Anthropometry of norwegian light industry and office workers

Several of the Directives and Standards developed by CEN, e.g. those dealing with Machine Safety and Personal Protective Equipment, depend on anthropometric information. For Norway, anthropometric data relevant for these standards have either been lacking or are very old. Two hundred males and 199 female employees of light industry and office work, between 20 and 39 years of age were studied. Body mass plus 29 different body dimensions were measured. Mean age of the total male and female populations were 30.0+/-5.6 and 30.0+/-5.4 years, respectively. Mean stature for males was 1796+/-66 mm, while the corresponding value for females was 1661+/-61 mm. Body weights for the two populations averaged 78.2+/-11.1 and 63.4+/-9.3 kg, respectively. There were no significant differences in stature between the two age groups, neither in males nor in females. In body mass, males 30-39 years of age had significantly higher body mass than the 20-29 years old, while this was not the case in females.