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Dear Gina, A member correctly mentioned the Loughborough study into Behaviour Changes to managed MSD but the study actually indicates that the behaviour changes or modificiation of both management and worker is necessary for ergonmic interventions to be effective, not that behavioural changes alone will reduce MSD. As for rotation. It is the combination of factors that are thought to contribute to ULD rather than one particular risk factor. Therefore a job that is repetitive may manage with a rotation schedule of 60 mins but a job that has both high force and high repetition may require a faster rotation of <30mins. Job rotation for ULD is considered important where the cycle time of a task is < 30 sec i.e. if picking up something and putting it into a container then putting it on a production line is a task than if that is all done in 30 second or less it is considered a fast repetitive job. If the item is heavy i.e. > 4kg in one hand than the combination of force and repetition is an even higher risk. And of course is there are awkward postures this will also increase the risk. There are very complicated algorithms for job rotation ( Ergonomics 2000, vole43,no4, 543) but generally speaking Job rotation is more effective when performed more rather than less frequently. Often 30 mins rotation is performed because its is a) easy for people to remember and b) its a frequency that a production staff can cope with. Anything over 1 hour is not really considered a rotation schedule suitable to reduce ULD although managers will try to get out of doing it frequently which is why as the Loughborough study showed behavioural changes are needed -see page 64. The studies on job rotation use different criteria so its difficult to compare between say refuse collectors who only rotated 2-3x day and whose problems were LBP and shoulder to jobs which are primarily manual handling where the rotation is after 50-60 min to a repetitive production line work where the rotation is 30mins. What is very important is that the rotation schedule is short enough to ensure that the workers do not have any onset of symptoms. Rotation after the onset of symptoms is ineffective. Nearly all the research indicate a positive result in terms of production with job rotation whatever the schedule. In fact research has shown improvement in productivity if the workers just rest for 5 mins every 1/2 hour! Hope this is of some help. Catherine CA Ergonomics Ergonomic, Rehabilitation and Occupational Physiotherapy Services Nottingham -----Original Message----- From: Gina Jones [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 29 November 2005 14:21 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: job rotation Dear list Does anyone know of any research done that gives guidance on job rotation in preventing upper limb disorders. I wish for guidance on maximum times someone should carry out a task before swapping to another task and more importantly, how long should elapse before that task is resumed. Regards Gina Jones This email may contain information about others that is of a confidential nature.This information should be used for the purpose it is intended and kept confidential until no longer needed, when it should be deleted. Please ensure any printed copies are kept securely and confidentially. A DIVISION OF SAMWORTH BROTHERS LIMITED. Registered Office: Chetwode House, Leicester Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 1GA. Registered Number: 03116767, Registered in England. PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL This message is private and confidential. It must not be disclosed to, copied or used by anyone other than the addressee. If you receive this message in error, please notify our email administrator at [log in to unmask] and destroy the message. E-MAIL VIRUS WARNING Although this email and any attachment are believed to be free from viruses which might affect any system into which they are received or opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus free. No responsibility is accepted by Samworth Brothers for any loss or damage arising in any way from their receipt, opening or use. ___________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com ________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please remove this footer before replying. For list archives and documents, go to http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html For jobs in Occupational Health, go to http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/OHJobs/