Iran Occupational Health

  Background and aims : Repetitive tasks are common in assembly industries and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders is very high. Ergonomic survey should be applied to identify, assess and control related problems. There are several methods for risk assessment of repetitive tasks. This study aimed to assess the risk of repetitive tasks among assemblers in an electric industry using Assessment Repetitive Tasks (ART) tool. This tool was developed by the Health, Safety and Executive (HSE), UK in 2009.

  Methods : In this current study all workstations (20 workstations) were selected based on census method, after that, Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) method was used for task analysis and job was degraded to tasks, actions and movements. Then, ART method was implemented to identify common risk factors in repetitive tasks that can contribute to develop musculoskeletal disorders of upper limbs. In total, 20 ART worksheets were completed in 2 assembly lines.

  Results : Results showed that 15% of tasks were at low level of risk, 55% of tasks were at medium level of risk and 35% of tasks were at high level of risk. The most important risk factors were hand grip and breaks that were high risk in all tasks. Monotonous of work was also the most important psychosocial factors in all tasks.

  Conclusion : the results of current study shown that the musculoskeletal disorders due to repetitive tasks are approximately high and ergonomics interventions is needed to reduce risk levels. Using ART method shown that it is a usable, easy and suitable method for assessing repetitive tasks that is recommended for ergonomics interventions and redesigns.