Collating papers

This case study shows a worker collating pages together into a document, which will eventually be bound 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 collates pages together into a document, which will eventually be bound together.
  • There are 14 pages in each document and about 5 documents are made per minute.
  • There is no indication of any particular force.
  • The work shift is from 07:45am to 4:30pm with a 15 minute break at 09:45 and a 30 minute break at 12:15. There are no other formal breaks
  • The worker sets her own pace and does not find it difficult to keep up with the work.
  • For the purposes of this assessment, assume there is no task rotation.

Collating papers video[80] - A worker collating paper pages of a document.

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.

Jogging sheets 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

There is almost continuous arm movement.

A2. Repetition

There are 14 similar motion patterns within a cycle time of about 12 seconds, so this factor is scored Red 6.

B. Force

There is no indication of any particular force involved in this task.

C1. Head / neck posture

The worker's head/neck is bent for more than half the time when looking down at the papers.

C2. Back posture

The worker's back is twisted for more than half the time when walking in either direction.

C3. Arm posture

The hands are at about waist height and the elbows are close to the body.

C4. Wrist posture

The left wrist extends back for part of the time when picking papers.


The right wrist is flexed forward for a part of the time when holding the papers.

C5. Hand / finger grip

The right hand holds the papers in a pinch grip for more than half the time.


The left hand does not grip awkwardly.

D1. Breaks

The longest duration of work without a break occurs between 12.45 and 4.30pm. This is greater than 3 hours duration, so this factor is scored Red 6.

D2. Work pace

The worker sets their own pace and reports that it is not difficult to keep 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:

6 + 6 + 0 + 2 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 0 + 6 + 0 + 0 = 23

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:

23 x 1 = 23


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

Possible solutions to consider

Automation and mechanisation

The high rate of repetition is one of the key risk factors with this task. If this were a daily activity or a long production run an automatic collator could be used to do this task and leave the workers to do other better jobs.

Reduce exposure

Job rotation would reduce an individual's exposure to the risk factors mentioned in the risk assessment.

Adding extra activities to the job (job enlargement) could provide more variety in posture and speed of work. If these activities are different enough, they could reduce the scores assigned to several factors such as arm movements, repetition, and breaks. Regular breaks from this task would be essential if this task were performed all day.

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. Collating papers videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/assets/videos/collating-papers.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