Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Work routinization and implications for ergonomic exposure assessment.

Judith E Gold¹, Jung-Soon Park, Laura Punnett

¹Department of Work Environment, 1 University Ave, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA. Judith.Gold@temple.edu

|January 6, 2006

Summary

This study introduces a five-level routinization classification for jobs to guide exposure assessment strategies. Less routinized jobs were linked to greater decision latitude and lower physical ergonomic stressors.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Injury Rates and Costs for Direct and Non-direct Care Employees in Four Public Sector Healthcare Facilities.

Journal of occupational and environmental medicine·2026

Same author

Occupational biomechanical risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome surgery: a prospective cohort study on 203 866 Swedish male construction workers followed for 19 years.

Occupational and environmental medicine·2025

Same author

Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Workers in Massachusetts in 2020.

New solutions : a journal of environmental and occupational health policy : NS·2025

Same author

A Protocol to Assess Contextual Factors During Program Impact Evaluation: A Case Study of a STEM Gender Equity Intervention in Higher Education.

The American journal of evaluation·2024

Same author

Re: Schulte et al., "An urgent call to address work-related psychosocial hazards and improve worker well-being": It's time to develop a national regulation regarding work-related psychosocial hazards.

American journal of industrial medicine·2024

Same author

Emotional Exhaustion in Healthcare Workers: Moving Beyond Coping Skills to Improve Organizational Conditions.

Journal of occupational and environmental medicine·2024

Area of Science:

Occupational Health
Industrial Hygiene
Ergonomics

Background:

Modern jobs in manufacturing, service, agriculture, and construction often lack regular work cycles.
This variability necessitates exposure assessment methods that accommodate non-cyclical work patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and present a scheme for classifying job routinization levels.
To inform the development of tailored exposure assessment strategies for diverse occupational settings.

Main Methods:

Defined five levels of job routinization based on task composition (scheduled, cyclical, non-cyclical).
Utilized job observation and self-assessed stressors in a study of 1200 automobile manufacturing workers.
Developed a job analysis checklist for non-routinized jobs.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

Higher routinization levels correlated with increased decision latitude (p < 0.0001).
Jobs with the least routinization reported lower exposures to physical ergonomic stressors.
Identified limitations of the task analysis method used.

Conclusions:

The proposed routinization classification aids in selecting appropriate exposure assessment strategies.
Work sampling is recommended for efficient and unbiased exposure estimation across all routinization levels.