Systematic Comparison of OWAS, RULA, and REBA Based on a Literature Review

Abstract

This study aimed to systematically compare three representative observational methods for assessing musculoskeletal loadings and their association with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs): Ovako Working Posture Analysis System (OWAS), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). The comparison was based on a literature review without time limitations and was conducted on various factors related to observational methods. The comparisons showed that although it has a significant limitation of comprising only two classifications for the leg postures, (1) the RULA is the most frequently used method among the three techniques; (2) many studies adopted the RULA even in evaluation of unstable lower limb postures; (3) the RULA assessed postural loads as higher risk levels in most studies reviewed in this research; (4) the intra- and inter-reliabilities for the RULA were not low; and (5) the risk levels assessed by the RULA were more significantly associated with postural load criteria such as discomfort, MHTs and % capable at the trunk, and MSDs.

Participatory Ergonomic Interventions for Improving Agricultural Work Environment: A Case Study in a Farming Organization of Korea

“…Postural loads or musculoskeletal loadings before and after introducing the ergonomic interventions were assessed through the rapid upper-limb assessment (RULA) [27]. Although RULA focuses on evaluation of the upper-limb postures, including the trunk, with only two classifications for leg postures, this study adopted RULA for assessing postural loads because (1) it is often employed for rating postural loads in agriculture [28], and (2) it may be a better method for estimating postural loads, including awkward or unstable lower-limb postures and associations with MSDs, compared to other representative observational techniques [29][30][31][32][33]. The author selected and assessed the posture for each of six tasks (six postures in total) that seemed to be most stressful among those performed by the head farmer of the organization after viewing videos and photographs for working scenes before and after introducing engineering interventions.…”

Ergonomic Design of a Workplace Using Virtual Reality and a Motion Capture Suit

“…The ergonomics of the workplace was evaluated according to the current legislation of the Czech Republic NV361 which evaluates working positions according to their acceptability as described in [36,37]. The method of evaluation according to the current legislation was chosen because it is more stringent than global ergonomic methods such as the RULA or REBA [14,38]. Therefore, any assessment carried out will be valid even within the framework of these worldwide methodologies.…”

“…Let us have a look at the current state of the data collection methods in ergonomic studies. Just a few studies [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] integrate these physiological measurements with biomechanical analysis tools. However, these approaches interfere with the work to some extent and require the subject to physically imitate the task prior to the analysis.…”

“…Other authors address traditional workplace ergonomics assessments, such as realworld measurements of workers, or the use of standardised questionnaires [14,15,31].…”

Comparison of LEBA and RULA Based on Postural Load Criteria and Epidemiological Data on Musculoskeletal Disorders

“…The RULA has been cited approximately 3500 times in relevant literature, which exceeds the citations of other observational methods [ 12 ]. Some comparative studies [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ] claimed that the RULA might be the best system among three representative observational techniques, including the Ovako Working Posture Analysis System (OWAS) [ 20 ], RULA, and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) [ 21 ] for evaluating postural loads and the association with MSDs.…”