Evaluation of ergonomic risk factors for office workers in a university using REBA and RULA methods

Ergonomics is the science of designing the work, equipment, workplace and working conditions in accordance with the employee. Ergonomics aims to establish a healthy working environment for the employee, considering the physical abilities and limitations of the human body. For this purpose, it is evaluated how the characteristics of the employee are related to the job, the equipment used and the working environment. As a result of ignoring ergonomic conditions, occupational musculoskeletal disorders among employees are seen commonly. The most important reason for such disorders is that employees often perform their work in stable positions and repetitive movements of the upper limbs while using computers. Offices represents a complex physical work environment with interactions between various dimensions of the workstation, equipment, and work content. Office workers stay in uncomfortable and painful positions for long periods of time while doing their jobs, therefore, to avoid chronic musculoskeletal disorders, work environments for these workers must be designed with the point of ergonomic care. "Rapid Upper Limb Assessment" (RULA) and "Rapid Entire Body Assessment" (REBA) are two main assessment methods that are frequently used and quite successful for ergonomic risk analysis. With RULA and REBA, the physical working postures and habits of the employee are scored, and the level and severity of risk are determined depending on the employee's score then improvement suggestions are made. In this study, the working postures of office workers in a university in terms of ergonomics were evaluated by using RULA and REBA. REBA and RULA risk scores for volunteer office workers participating in the study were evaluated together with factors such as gender, presence of musculoskeletal disorders, exercise status, age factor, working time, weight, and height. Appropriate office exercises and ergonomic solutions were offered for office workers to eliminate the risks arising from posture disorders and physical conditions.