Characteristics of forearm-hand exposure in relation to symptoms among automobile assembly line workers

The aims of this paper are to present a new computerized observation method, HandPEO (portable ergonomic observation), which quantifies duration, frequency, and holding time of work operations and hand grips, and to measure the physical exposure of the forearm-hand among automobile assembly line workers by using HandPEO registrations of video recordings in simulated real-time. Agreement between two recordings was tested for five subjects by calculating the proportion of specific intrarater agreement; it was approximately 70% for hand grips and 60-80% for work operations. Registrations were made on work stations with high (HS) and low (LS) prevalence of symptoms. The major differences were longer holding times per operation and a larger proportion of power tool usage for HS. The HandPEO method may be used to describe the characteristics of the work studied and may serve as basis for job redesign. The results suggest an association between holding time, certain work operations, and prevalence of symptoms.