Improving posture in workers on an inspection task

A large electronics company had workers carry out specific inspection tasks, which necessitated the neck being flexed and as a result many experienced sore necks. One person actually had a prolapsed disc in the neck.

The employer had made attempts to improve the workers posture, but there had been resistance.

enricoSmog ergonomic practitioners carried out an ergonomic assessment, where task and posture was evaluated. The tool ‘Rapid Upper Limb Assessment’ (RULA) tool was used to demonstrate to workers that the postures the workers adopted when working put him or her at a very high risk of developing musculoskeletal pain and if they change posture when using the new design, the risk of pain could be greatly reduced.