Ergonomic risk assessment in DHM tools employing motion data - exposure calculation and comparison to epidemiological reference data
Journal article, 2018

Digital human modelling (DHM) allows ergonomic risk assessment to be performed at early stages of design and development. Such assessment is
typically based on observational methods, which do not take advantage of the potential of DHM tools to provide precise posture and motion data. This paper describes and illustrates an alternative assessment approach employing DHM tools, inspired by risk assessment based on direct measurements. A literature survey established a reference database of epidemiological associations between exposure and wrist-related disorders. This approach is illustrated by a DHM simulation of a car assembly task. Wrist posture and motion were simulated and compared to the database, predicting the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders on the basis of direct measurements.

direct measurements

exposure-response relationship

risk assessment

biomechanical load

repetitive strain injuries

wrist

physical workload

digital human modelling

work-related musculoskeletal disorders

Author

Ida-Märta Rhen

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Production Systems

Mikael Forsman

Karolinska Institutet

Roland Örtengren

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Production Systems

Dan Högberg

University of Skövde

Ali Keyvani

Virtual Manufacturing Sweden AB

Dan Lämkull

Volvo Cars

Lars Hanson

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Production Systems

Scania AB

University of Skövde

International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation

Vol. 6 1

Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)

Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics

Environmental Health and Occupational Health

DOI

10.1504/IJHFMS.2018.091356

More information

Latest update

3/16/2025