The ergonomics primers and manuals listed in Tray 10 of the Toolbox suggest ways to redesign work methods, tools, and workstations to control risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. The reader is referred to these texts which contain numerous recommendations and illustrations of control strategies. To complement this presentation, this section lists published reports that show the effectiveness of various control measures that have been put into place. Shown in Tray 7–A are examples of engineering interventions. The work group at risk, the problem or risk factors of concern, the specific control measure introduced, and the results are described. Tray 7–B lists reports describing various forms of control measures including administrative approaches.

The main text stressed the need to evaluate the benefits of control actions. The measures noted in these reference lists reflect different ways for making such an assessment. Most are objective measurement procedures (e.g., differences in before and after readings of vibration levels, muscle activity using electromyography [EMG], and biomechanical force computations). Some show reductions in WMSD cases, lost time, or sick leave. Subjective techniques can also be used, such as the before and after use of the symptom survey described earlier in Tray 4–B. Admittedly, some of the listed intervention efforts may be more useful than others. For example, some solutions may be very task specific and have little generalizable value. Depending on the methods used in the data collection and evaluation, certain studies may yield stronger evidence of a positive intervention result. No attempt has been made to rate the studies for either generalizability or strengths of the efforts to evaluate the success of the interventions. The references for the various citations in Trays 7–A and 7–B are found at the end of this section.

THIS PAGE WAS LAST UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 11, 1997