• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.73-84
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• 2005

Musculoskeletal Disorders are usually caused or aggravated by poor work processes and unsuitable working conditions - that involve repetitive or forceful movements or the maintenance of constrained or awkward postures. The condition is characterized by discomfort and persistent pain. Case and Demographic Characteristics for Work-related Injuries and Illnesses Involving Days Away From Work, 2003. U.S" was examined. Causes of musculoskeletal disorders for assembly line workers were carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS), tendonitis, low back pain, and occupational stress. Recommendations of improvement for productivity are redesign of working conditions, exercise, prevent of musculoskeletal disorders and avoiding stress.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.445-453
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• 2012

The aim of this paper was to prove that if the risk level in combined tasks was improved through evaluation of postural load of liquid weight measurement process, the workload level and ratio of exposure time would be changed, and the time of process would be seen concurrently. Background: According to results of epidemiological studies conducted by Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency, 122 musculoskeletal disorders occurred during 1992 to 2008, in which manufacturing industry covers 96(78.7%) of total. However, this is an insufficient level and only occupies 39% based on the South Korea's manufacturing standard industrial classification(246 industries). Method: Firstly, the number of batches weighed on one day(460min) was investigated based on the work performed and Weight measured weekly. VCR recording was taken based on the level of liquid ingredients prescribed for 1batch using the Camcorder. After dividing a 356 sec video into 1 sec using the screen capture function in Gom player, the job classification was performed by analyzing the change of working postures, which revealed 148 working postures. Time measurement was decided by time of the postures was being maintained. Then, the REBA analysis was performed for the working postures. The ratio of Exposure time was calculated based on the measurement time and REBA Score. In addition, the recommendations were designed and implementation was carried out for the working postures with REBA Score higher than 3. Finally, after the intervention, REBA measurement, time measurement, and ratio of exposure time were calculated for the comparison of works before and after improvement. Results: The number of work elements was decreased by 30.4% from 148 to 103 after improvement. The results of time measurement showed that the time was reduced by 46.3% from 356 sec to 191 sec. And the ratio of exposure time was also improved by 52.1% from 0% to 52.1% after improvement. Conclusion: The reduction of time was found to improve the productivity of management. Furthermore, because the reduction of ratio of exposure time and the improvement of workload level are the improvement of discomfort, it would contribute to the improvement of the worker's psychological working posture. Application: These results would contribute to musculoskeletal disease prevention and management performance. Further studies for other industries would be needed based on this case study.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.695-703
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• 2011

Objective: This study was to investigate the effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures on the subjective discomfort rating, heart rate, and muscle activities. Background: Although generally many checklists such as OWAS, RULA, and REBA were applied to evaluate various body postures, the body postures were might be overestimated or underestimated because each body part(i.e., back, shoulder, and elbow etc.) was evaluated separately, and then added all rates of individual body parts to assess an overall risk level for the body posture in these methodologies. Methods: A total of 20 participants maintained 14 postures which were combinations of back, shoulder, and elbow flexion angles and then muscle activities, subjective discomfort, and heart rates were collected every three minute during a sustained 15 minute and 0.5kg weight holding task. Four muscle groups were investigated: erector spine, anterior deltoid, upper trapezius, triceps brachii. Results: Results showed that subjective discomfort was the lowest when the angle of back and shoulder were both $0^{\circ}s$, while the body posture with $45^{\circ}$ of back angle and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder angle was rated as the most subjective discomfort posture. In general, the subjective discomfort ratings increased as back and shoulder flexion angles increased. It was noted that, however, the subjective discomfort of body posture with a $45^{\circ}$ back angle and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion angle was lower than that of body posture with a $0^{\circ}$ back and $45^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion angle. The research findings of heart rates and muscle activities showed similar results for the analyses of subjective discomfort ratings. Conclusions: The possible limitations of the current ergonomics evaluation techniques which assessing a body posture with summing all body part score after individually analyzed in this study. Based on the analyses of subjective discomfort, heart rate, and muscle activities, it was recommended that a use of effects of coordinated upper-limb body postures would be considered when one evaluates work-load for various working postures. Application: These findings can be used for developing a more accurate assessment checklist for working posture as well as preventing musculoskeletal disorders of workers in workplaces.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.119-127
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• 2014

This study tried to develop a basis for quantitative index of working postures associated with WMSDs (Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders) that could overcome realistic restriction during application of typical checklists for WMSDs evaluation. The baseline data(for a total of 603 jbs) for this study was obtained from automobile manufacturing company. Specifically, data for back posture was analyzed in this study to have a better and more objective method in terms of job relevance than typical methods such as OWAS, RULA, and REBA. Major statistical tools were clustering, logistic regression and so on. The main results in this study could be summarized as follows; 1) The relationship between working posture and WMSDs symptom at back was statistically significant based on the results from logistic regression, 2) Based on clustering analysis, three levels for WMSDs risk at back were produced for flexion as follows: low risk(< $18.5^{\circ}$), medium risk($18.5^{\circ}{\sim}36.0^{\circ}$), high risk(> $36.0^{\circ}$), 3) The sensitivities on risk levels of back flexion was 93.8% while the specificities on risk levels of back flexion was 99.1%. The results showed that the data associated with back postures in this study could provide a good basis for job evaluation of WMSDs at back. Specifically, this evaluation methodology was different from the methods usually used at WMSDs study since it tried to be based on direct job relevance from real working situation. Further evaluation for other body parts as well as back would provide more stability and reliability in WMSDs evaluation study.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.236-237
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• 1999

• IE interfaces
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.387-395
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• 2011

This study was aiming to examine work time, frequency, work environment, and postures of retail grocery store workers to evaluate the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. An ergonomic evaluation was conducted using job analysis and posture analysis. The four most time-consuming tasks were inspecting (27.4%), arranging (21.4%), cutting (17.6%), and displaying (15.6%). The height and length of the shelves evaluated in the field was inappropriate for workers. The most common posture was a standing posture with neutral back, and bent head, right upper arm, lower arms, and hands. Finally, this paper concluded that 'arranging,' 'cutting,' and 'displaying' seemed more stressful than other operations. The result of the ergonomic evaluation would contribute to design a better workspace in ergonomics.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.212-219
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• 2017

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a major problem for office workers. Individuals adopting poor postures during prolonged sitting have a considerably increased risk of experiencing LBP. This study aimed to investigate seat pressure distribution characteristics, i.e., average pressure, peak pressure ratio, frequency of postural shift, and body perceived discomfort (BPD), during 1 hour of sitting among office workers with and without chronic LBP. Methods: Forty-six participants (chronic LBP = 23, control = 23) typed a standardized text passage at a computer work station for an hour. A seat pressure mat device was used to collect the seat pressure distribution data. Body discomfort was assessed using the Body Perceived Discomfort scale. Results: Office workers with chronic LBP sat significantly more asymmetrically than their healthy counterparts. During 1-hour sitting, all workers appeared to assume slumped sitting postures after 20 minutes of sitting. Healthy workers had significantly more frequent postural shifts than chronic LBP workers during prolonged sitting. Conclusion: Different sitting characteristics between healthy and chronic LBP participants during 1 hour of sitting were found, including symmetry of sitting posture and frequency of postural shift. Further research should examine the roles of these sitting characteristics on the development of LBP.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2003

Despite rapid technological advance and increased automation facilities, many jobs and activities in our living require manual materials handling(MMH). These include wide variety of activities such as moving things, lifting bags. boxes or cartons, etc. Many studies found that handle could affect on maximum acceptable weight of lifting, but there were few studies f3r the effects of work posture and coupling in lifting tote box. This study performed that ten male college students were required to lift a tote box with and without handle for three postures (bending, straight, right angle posture). From the experiment, following results were obtained. (1) MVC reduced maximum 23% by type of handle. (2) MVC was highest in straight posture, but was lowest in right angle posture. (3) As a result of ANOVA, MVC paid attention to posture and coupling. (p<0.01) (4) To all handle types, biceps brachii activity was increased in right angle posture. but reduced in straight posture. (5) To all posture, biceps brachii activity was most lively in no handle. The results of MVC measurement, subjective rating, EMG analysis, statistic analysis showed that maximum acceptable weight of lifting was influenced by type of handle and straight posture was more comfortable than other postures. Based on these results, it was concluded that acceptable weight of lifting has to differ for work posture and coupling.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.51-62
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• 2006

In assessing risks related to working posture, pictures of postures are taken from various directions, which can be a source of observation error. Joint postures of the neck, lower back, knee, shoulder, and elbow were taken from 7 different viewing angles and 19 observers estimated joint angles by observing the pictures in 2-dimensional display. The joint angles were also measured using an optoelectronic motion measurement system. The estimation error increased as the viewing angle varies from the right side of the human body, but the patterns differ according to which joint angles were being observed. Guidelines to increase the validity of observation of joint angles were presented based on the results. In general, it is recommended to maintain the viewing angle within 20 degrees from the right side of the human body, while different ranges of viewing angle are recommended for each joint angle.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 1995

Many studies have been done to determine the magnitudes of force a man can exert on the objects. However, very little attention has been paid to those In postures on slopes. This paper was aimed to evalute how human work postures would affect the push/pull force and to grasp the relationships between the rectified EMG(REMG) measured at the trunk muscles and force exerted on upward slopes. Two subjects participated in the experiment. The results showed no lineal relationship between the REMG and exerted force at handle. But as the slope and handle height increased, exerted force and muscular stress on erector spinae or rectus abdominis were generally increased. It was notified that since ANOVA did not detect any statistical significance in REMG variation due to dominant muscles, careful application and interpretation of the REMG should be required in analyzing maximal force exertions.