Title: RBG risk scale: an integrated tool for ergonomic risk assessments

Authors: Venkatesh Balasubramanian, T.T. Narendran, V. Sai Praveen

Addresses: Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036, India. ' Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036, India. ' Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036, India

Abstract: Manufacturing in developing economies continue to be labour intensive owing to its cost benefits. Productivity improvement in this circumstance is brought about by continuous evaluation of manual work for ergonomic risks and taking corrective actions. Existing tools for risk assessment seek to measure risk in isolation while risk often depends on several factors such as posture, loads, injury proneness of a job and environmental factors (EFs) (temperature, lighting conditions, etc.). In the absence of an integrated measurement tool for ergonomic risk assessment, we propose a composite measure called RBG risk scale. It provides a single measure of the ergonomic assessment in terms of several factors (e.g. posture, biomechanical forces, environmental, etc.) collectively contributing to ergonomic impairments. This integrated score provides a clearer picture of the risk involved in the job and hence it can be used as a basis for prioritising operations for ergonomic interventions.

Keywords: RBG risk scale; ergonomics risks; shopfloor ergonomics; manufacturing systems; MMH; manual material handling; posture adopted; weight limit; lifting index; industrial engineering; risk assessment; human factors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2011.040768

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2011 Vol.8 No.1, pp.104 - 116

Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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