ABSTRACT
About one-third of the workers in the European Union (EU) are involved in painful or tiring positions for more than half of their time at work, and close to 50% of the workers are exposed to repetitive hand or arm movements (Paoli & Merllié, 2001). Pain and fatigue may lead to musculoskeletal diseases, reduced productivity, and deteriorated posture and movement control. The latter can increase the risk of errors and may result in reduced quality and hazardous situations. The European Standard 1005-4 (CEN, 2005a) presents guidance when designing machinery or its components parts in assessing and controlling health risks due to machine-related postures and movements—that is, during assembly, installation, operation, adjustment, maintenance, cleaning, repair, transport, and dismantle. The standard specifies requirements for postures and movements without any or minimal external force exertion. The requirements are intended to reduce the risks for nearly all healthy adults but could also have a positive effect on the quality, efficiency, and profitability of machine-related actions. The chapter discusses risk assessment and its relationship to other standards and examples of applications.
