Ergonomic assessment tools form the backbone of your ergonomics process. Your ergonomic assessment tool selection is one of the most consequential decisions you’ll make when implementing an ergonomics process, so you’ll want to make sure you get it right. Read this article for an overview of ergonomic assessment tools, the selection criteria you should use, and an example best practice set of tools.
(Note: We’ve put together step-by-step guides for each of our recommended ergonomic assessments tools which you can download free of charge at the end of this article. Click here to jump straight to the download.)
Ergonomic Assessment Tools: Selection Criteria
As mentioned in the opening, ergonomic assessment tools form the backbone of an evidence-based, data-driven ergonomics process. That is why your tool selection will be one of the most important decisions you make when starting or revamping your ergonomics process.
A Set of Tools, Not One Tool
Given that there are tools of different types, tools that evaluate different body segments, and tools that evaluate risk at varying levels of abstraction, what you really need is a set of tools, not just one tool. Your tool set should include each type of tool so that you can always reach for a tool appropriate to the context of your situation.
At the same time, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself and your ergonomics team with too many tools in your bag. Keep it simple and provide specific guidance on when to use each tool.
A Mix of Qualitative and Quantitative
Your ergonomics process will benefit from having both qualitative and quantitative tools at your disposal.
Qualitative, checklist-style assessments are great because they have low training requirements. Anyone that recognizes an ergonomic risk factor can document it, which is an opportunity for you to involve everyone at your worksite in the ergonomics process. Qualitative tools also allow for quickly screening your worksite to determine where you should prioritize your more in-depth ergonomic analysis.
Quantitative tools allow for a data-driven continuous improvement approach, helping you measure progress and show quantitative risk reduction over time. They are also useful as design guidelines when you’re making workplace improvements or implementing new jobs and processes at your worksite.
A Tool for Each Level of Abstraction
You should have both job-level tools and task-level tools and use them appropriately.
A Logical Progression Through Each Level
Your tools should work together in harmony. There should be a logical progression through each level of assessment.
Practical Enough to Use, Accurate Enough to Trust
There is a tension in ergonomics between pinpoint accuracy and a tool that is practical enough for everyday practice. You likely have hundreds of jobs to evaluate and there is only so much time in the day. You need a tool set that is practical enough to use and also accurate enough to trust.
Recommended Ergonomic Assessment Tools
Following is the best practice set of ergonomic assessment tools we’ve built into ErgoPlus Industrial. This set of tools follows the best practices and selection criteria outlined above and they work together to give you all the tools you need to assess risk in your workplace.
Quick Screen
The ErgoPlus Quick Screen is a hazard recognition tool. The goal is to identify and document the known presence of observed MSD hazards in order to flag jobs for further evaluation.
Further reading: How to Recognize Ergonomic Risk Factors
Job Screen
The ErgoPlus Job Screen was developed to provide a quick and simple method to screen jobs with a goal of identifying job tasks that have moderate or high-risk levels for musculoskeletal disorders.
The Job Screen tool has three primary outputs. First, the job screen score on the top line of the results page provides an overall risk score at the job level, which can be used to quantify the overall risk of the job and to compare jobs across a department or facility wide. Second, the body segment scores (displayed both numerically and graphically) are an indication of the level of risk for each body segment evaluated. And third, difficult job tasks are identified and saved so they can be evaluated further.
Further reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to the ErgoPlus Job Screen
NIOSH Lifting Equation
The NIOSH Lifting Equation is a tool used by occupational health and safety professionals to assess the manual material handling risks associated with lifting and lowering tasks in the workplace. This equation considers job task variables to determine safe lifting practices and guidelines.
The primary product of the NIOSH lifting equation is the Recommended Weight Limit (RWL), which defines the maximum acceptable weight (load) that nearly all healthy employees could lift over the course of an 8 hour shift without increasing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) to the lower back. In addition, a Lifting Index (LI) is calculated to provide a relative estimate of the level of physical stress and MSD risk associated with the manual lifting tasks evaluated.
Further reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to the NIOSH Lifting Equation (Single Tasks)
Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA)
This tool uses a systematic process to evaluate whole body postural MSD and ergonomic design risks associated with job tasks. A single page form is used to evaluate required body posture, forceful exertions, type of movement or action, repetition, and coupling. A score is assigned for each of the following body regions: wrists, forearms, elbows, shoulders, neck, trunk, back, legs and knees. After the data for each region is collected and scored, tables on the form are then used to compile the risk factor variables, generating a single score that represents the level of MSD risk.
Further reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to the REBA Assessment Tool
Source: Hignett and McAtamney, 2000
Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA)
This diagnostic tool assesses biomechanical and postural load requirements of job tasks/demands on the neck, trunk and upper extremities. A single page form is used to evaluate required body posture, force, and repetition. Based on the evaluations, scores are entered for each body region in section A for the arm and wrist, and section B for the neck and trunk. After the data for each region is collected and scored, tables on the form are then used to compile the risk factor variables, generating a single score that represents the level of MSD risk.
Further reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to the RULA Assessment Tool
Source: McAtamney & Corlett, Applied Ergonomics 1993, 24(2), 91-99
WISHA Lifting Calculator
Developed by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries and based on NIOSH research related to the primary causes of back injuries, this lifting calculator can be used to perform ergonomic risk assessments on a wide variety of manual lifting and lowering tasks, and can be also used as a screening tool to identify lifting tasks which should be analyzed further using the more comprehensive NIOSH Lifting Equation.
Further reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to the WISHA Lifting Calculator
Source: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
Liberty Mutual Manual Material Handling Tables (Snook Tables)
The Liberty Mutual MMH Tables (commonly known as Snook Tables) outline design goals for various lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, and carrying tasks based on research by Dr. Stover Snook and Dr. Vincent Ciriello at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. The tables provide weight/force values, for specific types of tasks that are deemed to be acceptable to a defined percentage of the population. This is done by comparing data for each of the specific manual handling tasks against the appropriate table.
Further reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Snook Tables
Source: Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety
Ergonomics Planning Guide and Toolkit
For more guidance on selecting ergonomic assessment tools and implementing a best practice ergonomic process, you might enjoy these articles:
- How to Get Started With Ergonomic Risk Assessments
- How to Choose Short and Long Term Ergonomic Assessment Metrics
- How to Build Your Ergonomic Assessment Team
- How to Select Your Ergonomic Assessment Tools
- How to Train Your Ergonomic Assessment Team
- How to Leverage Technology to Get the Most Out of Your Ergonomic Assessment Data
Ergonomic Assessment Software
We’ve found that using software is the best way to calculate ergonomic assessment results and manage all of the data involved in an ergonomics process. That’s why we built ErgoPlus Industrial, a cloud-based ergonomics software product. Schedule a demo to learn how it can help you conduct a faster and more efficient ergonomics process.
Step-by-Step Guides to Recommended Ergonomic Assessment Tools
Free Download: Step-by-Step Guides to Recommended Ergonomic Assessment Tools
Enter your email below to grab a free copy of our step-by-step guides to recommended assessment tools pdf file. Includes NIOSH, REBA, RULA, WISHA Lifting Calculator, and the Snook Tables.
