Ergonomic risk analysis inherent in neonate bathing activity performed by nurses using the REBA methodology through kinect depth sensors

Abstract

The absence of quantitative parameters to determine the mobility of the body segments required by functional assessment scales such as Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) reduces its reliability by identifying risks based only on postural observation. This work measures the ergonomic risk associated with the neonatal bathing activity performed by nurses, the influence of the introduction of Kinect sensors, and their marker-less skeleton tracking function in conjunction with the postural analysis tool REBA to reduce the inter-observer variability and the subjectivity of the results. Many people without injuries reproduced the sequence of movements of a baby's body wash task, selected as the most critical within the activity. The use of a reference motion capture system, such as photogrammetry, was used to check the validity of Kinect as a measurement instrument and its precision. Variables such as the recording frequency of the sensors, and their location to the participants, influence the detection of body positions. This paper demonstrates the need for improving the nurses’ posture because it is associated with an intermediate level of ergonomic risk and requires intervention.