| Summary: | 碩士 === 朝陽科技大學 === 工業工程與管理系碩士班 === 99 === Ergonomic interventions to reduce risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) typically require tools to help investigators identify ergonomic risk factors. This study evaluates the applicability of key indicator method (KIM) tools to Taiwan industries using ergonomics data collected by a project conducted by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), Taiwan, during 2008–2009. The dataset includes inspection reports and advice for 379 tasks for 102 companies conducted by 10 ergonomists.
Risk score and risk level of each task before and after suggested ergonomic changes were evaluated using the KIM. Statistical results show that 77% of all tasks were associated with manual load handling, to which the KIM is applicable. Unfortunately, about two-thirds of these tasks were not evaluated by KIM due to missing rating data for “time” (97%), “load” (36%), “posture” (2%), and “environment” (1%). Only 98 inspection tasks with complete rating data were assessed. Among these tasks, none had an increased risk score after a suggested amendment and 73 cases (74.5%) had a reduced risk level according to ranges of risk scores by the KIM. The overall analytical result suggests a good agreement between inspector experience and the KIM scoring system. This study demonstrates that the KIM tools are appropriate for Taiwan’s manufacturing industry for onsite screening physical workloads.
Keywords: physical workload, musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomic intervention
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