Reliability of the Brazilian Version of the ergonomic risk assessment tool for upper limbs - Hand Arm Risk Assessment Method - HARM-Br

Abstract

Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) or work-related musculoskeletal disorders (DORS) are a set of diseases that affect upper limbs, lower limbs, or spine are directly related to the different demands of tasks, physical environments, and the organization of the body job. Ergonomics is a discipline that studies the interactions of men with other elements of work, making applications of theory, principles and design methods, with the aim of improving human well-being and work performance, safely. To this end, several methods of ergonomic risk assessment are used, either by direct observation using photos or filming or indirectly through the use of checklists and questionnaires. The upper limbs are commonly affected and for this there are several methods of evaluation, with RULA being the most used. The HARM tool is a simplified method for analyzing musculoskeletal symptoms for the arm, neck and / or shoulder in various tasks involving the upper limbs. Although the primary target group is business, it can also be used by health consultants, ergonomists and designers to identify the risk factors considered most important for health and safety professionals to effectively target preventive measures. However, this tool is only available in the original Dutch language and an English version, and there is no version adapted to Brazilian Portuguese. The objective of this study is to analyze the properties of measurement reliability of test and retest of the translated version using a digital camera to record 30 employees of a university hospital in their respective functions and subsequently make observation and calculations of the scores reached in HARM-Br in two moments with a one-month interval, through ICC, p <0.05, 95% CI, with the SPSS-20 program.