Inter-rater reliability of cyclic and non-cyclic task assessment using the hand activity level in appliance manufacturing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anton D ; Gerr F ; Gilkey D ; Gober J ; Paulsen R ; Rosecrance J ; Schwatka, Natalie V.
• Description:
  This study evaluated the inter-rater reliability of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists [ACGIH(R)] hand activity level (HAL), an observational ergonomic assessment method used to estimate physical exposure to repetitive exertions during task performance. Video recordings of 858 cyclic and non-cyclic appliance manufacturing tasks were assessed by sixteen pairs of raters using the HAL visual-analog scale. A weighted Pearson Product Moment-Correlation Coefficient was used to evaluate the agreement between the HAL scores recorded by each rater pair, and the mean weighted correlation coefficients for cyclic and non-cyclic tasks were calculated. Results indicated that the HAL is a reliable exposure assessment method for cyclic (r-barw = 0.69) and non-cyclic work tasks (r-barw = 0.68). When the two reliability scores were compared using a two-sample Student's t-test, no significant difference in reliability (p = 0.63) between these work task categories was found. This study demonstrated that the HAL may be a useful measure of exposure to repetitive exertions during cyclic and non-cyclic tasks. Relevance to industry: Exposure to hazardous levels of repetitive action during non-cyclic task completion has traditionally been difficult to assess using simple observational techniques. The present study suggests that ergonomists could use the HAL to reliably and easily evaluate exposures associated with some non-cyclic work tasks. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Ergonomics Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Analytical Processes Author Keywords: HAL Cumulative Trauma Exposure Assessment Exposure Levels Force Hand Activity Level Hand Tools Industrial Factory Workers Non-cyclic Work Performance Capability Physical Stress Physiological Effects Physiological Measurements Reliability Repetitive Exertions Repetitive Work Task Performance Work Analysis

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• ISSN:
  0169-8141
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Iowa ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  32-38
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043810
• Citation:
  Int J Ind Ergon 2014 Jan; 44(1):32-38
• Contact Point Address:
  John Rosecrance, Colorado State University, Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, 1681 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
• Email:
  john.rosecrance@colostate.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa - Iowa City
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20030901
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20080831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5f7193041aab5e251ec1fc0c75fe3e7fdec8d19090bd23665977ecf034a77421a32a099b04aa34ac9fdacee0cf2f5132481c0dda108ff7d8fee629db86f7cd5e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199699/cdc_199699_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 271.44 KB ]