An Overview of REBA Method Applications in the World

Abstract

The objective of this work is to review literature, worldwide, in which the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) ergonomic assessment method was applied and count the number of times that REBA was applied together with other methods and subsequent incidence. The database used was the "Web of Science-Core Collection". Only scientific articles and bibliographic reviews were included, analysing a total of 314 documents and selecting only 91. The use of the REBA method is indicated in terms of knowledge, country, year and journal sectors. It was most used in the knowledge areas of "Manufacturing" (24.18%), "Agriculture, forestry and fishing" (21.98%) and in "Other activities" (19.78%). One of the benefits of REBA is that it evaluates different body parts: upper limbs (arm, forearm and wrist), lower extremities, trunk and neck. It is a useful method to identify the forced postures adopted by workers to thus develop improvement measures if necessary. It is concluded that REBA method use has increased over the last decade, probably due to the digitization of knowledge. It is almost always applied in combination with other methods, and its use can be a positive indicator of company sustainability.

Keywords: biomechanics; musculoskeletal disorders; physical load; safety and health.

Figure 1

Semi-direct methods according to the cause of the musculoskeletal disorders and their combined use (adapted from Reference [5]). Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) [6]; Job Strain Index (JSI) [7]; Posture and Repetition Risk Factor Index (PRRI) [8]; Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia (In Spanish; IBV) [9]; Occupational Repetitive Action (OCRA) [10]; Method for the identification of musculoskeletal stress factors which may have injurious effects (PLIBEL) [11]; Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) [12]; Ovako Working Analysis System (OWAS) [13]; Corlett [14]; Video film technique for Registration and Analysis of working postures and movements (VIRA) [15]; Posture, Activity, Tools and Handling (PATH) [16]; National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) [17]; Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo (In Spanish; INSHT) [18]; Snook and Ciriello tables [19]; Key Indicator Method (KIM) [20]; Manual Handling Assessment Charts (MAC) [21]; Liberty Mutual tables [22].

Figure 2

Publications by field and by country (see abbreviations Table 2).

Figure 3

Publications by field and by year.