Humanics Ergonomics

Rapid Upper Limb Assessments

Acknowledgments:

This writer thanks Drs. Lynn McAtamney and E Nigel Corlett for their gracious assistance.

In: Lueder, R (1996) A Proposed RULA for Computer Users. Proceedings of the Ergonomics Summer Workshop, UC Berkeley Center for Occupational & Environmental Health Continuing Education Program, San Francisco, August 8-9, 1996.

The Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was developed by Drs. Lynn McAtamney and E Nigel Corlett of the University of Nottingham’s Institute of Occupational Ergonomics. It was first described in a 1993 issue of the journal Applied Ergonomics1.

This ergonomic technique evaluates individuals’ exposures to postures, forces and muscle activities that have been shown to contribute to Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs). Use of this ergonomic evaluation approach results in a risk score between one and seven, where higher scores signify greater levels of apparent risk.

A low RULA score does not guarantee that the workplace is free of ergonomic hazards and a high score does not assure that a severe problem exists. It was developed to detect work postures or risk factors that deserve further attention.

Rani Lueder wishes to express her gratitude to Drs. Corlett and McAtamney for their help in slightly modifying this RULA to increase its’ relevance for evaluating computer work. Unlike the original, this version has not been validated.

A review of these suggested changes follow in subsequent screens.

1 McAtamney, L. and Corlett, E.N. (1993) RULA: A survey method for the investigation of work-related upper limb disorders. Applied Ergonomics, 24 (2), 91-99.

Certificant, Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics

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