Design and Simulation of a Mechanical Device to Reduce the Ergonomic Postural Risk Levels of Workers During the Installation of Panelled Walls

The installation of paneled walls can result in the injury of the involved workers regardless of whether the installation occurs in residential construction or during exhibition booth assembly. This chapter discusses a study conducted to assess the postural risk to the workers and, based on these findings, presents a novel design which can help reduce the levels of ergonomic risk. This proposed mechanical device was developed based on the results of postural assessments of six workers who had installed paneled walls. These assessments were performed with the following instruments: RULA method, audio-visual material, Cinema 4D©, and Jack™ software. Initial results show that the final score on the RULA scale for the Holding Stage was consistently a 7 across all postural assessments. When using the newly created design, the results of the postural assessments ranged from 2 to 3 on the RULA scale. When the results of the average final global score are compared across the first and second postural assessments a decrease of 61.4% in the postural risk levels can be observed. The findings of this study suggest that this proposed novel design may improve postural load levels by minimizing the need for the worker to perform the Holding Stage when installing paneled walls.