• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to investigate the validity of a self-administered checklist for office ergonomics. Total 71 office workers were asked to fill up the checklist, while 3 trained ergonomists assessed the work posture of the workers. It was shown that out of 10 checklist items, there were significant differences for 8 posture-related items between the worker group and the professional group. Therefore, when a checklist is applied to office environment, the posture-related aspect should be evaluated by ergonomic professionals.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.167-177
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• 2015

Objective: The objective of this research is to develop evaluation checklist for personal office furniture and apparatus to shape comfortable and efficient worksite for workers' welfare improvement, productivity enhancement and labor force preservation, and to identify office work environment by applying the checklist. Background: Because most office workers work using computers in a sitting posture, the ratio of office workers among total musculoskeletal disorders patients is forecast to increase. In this regard, an effort to prevent and manage such musculoskeletal disorders is required. Method: This research developed evaluation checklist for personal office furniture and apparatus by examining 25 domestic and international ergonomic literature and anthropometric data. This research carried out a fact-finding survey targeting the A Office and B Office of one public agency using the checklist. Results: Although, the checklist items on desks, chairs, computers and other goods conformed to the checklist standards, the following items did not conformed: desk height adjustment, seat board depth adjustment, lumbar support depth, foot rest, wrist rest, mouse tray, headset, speaker phone and Bluetooth. Conclusion: The evaluation checklist for personal office furniture and apparatus and fact-finding survey results are considered to be used as basic data for office work environment and workers' welfare improvement. Application: The information drawn from this research can be helpful to manufacturers' design and manufacture of ergonomic furniture and apparatus.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.811-818
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• 2010

In this study, a self-administered checklist for evaluation of the musculoskeletal disorders risk factors in construction industry was developed, and its reliability and validity were studied. 10 items of the checklist were determined based on the literature review, and total 2,793 construction workers participated in the analysis of the checklist's applicability. The results from the reliability analysis showed high Cohen's kappa coefficient (0.50~0.77), and high validity was also obtained in terms of relative risk (RR 1.73~9.14). Positive predictability was relatively low (13.0~32.5%), while negative predictability was high (80.1~96.8%). It can be concluded that the checklist would be suitable as a quick filtering tool of the ergonomic risk factors.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 1996

When a product is designed, it is important to consider its image on consumers. In this study, we developed a technique to measure product image. Because human image of a product is very subjective and fuzzy, it is difficult to measure easily. To deal with this difficulty effectively, we used fuzzy- weighted checklist. The fuzzy-weighted checklist presents a fuzzy version of the weighted checklist technique for evaluating or comparing complex systems or subjects. In this technique, we used a pairwise comparison method to obtain the relative importance weights of image factors. Also, we used linguistic ratings to obtain the scores of image factors for a product. Then, we synthesized the scores of image factors to obtain a fuzzy composite score and its linguistic approximation. The entire procedure of this technique was written in quick Basic. As an example, this techinque is applied to car evaluation. The results show that this technique can be effectively used to the quqntitative evaluation of huamn image.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.321-329
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• 2010

Unlike production line works, construction work is non-repetitive in nature. In this study, a checklist was developed to characterize the ergonomic hazards of construction work. Eight existing checklists including OWAS, RULA, and REBA were integrated, and a new version was designed to include more postures of lower extremities. The analysis results obtained using the new checklist showed that manual materials handling (MMH) is the most common risk factor. About 62% of the MMH was done below the knee level or above the elbow level, and 22% was carried out with the trunk twisted more than $60^{\circ}$. The next risk factors were the works done with the knee bent or squatted, or with the shoulders abducted. It can be concluded that the new checklist is successful as a quick and easy tool for screening risk factors of construction works, although it is not capable of determining action levels. Further studies on validation of the checklist are expected.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.481-489
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• 2011

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop an ergonomic checklist (AULA: Agricultural Upper-Limb Assessment) which can assess the risks of the work-related upper limb disorders of farming tasks in Korea. Background: There are few assessment tools that reflect the current condition of agricultural works as of now. Method: AULA was developed as following three stages. First of all, a physiological experiment was conducted with selected 14 upper limb postures which are frequently occurred in farming tasks and then, an ergonomic checklist was developed with determining risk levels of each body posture based on the experimental findings. Lastly, the ergonomic checklist was validated by comparing with the existing assessment tools. Results: When comparing the AULA which was developed in this study with the existing assessment tools, it was found that the AULA may get over limits of the existing ones which are sensitive to particular postures, but aren't sensitive to the rest of them. Conclusion: It is predicted that the developed upper limb posture assessment tool which gets over the existing tools' limits and is proper for domestic farm work conditions, will help to reduce musculoskeletal disorders caused by farm works, by assessing farm works more easily and objectively. Application: By further developing the theoretical groundwork on the induction of muscular skeletal system symptoms relating to agricultural works, it is expected to improve the level of preventing and managing such muscular skeletal system symptoms in the field of agricultural and farming works, which is relatively less advanced in terms of labor difficulties.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.397-403
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• 2013

Objective: This article aims to report the results of ergonomic evaluation of some university laboratories. Background: Laboratory researchers are at risk for musculoskeletal injuries during routine laboratory procedures. However, little attention has paid to the working conditions of laboratory researchers, especially in Korea. Method: A checklist and questionnaire was developed and used to analyze the work conditions of 27 laboratories of chemistry, biology and pharmacy. Results: It was found that glove box, clean bench, and computer workstation are better than microscopy, and fume hood tasks, from ergonomic point of view. Conclusion: No domestic guideline is available for ergonomic intervention of laboratories. Further attention and studies are anticipated to improve the working conditions of laboratories.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.63-73
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• 1995

An approach to quantitative evaluation of product usability during the design and implementation phases of the product life cycle is presented. The evaluation starts by defining a set of usability characteristics, viz. physical, cognitive and affective characteristic. Each of these characteristics is assessed by a set of usability criteria, such as functionality, visual clarity, learmability, etc. The usability criterion is then evaluated by a checklist consisting of a detailed questionnaire. The fuzzy weighted-checklist method with linguistic variables is used for quantitative analysis. Also, the method for quantifying usability improve- ments in iterative design processes is considered. This analysis procides a quantit- ative measure, which reflects the degree of excellence of product usability during the design and development phases.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.933-942
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• 2010

Objective: To develop an ergonomic evaluation tool which can be apply to assess the lower-limb postures associated with farming tasks. Background: In general, most of existing ergonomic assessment tools was developed to investigate the work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper-limb postures in manufacturing industry. Methods: As the first step of development of the evaluation tool, 13 lower-limb postures that were commonly observed in farming task were investigated by the subjective discomfort ratings, heart rates, and muscle activities. And then, an ergonomic evaluation tool for the lower-limb postures was developed based on results of the first experiment. Lastly, the ergonomic checklist which was developed in the current study was compared with other existing ergonomic assessment tools. Results: Based on the results of comparisons between a newly developed assessment tool and other existing assessment tools, it was found that a newly developed tool can perceive more sensitively for the various lower-limb postures than other assessment tools. Conclusions: Lower-limb posture assessment tool which can evaluate and assess risks of lower-limb WMSDs which were prevalent in farming tasks more easily and accurately was developed in this study. The lower-limb assessment tool can also be utilized to prevent WMSDs related with lower-limbs as well as improve working environments.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 1983

Small group activity in Korea was introduced from the United States as QC circle, ZD group movements and the like, but it has developed into a Korean style from so-called factory saemaul panel activities contributing much to the management of enterprises. Based on human motivation theory, the principles to activate small group activity is suggested on which a new diagnosis of small group activity is proposed here. It is consisted of checklist and radarchart. The factor to activate small group activity have been obtained in terms of multivariate analysis for data from the new diagnosis.