DIRECT MEASUREMENTS AND SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIONS OF PHYSICAL WORKLOAD AMONG MEDICAL SECRETARIES, FURNITURE REMOVERS AND MALE AND FEMALE REFERENCE POPULATIONS

The aim of this investigation was to collect quantitative information about the occurrence of manual materials handling and working postures in working life. Direct technical recordings and systematic observati ons by trained ergonomists were used throughout a whole working day on 12 male furniture removers, 13 female medical secretaries, 27 males a nd 45 females randomly sampled from the working population in the Stoc kholm area. A quantitative job exposure profile was obtained by weight ing together exposure data obtained by observation of tasks occurring during a normal working week. The results showed no major differences in physical exposures between the male and female reference population s. The medical secretaries spent less time than the female population kneeling/squatting and longer time than any other group with repetitiv e hand movements. Exposure data for task and job should be clearly dis tinguished.