PROPOSING OWAS METHOD TO MEASURE

WORKLOAD ON POSTURE‘S BODY OF THE

LAB WORKERS2nd ACSEL, Depok, December 1st 2015

Antonia Asih M; Dina Elisabet B; Duliman; Roslinormansyah; Wildan M

OWAS (Ovako Working posture Analysis System)

◇ Created in the mid 1970 by Ovako

Oy, a private steel company in

Finland.

◇ Developed as a joint effort

between Ovako Oy and the

Finnish Institute for Occupational

Health

◇ Basic concepts has been

incorporated into other posture

analysis systems (RULA, REBA,

and etc.)

Why?Job evaluation and design

Determine if current postural demands are

acceptable

Establish baseline to evaluate effectiveness of

interventions

Identify job attributes associated with awkward

postures

Evaluate intervention effectiveness by

comparing the baseline

Objectives

◇To analyze working postures of laboratory

workers to provide an overview of postural

distribution of lab workers

◇To identify the most problematic working

postures and jobs of lab workers

◇To propose recommendations for work

improvements for lab workers

◇ Observe the work postures to be analyzed

◇ Identify working postures and define of postural

codes in OWAS

◇ Classified the risk of injury based on working

posture score with OWAS table

◇ Recommend corrective action

OWAS process

Posture Classification

(Back, Arms, Legs, Force)

OWAS Table

Action Categories (AC)Action

Categories

Explanation

1 Normal and natural postures with no harmful effect on the

musculoskeletal system – No action required

2 Posture with some harmful effect on the musculoskeletal system –

corrective action required in the near future

3 Postures have a harmful effect on the musculoskeletal system –

corrective actions should be done as soon as possible

4 The load caused by these postures has a very harmful effect on the

musculoskeletal system –corrective actions for improvement required

immediately

(Karwowski & Marras, 2003)

Case StudyBack Posture : 2

Arms : 1

Legs : 2

Force : 1

Working posture OWAS

code : 2121

Action category : 2 (Posture

with some harmful effect on

the musculoskeletal system

– corrective action required

in the near futue

Corrective Action

OWAS Code: 2121

(AC: 2)

OWAS Code: 1121

(AC: 1)

Action category : 1 (Normal and natural

postures with no harmful effect on the

musculoskeletal system – No action

required

OWAS Advantages

• Relatively easy to learn and use

• Scores at each body part can be used for

“before” and “after” comparisons to

evaluate intervention effectiveness

• Relatively easy to customize system to

spesific user needs

Thanks!Any questions?