Trunk Flexion Monitoring among Warehouse Workers Using a Single Inertial Sensor and the Influence of Different Sampling Durations

Micaela Porta, Massimiliano Pau, Pier Francesco Orrù and Maury A. Nussbaum
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Micaela Porta: Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Massimiliano Pau: Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Pier Francesco Orrù: Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Maury A. Nussbaum: Department of Industrial and System Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Trunk flexion represents a risk factor for the onset of low-back disorders, yet limited quantitative data exist regarding flexion exposures in actual working conditions. In this study, we evaluated the potential of using a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) to classify trunk flexion, in terms of amplitude, frequency, and duration, and assessed the influence of alternative time durations on exposure results. Twelve warehouse workers were monitored during two hours of an actual shift while wearing a single IMU on their low back. Trunk flexion data were reduced using exposure variation analysis integrated with recommended exposure thresholds. Workers spent 5.1% of their working time with trunk flexion of 30–60° and 2.3% with flexion of 60–90°. Depending on the level of acceptable error, relatively shorter monitoring periods (up to 50 min) might be sufficient to characterize trunk flexion exposures. Future work is needed, however, to determine if these results generalize to other postural exposures and tasks.

Keywords: inertial measurement unit (IMU); manual material handling task (MMH); trunk flexion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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