A Case Study of Ergonomic Risk Assessment in Slovakia with Respect to EU Standard

Attention on work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) involves statistical surveys showing an increasing trend in the incidence of WMSDs. Technological development has led to new tools and methods for the assessment of physical load at work. These methods are mostly based on the direct sensing...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 21; no. 6; p. 666
Main Authors:	Onofrejova, Daniela, Andrejiova, Miriam, Porubcanova, Denisa, Pacaiova, Hana, Sobotova, Lydia
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 23-05-2024 MDPI
Subjects:	Adaptation Biomechanics Collaboration Design Ergonomics European Union Health risk assessment Health risks Humans Machinery Methods Musculoskeletal diseases Musculoskeletal Diseases - epidemiology Musculoskeletal Diseases - etiology Occupational diseases Occupational Diseases - epidemiology Occupational Diseases - prevention & control Occupational safety Posture Risk Assessment - methods Sensors Slovakia Workloads Slovakia ergonomic assessment methods prevention of musculoskeletal disorders ergonomic risk legislation
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Summary:	Attention on work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) involves statistical surveys showing an increasing trend in the incidence of WMSDs. Technological development has led to new tools and methods for the assessment of physical load at work. These methods are mostly based on the direct sensing of appropriate parameters, which allows more precise quantification. The aim of this paper is to compare several commonly used methods in Slovakia for the assessment of ergonomic risk reflecting current EU and Slovak legislative regulations. A Captiv wireless sensory system was used at a car headlight quality control assembly workplace for sensing, data acquisition and data processing. During the evaluation of postures and movements at work, we discovered differences in the applicable standards: Decree 542/2007 Coll. (Slovak Legislation), the STN EN 1005-4+A1, and the French standards default in the Captiv system. Standards define the thresholds for hazardous postures with significant differences in several evaluated body segments, which affects the final evaluation of the measurements. Our experience from applying improved risk assessment methodology may have an impact on Slovak industrial workplaces. It was confirmed that there is a need to create uniform standards for the ergonomic risk assessment of body posture, including a detailed description of the threshold values for individual body segments.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1660-4601 1661-7827 1660-4601
DOI:	10.3390/ijerph21060666