Citation

Keyserling WM, Wittig SJ. Int. J. Ind. Ergonomics 1988; 2(4): 291-304.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Experts in the field of industrial ergonomics are frequently called upon to visit workplaces in order to evaluate and rate ergonomic stressors which may cause fatigue, discomfort, or injury. The objective of this study was to evaluate the extent of agreement among experts' perceptions of four categories of ergonomic stress: materials handling (e.g., lifting), upper extremity activities, posture, and energy expenditure.A panel of five experts observed ten jobs in manufacturing and warehouse facilities. A three-point scale (1 = insignificant stress, 2 = moderate stress, 3 = high stress) was used to rate the jobs in each of the four stress categories. In addition, lifting stresses on each job were analyzed using methods described in the NIOSH Work Practices Guide for Manual Lifting. The resulting data were analyzed to determine the level of expert consensus and the level of agreement with the NIOSH results.In general, there was a high level of consensus among the experts. Perfect agreement (identical ratings by all five experts) was obtained for 30 percent of the experts' scores; while consensus agreement (identical ratings by three or more experts) was obtained for 87.5 percent of the scores. In general, the experts' perceptions agreed with the NIOSH ratings of lifting stress. On a few jobs, however, the expert panel considered lifting stresses to be greater than predicted by the NIOSH ratings.