ABSTRACT
This muscle fatigue assessment method (MFA), also known as the functional job evaluation technique, was developed by Rodgers and Williams (1987) to characterize the discomfort described by workers on automobile assembly lines and fabrication tasks. When observing such workers, it was apparent that they were accumulating fatigue in some muscle groups as their shift progressed. Their perceived discomfort could not always be explained by biomechanical analyses of the job, but seemed to relate to their temporal work pattern. As task duration increased, some workers took shortcuts to get the efforts done more quickly than the standard required. From discussions, workers reported that they sped up their work to increase the recovery time for fatigued muscles after each effort cycle.
