Role of anthropometric measurement analysis for work station redesign among Puerto Rican industrial workers

The Department of Labor statistics reflect that in Puerto Rico Musculoeskeletal Disorders is the classification with the fastest growth among the occupational illnesses. In 2005-2006 this represented 70% (52,627) from the total of 74,937 illnesses and injuries referred to the Workers Compensation National Insurance Fund.

Studies have shown that industrial tasks requirements could exacerbate the development of occupational illnesses if they are not designed properly. We speculate that the criteria used to establish these designs need to be improved. Usually, engineering designs for these corrections are not based on the workforce required to use the design but on generic data, developed from military populations or on studies such as the Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource (CAESAR) that have a poor representation of Latinos. This study proposes to create the first anthropometric dataset based on a homogeneous ethnic group such as Puerto Ricans.

The specific aims of this research is to compare between the body dimensions of Puerto Ricans and those of North Americans Industrial workers and determine the impact of using incorrect anthropometric measurements on the execution of industrial tasks.

The study will use principal component analysis and the multivariate accommodation method for the data manipulation process