Cost-effective measurement of physical strain

Reliable data is costly, however, making it important to find ways of obtaining sufficient information in as cheap a way as possible. The long-term goal is to develop practical advice on how researchers and working environment actors can optimize their data collection in the work context when there is a limited budget.

Three lines
The research takes place along three lines. The first develops principles for the assessment of statistical efficiency during data collection in the field, i.e., the content of the information obtained from different ways of organizing data collection.

The second focuses on the cost associated with the data collection and how the cost compares to the statistical efficiency.

In the third, various statistical models for approximating working postures are tested, with the aim of producing methods of appraising the advantage of "costly" data over "cheap" information on e.g., work schedules and productivity.

Research in this program

• Strategies for gathering data
• Analysis of cost and efficiency during data collection
• Resource allocation strategies for EMG data collection
• Can normalization affect low back EMG risk assessment?
• Low back EMG normalization
• Modeling of gross body postures among customer contact centre workers
• Modeling of working postures among hairdressers
• Modeling of physical work load