the RULA analysis, the limbs positioned in the ergonomic position were colored from green to red. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the designed furniture had a better RULA score than the known school furniture.

Postural discomfort analysis of EOT crane operators

Ergonomics aims at ensuring good fit between the worker and the work station. It is an important field of research in the development process to increase safety, comfort and performance. A comfortable work station can help employees to work more efficiently and effectively by reducing the probability for Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). This study has been carried out to evaluate the postural discomfort of Electric Overhead Travelling (EOT) crane operators in tubular products shop of a boiler manufacturing company located in southern India. The modified Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) is used to interact with 67 crane operators, working with 24 EOT cranes of three different models in alternative shifts. The study revealed that 48(71.6%) employees suffered with some kind of MSDs. Most of them suffered with lower back pain followed by neck pain. The discomfort level is increased with age. Sixteen anthropometric dimensions are measured from all the operators. Statistical analysis is carried out using ANOVA. Frequent working postures are analysed by RULA, using Egrofellow-3 software. The obtained RULA score is 6. Suitable ergonomic chair provided for comfortable sitting and front side cabin guard height 100mm reduced to increase the visibility. After 3 months of trail run again questionnaire survey is conducted which clearly indicates that discomfort level drastically reduced and RULA score also reduced to 3.

Hazard identification of repetitive truck loading activities in mineral water industry

A good work system is one of the most important factors in the company’s progress, and is the main key to success to increase productivity, company efficiency, and reduce the risk of injury. This research was carried out in a mineral water industry located in North Sumatra. The activity of loading the product to be distributed includes lifting the gallon from the conveyor to the truck. The problem faced by the company was the lack of supervision of the appointment activities, workers complained about the muscles and skeletons due to the Manual Material Handling (MMH), and because workers were also assigned to other work stations. Complaints were identified using the Standard Nordic Questionnaire, Job Strain Index, and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment. The SNQ results show that before doing work in several parts of the body it does not feel sick, but after doing the activity arises a complaint is very sick. This shows that lifting activities are the cause of complaints. The JSI score shows an index value of 12, which means that the activity enters a hazardous job. The results of the RULA score indicate that there must be action now too. To solve this problem, Participatory Ergonomics intervention methods were carried out. PE intervention is carried out on workers who aim to get input on remedial solutions needed by workers and to management for the implementation of selected solutions.

An Objective Ergonomic Risk Assessment of Surgeons in Real Time While Performing Endoscopic Sinus Surgery.

There are increased reports of high prevalence of work related musculoskeletal symptoms in surgeons performing otolaryngology procedures. However, real time ergonomic risk assessment in the OR is difficult due to issues related to sterility, cooperation and acceptance from surgeons. Although such analyses can provide valid risk estimate and guide corrective actions, they are scarce. Hence, this study was undertaken to assess the postural ergonomic risk on RULA in otolaryngologists while performing Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in OR, in real time. A cross sectional, observational multi-centric study was conducted in tertiary referral hospitals. Spinal, shoulder and elbow movements of 10 surgeons performing FESS were measured intraoperatively using orientation sensor-based, motion-analysis system (Noraxon myomotion). Postural ergonomic risk on RULA was computed using the motion analysis data. RULA is a method of quantifying the physical postural risk of the trunk and upper limb based on the postures adopted by an individual during work. 10 surgeons (9 males and 1 female) with the mean (± SD) age of 38 ± 7.5years participated in the study. The motion analysis data results indicate that the surgeons often adopt awkward spinal and upper extremity postures during the surgery. All the surgeons scored higher than the acceptable RULA score (1 or 2) with the mean RULA scores being in the range of 6-7. The physical ergonomic risk in surgeons performing FESS is high (> 6 on RULA). There is a need for urgent ergonomic attention to the working environment of FESS surgeon.

Working tool redesign to reduce ergonomic risk of salt evaporation field workers based on RULA and REBA assessments using esMOCA Instrument

What are the ergonomic risks of Indonesian salt evaporation field workers especially in Madura? This problem has not been much noticed, though salt production from Madura is the largest contributor to national salt production. This study aims to assess the level of ergonomic risk of salt evaporation field workers in Madura. Conduct ergonomic risk analysis and reduce the level of ergonomic risk through redesigning work tools with the REBA and RULA approaches. REBA and RULA assessments are conducted with esMOCA instrument application. This research shows that five activities of salt evaporation field workers pose a high ergonomic risk with a REBA and RULA score above 6. These five activities are, chopping salt deposits on salt field, scraping salt deposits on salt field, collecting and pile up salt deposits, picking up salt to the carrying basket, and packing salt into sack. One of these five activities, picking up salt activity poses the highest ergonomic risk with REBA score 11. Efforts undertaken to reduce risk were made by replacing shovel tool with pan hoe tool, REBA score dropped to 5.

Ergonomics design and evaluation of the stitching workstation for the hand-crafted Kolhapuri footwear using a digital human modeling approach

ABSTRACTKolhapuri footwear manufacturing is craft-based profession. Female workers are involved in stitching and preparation of various parts during Kolhapuri footwear manufacturing. This study focuses on the design of footwear stitching station with objectives of reducing postural stress which improve workers’ productivity’. From the findings, it was clear that postural load among female workers was one of the critical aspects while working in the stitching of the footwear. In this study, RULA analysis was used to investigate postural load. To overcome the identified postural load which was maybe the reason for the development of reported WRMSD (Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorder), new design was proposed. The new design was assessed for vision, thigh clearances and RULA scores using virtual Digital Human modeling. The assessment of new design reveals that vision, thigh clearances and RULA score are good at certain adjustment. The result of new workstation satisfies ergonomics aspects and user requirement of artisans.

Intelligent Decision-Making Approaches for Agricultural Sectors of Odisha in India

Agriculture lacks organizational frameworks which are needed for OHS management techniques to operate effectively. Thus, it becomes essential to analyze the magnitude of OHS problems within the agricultural sector. Hence, an attempt was made in this study to explore the prevalence of OHS disorders and discomforts among the farmers of Odisha in India. There are three contributions in this study. At first, OHS issues of farmers were analyzed based on the literature review and the data was collected by personal interaction and questionnaires. In the second part, the “Best Worst Method (BWM)” was used to rank the different rice farming processes, and the different occupational disorders and discomforts, respectively. Furthermore, the RULA tool was used to assess the ergonomics involved in various postures taken by farmers in different rice farming processes, and based on the obtained RULA scores the necessary actions were recommended accordingly. The findings in this study may have positive implications for extension programs and policy formulation in agricultural sectors.

Analisis Postur Kerja dengan RULA Guna Penilaian Tingkat Risiko Upper Extremity Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders. Studi Kasus PT. Mandiri Jogja Internasional

Leather handycraft industry produces handicrafts such as bags, shoes, wallets, belts. On production process atcutting division, work posture condition is too bent. A preliminary study on 20 workers found musculoskeletal complaints was greater than 50% at 16 items, mostly in upper limbs. Based on these complaints, research was on work posture using RULA and Sympton Questionnaire. Research purposes was to determine the risk level and relationship with UEWMSDs on the worker. The result of RULA found that work posture with RULA score was 7 (seven) that means 3 (three) risk level that very high category, and needs to be repaired as soon as possible. Symptom Questionnaire answer related to worker's complaint, which are complaints of shoulder and arm pain was 50%, pain after work 1-4 years was 85%, duration of illness &lt;1 hour was 85%, move to another part due to illness was 55%, pain increase when the activity was 100%, and pain reduce at rest was 90%. Base on the condition, it was needed to redesigned cutting table evaluated by RULA category 3 (three) based on anthropometry of workers