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Job rotation has been advocated as a suitable intervention to control work-related musculoskeletal disorders. However, little is known regarding the prevalence of job rotation, methods used to identify jobs for rotation or the benefits or limitations of job rotation. A web-based questionnaire was developed to survey job rotation practices from Midwest US manufacturing companies. Results indicated that 42.7% of the companies contacted used job rotation, where the median time for which they had used job rotation was 5 years. Job rotation was used mainly to reduce exposure to risk factors for work-related injuries and to reduce work related injuries, whereas supervisor decisions and ergonomic analyses were used to select jobs for the rotation scheme. Major limitations to successful implementation of job rotation included rotation of individuals with medical restrictions, decreased product quality and lack of jobs to rotate to. These findings suggest that further study is needed to determine if exposure to risk factors is reduced through current efforts.

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Context:The most widely used method for postural balance assessment relies on the subjective observations of a test administrator Accelerometry has been shown to provide a valid and reliable method for assessment of balance, and recent advances in microelectromechanical systems have made the technology available in mobile electronic devices. Objective: To compare a mobile technology application with a commonly used subjective balance assessment. Setting: Biomechanics laboratory. Participants: Twenty-one nonathlete college-aged individuals (7 men, 14 women; mean age 23 ± 3 years) volunteered to participate. Subjects were excluded if they reported any preexisting condition that might affect postural balance. Results: A strong inverse correlation was found between the scores for the two balance assessment methods (r = -.767, p < .01). Conclusions: Advances in technology have provided an attractive means to objectively quantify postural balance with off-the-shelf mobile consumer electronic devices.