The RAMP 2.0 project : Towards an enhanced MSD risk management tool

• In 2017 RAMP (Risk Assessment and Management tool for manual handling – Proactively), a risk management tool focusing on manual handling work, was launched with the objective to contribute to reducing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). RAMP has since then been spread to over 105 countries and is used as the standard method for MSD risk management in several organisations. Different usability, reliability and validity aspects of RAMP have been evaluated as being good. To enhance RAMP’s application range and to further increase its usability, the RAMP 2.0 project started in 2018. Results from this ongoing project have been reported at several conferences, e.g. IEA 2021.The objective of this conference-contribution is to provide an overview of the results of the project this far, whereas the objectives of the project are to: i) expand RAMP’s application range to include hand-intensive work, ii) in addition to the existing Excel-based version, provide RAMP in a system version, and iii) enable practitioners to use RAMP results in forming key performance indicators, KPIs, as a means to follow the results of systematic work environment progress at an organisation, and to provide managers with relevant data for informed decision making.The project is carried out with a participatory, iterative methodology. It is led by re-searchers at KTH, and carried out in a collaboration between researchers and practitioners from over a dozen organisations. Methods used include needs analyses, literature studies and iterative development of the three parts, where workshops with different types of experts are regarded as crucial.The results this far for each one of the three parts are: i) Enhanced application range. Based on a needs analysis among the participating organisations, the first version of RAMP’s “Hand model” has been developed. An evaluation study of this model in planned for the spring 2022 where usability and reliability are in focus; ii) Also a version of the RAMP system version has been developed, as well as iii) methods for forming KPIs, i.e. both KPIs formed by using only RAMP results data and KPIs formed by combining RAMP results and company data, as for example quality and sick-leave data.By the inclusion of hand intensive work in RAMP’s application range, a large part of commonly performed work tasks can be assessed and managed. However, limitations of the tool’s application range is discussed, as well as how adequate input data can and determined.

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Ergonomics

Risk assessment

Risk management

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