ABSTRACT
Note: The views expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IEA.
The following Group Members participated in the preparation of this document:
Dr Hudson de Araujo Couto, MG, Brazil Prof. Thomas J. Armstrong, University of Michigan,
USA Prof. Gunnar Borg, Department of Psychology,
Stockholm University, Sweden Dr Peter Buckle and Dr David A. Stubbs, Robens
Institute, University of Surrey, UK Dr Alberto Colombi, PPG Industries, Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, USA Dr Jan Dul, NIA-TNO, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands Dr Ruddy C. Facci, Curitiba, Brazil Dr Arun Garg, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee,
USA Prof. Mats Hagberg, National Institute of Occupational
Health, Solna, Sweden Dr Christine M. Haslegrave, Institute for Occupational
Ergonomics, University of Nottingham, UK Dr Bronislav Kapitaniak, Laboratoire de Physiologie
du Travail et du Sport, Universite Curie, Paris, France Dr Waldemar Karwowski, Center for Industrial
Ergonomics, University of Louisville, USA Prof. Gianni Molteni, Department of Occupational
Health, “Clinica del Lavoro Luigi Devoto,’’ Milano, Italy Dr V. Putz-Anderson, US Dept. Health & Human
Services, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Edoardo Santino, Sorocaba, Brazil Dr Barbara Silverstein, Washington State Department
of Labor & Industries, USA Dr Bente Schibye, National Institute of Occupational
Health, Copenhaven, Denmark Prof. Gisela Sjogaard, Dept. Of Sports Science,
University of Odense, Denmark Dr Toru Itani, Department of Hygiene and
Occupational Health, Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan
This consensus document, while taking into consideration the most recent and significant contributions in the literature, intends to supply a set of definitions, criteria, and procedures useful to describe and, wherever possible, to assess the work conditions that can represent a physical overload for the different structures and segments of the upper limbs. The consequences of physical overload are represented by work-related musculoskeletal disorders (Hagberg et al. 1995).