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Book binding

This case study shows a worker placing the pages of a book into a machine, aligning the outer cover over the pages and pinching to bind the book together. Before reading this, it may be useful to read the "try it out" overview[79] if you have not already.

Task description

  • The worker places the pages of a book into a machine, aligns the outer cover over the pages and pinches to bind the book together.
  • The work is self paced so the worker reports that she has no difficulty keeping up, and on average each binding takes about 18 seconds to complete.
  • The worker reports that she applies a "moderate" amount of force to bind the pages together.
  • The work day is from 07:45am to 16:30pm with one 15 minute break at 09:45 and a 30 minute break at 12:15. There are no other formal breaks.
  • There is no job rotation, however, about every two minutes the worker removes the stack of books from the end of the conveyor belt. This takes about 10 seconds each time.

Book binding video[80]

A video of a worker binding book pages.

Before you begin the assessment, watch the video for a few minutes to become familiar with the task and view the task from different angles.

Scores

Hover over individual rows for an explanation of each risk score.

Book binding score elaborated Arm movements Repetition Force Head / neck posture Back posture Arm posture Wrist posture Hand / finger grip Breaks Work pace Other factors Task score Duration multiplier Exposure score

A1. Arm movements

The arms move almost continuously. There are occasional brief pauses in arm movement, so this risk factor was not given the very highest score, but instead was scored Red 5.

A2. Repetition

There is an 18 second cycle time, and few similar motion patterns of either arm within the task cycle.

B. Force

The worker reports that the force required is moderate when binding the pages together. This force is applied infrequently (ie for less than 15% of the cycle time), so the score is Amber 1.

C1. Head / neck posture

The worker bends her head/neck forward for part of the time when using the binding machine

C2. Back posture

The worker bends her back forward when placing the bundle of pages into the binding machine. This only occurs for a very small part of the cycle time (less than 15%) and so is given an intermediate score of Amber 0.5

C3. Arm posture

The arms are raised away from the body when picking bundles of paper, aligning and binding the outer cover.


The arms are in an awkward posture for just less than half the cycle time (yet more than 30% of the cycle time), so an intermediate Amber 3 is scored.

C4. Wrist posture

The right wrist is bent for a part of the time when pressing the bind together and removing the book from the machine.


The left wrist is bent back when removing the book from the machine. This only occurs for a very small part of the cycle time and so is given an intermediate score of Amber 0.5

C5. Hand / finger grip

A pinch grip is used for more than half the time to grip the bundles of paper.

D1. Breaks

The longest duration of work without a formal break occurs between 12.45 and 4.30pm.


However, every 2 minutes, the worker moves away from the workstation to palletise the books, effectively providing a frequent short break from the task and an opportunity for recovery. For this reason, the factor is scored Green 0.

D2. Work pace

The worker sets their own pace of work and has no difficulty keeping up with the work.

D3. Other factors

The work is carried out in a well lit environment, and there are no other factors reported.

Task score

The task score, calculated for each arm separately, is the sum of the scores of all the risk factors.


For example:

5 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 3 + 0.5 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 13

D4. Duration multiplier

The worker performs the task for 8 hours per day, so the duration multiplier is 1.

Exposure score

The exposure score, calculated for each arm separately, is found by multiplying the task score by the duration multiplier.


For example:

13 x 1 = 13


The exposure score can be interpreted using the table of exposure levels[81].

Possible solutions to consider

Reduce force

Modifications to the gluing process might reduce the force required to bind the papers together.

Improve posture

Reducing the height of the paper stacks in front of the machine and on top of the cupboard would reduce the amount of reaching above shoulder and head height and improve arm posture. Providing a workbench so the paper stacks can be reached more easily could be an effective solution.

Link URLs in this page

  1. MSDshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/msds.htm
  2. Back painhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/backpain/index.htm
  3. Upper limb disordershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/index.htm
  4. Lower limb disorders https://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/lld/index.htm
  5. Display screen equipment (DSE)https://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/dse/index.htm
  6. Manual handling at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/manual-handling/index.htm
  7. Overview - MSD toolkithttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/toolkit.htm
  8. Overview - MAC toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/index.htm
  9. Introduction to MAChttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/introduction.htm
  10. Developmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/development.htm
  11. Score sheethttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/scoresheet.htm
  12. Overview - Liftinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/liftintro.htm
  13. Lifting from pallet videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/liftvid1.htm
  14. Lifting creels of wire videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/liftvid2.htm
  15. Lifting control measureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/guidance01a.htm
  16. Overview - Carryinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/carryintro.htm
  17. Carrying from conveyor videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/carryvid1.htm
  18. Carrying task in pastry factory videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/carryvid2.htm
  19. Carrying control measureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/guidance02a.htm
  20. Overview - Team handlinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/teamintro.htm
  21. Team handling pallet videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/teamvid1.htm
  22. Team handling container videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/teamvid2.htm
  23. Team handling control measureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/guidance03a.htm
  24. Psychosocial risk factorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/psychosocial.htm
  25. Individual differenceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/individuals.htm
  26. MAC assessment tipshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/tips.htm
  27. MAC FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/faq.htm
  28. Overview - V-MAChttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/index.htm
  29. Advantages and limitationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/1-advantages-limitations.htm
  30. What you need to knowhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/2-what-you-need-to-know-before.htm
  31. How to use the V-MAChttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/3-how-to-use.htm
  32. Which jobs and workers to assesshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/4-which-jobs-workers-to-assess.htm
  33. Entering datahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/5-entering-data.htm
  34. What does the V-MAC tell you?https://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/6-what-does-vmac-tell-you.htm
  35. Values in the summary tablehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/7-summary-tables.htm
  36. Recording and usinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/8-recording-and-using.htm
  37. Worked exampleshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/9-worked-examples.htm
  38. V-MAC FAQshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/10-faqs.htm
  39. Overview - ART toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/index.htm
  40. What is the ART toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/whatis.htm
  41. Overview - Learning to use the ART toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/learning.htm
  42. Preparationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/preparation.htm
  43. Risk factorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/riskfactors.htm
  44. Observationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/observation.htm
  45. Overview - Making an assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/assessment.htm
  46. Task descriptionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/task.htm
  47. Overview - Assessment guidehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/assessguide.htm
  48. A. Frequency and repetition of movementshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/freqrep.htm
  49. B. Forcehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/forceassessment.htm
  50. C. Awkward postureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/awkpostures.htm
  51. D. Additional factorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/addfactors.htm
  52. Score sheethttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/score.htm
  53. A walkthroughhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/walkthrough.htm
  54. Overview - Try it outhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/try.htm
  55. Book bindinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/bookbinding.htm
  56. Jogging sheetshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/jogging.htm
  57. Collating papershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/papers.htm
  58. Whisky carton assemblyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/cartonassembly.htm
  59. Croissant curlinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/croissant.htm
  60. Overview - Analysis and actionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/analysis.htm
  61. What the scores meanhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/scoresmean.htm
  62. Analysing task rotationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/rotation.htm
  63. Overview - Taking actionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/action.htm
  64. Repetitionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/repetition.htm
  65. Forcehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/force.htm
  66. Posturehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/posture.htm
  67. Durationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/duration.htm
  68. Physical environmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/environment.htm
  69. Psychosocial issueshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/psychosocial.htm
  70. Art Tool Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/resources.htm
  71. Frequently asked questionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/faq.htm
  72. Overview - RAPP toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/pushpull/index.htm
  73. Push/pull riskshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/pushpull/risks.htm
  74. Push/pull risk assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/pushpull/assessment.htm
  75. The lawhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/legislation.htm
  76. Health monitoringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/health-monitoring.htm
  77. Workershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/workers-msds.htm
  78. Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/resources.htm
  79. read the "try it out" overviewhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/uld/art/try.htm
  80. Book binding videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/assets/videos/book-binding.flv
  81. table of exposure levelshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/uld/art/scoresmean.htm
  82. Download the ART tool https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg438.pdf
  83. Upper limb disorders in the workplacehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg60.htm

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Updated: 2021-01-27