IE 009 - Ergonomics 1:

Physical and Cognitive

Ergonomics

Submitted By: Berroya, Eula Mae

Cumpa,Andrea
Instructor: Engr.
Martin,Angela Yoshiki Kurata
Rivera,Justin (CIE) (AAE)
Salvante, Kenneth
Contents
Introduction to The Ovako
working posture analysis

OWAS Posture

OWAS Scoring

Owas Ranking system and

examples result

OWAS Strengths

OWAS Weaknesses
Introduction
OWAS(The Ovako Working posture Analysis
System)

Created in the mid‐1970s by OVAKO OY, a

private steel company in Finland

Developed as a joint effort between Ovako Oy

and the Finnish Institute for
Occupational Health
Introduction
OWAS(The Ovako Working posture Analysis
System)

This system was used to evaluate the work load

in the repair process of smelting furnaces
The OWA S posture classification system

1
Trun
2 k
3
Arms
4
Lower Body
Neck
 Why do we measure postures?
Posture is
the position
of a body
while For job evaluation and redesign
standing or Determine if current postural demands are acceptable
sitting. Establish baseline to evaluate effectiveness of
interventions
Identify job attributes associated with awkward
postures
Evaluate intervention effectiveness

Epidemiology/R
esearch
Measure
exposures for response models
In using O WA S

Standard postures for the trunk, arms,
makes a series of immediate
posture at these four joints
Percentage of time in each pre‐defined
Results compared to benchmarks
lower body, and neck User
observations to record
category is computed
 OWA S Scoring:
3 raters performed
separate scoring
• By phase
• By camera views

OWAS Action Categories (ACs) AC

1: Normal postures, no special
attention required.
AC 2: Postures must be examined AC
3: Examination required within a
short period of time.
AC 4: Urgent re-examination and
modification
Trunk Posture Four Categories

Straight/upright (“neutral”) Bent forward (“pure” flexion)

1 2

T h re a ts

Bent and twisted (combination of

Straight and twisted ( pure axial
flexion, lateral bending, and/or
twisting)
twisting)
3
4
Trunk Posture

1 2 3 4
Trunk Posture Action Levels Static and
Dynamic Work (most common)
 Arm Posture

1 2 3
One arm above
Both arms below shoulder height ‐‐
Both arms above
shoulder height defined as elbow
shoulder height
(“neutral”) above shoulder
height
Arm Posture

1 2 3
Arm Posture –Action levels Static and
Dynamic Work (most common)
Lower Body Posture

1. Sitting
2. Standing ‐‐ weight on 2 legs, knees straight
3. Standing ‐‐ weight on 1 leg, knees straight
4. Standing ‐‐ weight on 2 legs, knees bent
5. Standing ‐‐ weight on 1 leg, knee bent
6. Kneeling ‐‐ 1 or 2 knees touching the
ground
7. Walking or moving
Lower Body Posture
Head and Neck Posture

Action 1 Action 3 Action 4 Action 5

and 2
4. Bent
1. Upright/free 3. Bent to side 5. Twisted ‐‐
backward
(“neutral”) “pure” lateral axial twisting
extension more
bending more more than 45º
than 30º
2. Bent forward than 30º
flexion more
than 30º
Head and Neck Posture
Head and Neck Posture
 OWA S Stress Ranking System

1. Normal
posture ‐ no 2. Slightly harmful
intervention - corrective action
required should be taken
3. Distinctly
during next
harmful ‐ corrective 4. Extremely
regular review of
action should be harmful ‐
work methods
taken as soon as corrective
possible action should
be taken
immediately
O WA S
 Example using OWAS

Example: In a 25‐observation study, the following

trunk posture categories were observed:

Neutral : 13 (52%)
Bent : 9 (36%)
Tw isted : 1 (4%)
: 2 (8%)
Bent & Twisted
 Example using OWAS
the following trunk posture categories were observed:
 Example using OWAS

For the trunk, this job would be rated “Slightly harmful”

Results
Look up action level for each category:
Neutral : 52% (Acceptable)
Bent : 36% (Slightly harmful)
Twisted : 4% (Acceptable)
Bent & Twisted : 8% (Slightly harmful)
O WA S Strengths
Relatively easy to learn and use
Results can be compared against benchmarks to
establish intervention priority
Scores at each body part can be used for “before” and
“after” comparisons to evaluate effectiveness Scores at
each body part can be used in epidemiological studies
Relatively easy to customize system to specific user needs
O WA S Weaknesses
Posture categories are rather broad for the trunk and
shoulders
No information on duration of postures Method
does not separate left and right arms
Method gives no information for the elbow or

wrist
 The mind is just like a muscle
— the more you exercise it the
stronger it gets and the more it
can expand.

— Idowu Koyenikan
Thank you!

Have a great
day!