Printer FriendlyThe Exposure Assessment Team collected direct observation data on the healthcare job titles found in participating healthcare facilities.
- An ergonomic assessment tool based on the PATH method was developed to categorize exposures. This observational work-sampling approach estimates the percentage of observation time that employees are exposed to known physical stressors such as posture, manual material handling and vibration.
- Postural data were collected on the trunk, leg, shoulder, elbow and upper extremities. A measure of hand speed and pause frequency/duration data was collected. Noise, vibration and manual material handling exposures were recorded as well.
- Two data collection instruments were developed to capture complementary data related to biomechanical exposure, physical hazards and work organization characteristics. These instruments capture exposure data and work characteristics that (a) do not vary within the job title and (b) exposures which vary within job title and between specific days of observation.
- Similar exposure groups were defined in order to characterize the large number of job titles and to avoid exposure misclassification.
- A tool for direct observation of psychosocial risk factors was developed.