ABSTRACT
As a result of a change in political policy in Germany, the number of children in the nursery schools aged under-three is increasing. This is expected to have an effect on the physical workload of nursery school teachers, for example an increase in lifting and carrying of children. Only limited research has investigated the stress and strain of occupations in this field (Kusma et al., 2011). Furthermore very few studies have focused on the objective musculoskeletal workload in this profession, with the current situational workload being predominantly unknown. As the facilities are usually designed to be height-appropriate for children, this often results in the nursery school teacher adopting unfavourable body postures to work in this environment (King et al., 2006). Existing means to reduce the physical strain experienced as a result of work-related factors and improve the working posture in this occupation have yet to be evaluated and validated.
