Can occupational guidelines for work-rest schedules be based on endurance time data?

Abstract

Within the European Community, work is in progress to establish occupational guidelines for physical workload, including work-rest schedules. A model has been proposed which relies upon endurance time as a valid estimate of the short- and long-term physiological responses to continuous and intermittent exercise. On the basis of recent results from several Scandinavian research groups, the present paper questions the use of this model as a contribution to occupational guidelines. It is believed that the proposed model has a limited validity as a predictor of endurance time, as an indicator of short-term physiological responses, and as an estimator of risk for musculoskeletal disorders.