Inter - and intra - observer reliability of risk assessment of repetitive work without an explicit method

• A common way to conduct practical risk assessments is to observe a job and report the observed long term risks for musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter- and intra-observer reliability of ergonomists' risk assessments without the support of an explicit risk assessment method. Twenty-one experienced ergonomists assessed the risk level (low, moderate, high risk) of eight upper body regions, as well as the global risk of 10 video recorded work tasks. Intra-observer reliability was assessed by having nine of the ergonomists repeat the procedure at least three weeks after the first assessment. The ergonomists made their risk assessment based on his/her experience and knowledge. The statistical parameters of reliability included proportional agreement, kappa, linearly weighted kappa, intraclass correlation and Kendall's coefficient of concordance. The average inter-observer proportional agreement of the global risk was 53% and the corresponding weighted kappa was 0.32, indicating fair reliability. The intra-observer agreement was 61% and 0.41. This study indicates that risk assessments of the upper body, without the use of an explicit observational method, have non-acceptable reliability. It is therefore recommended to use systematic risk assessment methods to a higher degree.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Inter-observer reliability

Intra-observer reliability

Observational methods

Risk assessment

Reliability

Explicit method

Intraclass correlations

Kendall's coefficient of concordance

Musculoskeletal disorders

Observational method

Repetitive works

Risk assessment methods

Statistical parameters

body regions

female

human

human experiment

male

videorecording

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)