A Digital REBA System Based on Kinect and Its Benefits for Ergonomic Assessment

The evaluations of potential risks at physical workstations provide data on the workers’ postures and can assist in reducing such risks. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) is one of the methods used for ergonomic assessments. In this method, observers evaluate the posture of the trunk, neck, legs, wrists, and arms. As digitalization advances, real-time data provides ergonomic assessments with the benefit of analyzing a sequence of postures during manufacturing processes. This study aimed to determine whether continuous ergonomic evaluations using Kinect significantly reduce time and are flexible, useful tools in this field. The study demonstrated that it is possible to conduct this type of ergonomic study in an agricultural company where essential oils are extracted from plants.