Preparation

Before learning how to use ART, you should have a reasonable understanding of what upper limb disorders[79] are and how to recognise and manage the risks.

Before starting the assessment, it is important to consider several things.

Which task should be assessed first?

In many situations, you may be asked to look at a particular task and so should begin with an ART assessment of that task. In some workplaces though there are so many repetitive tasks it is difficult to know how and where to start.

To help set priorities, you could try one of the following approaches:

  • Ask a representative group of workers to review the work and identify a selection of tasks with the highest priority.
  • Follow each process from start to finish and speak to workers individually. Ask them to describe what they do and describe any difficulties they have doing the work.
  • Conduct a workplace survey about pain and discomfort and focus on those activities where problems are most prevalent.

Is the task suitable for assessment with ART?

ART is most suited for tasks that:

  • involve actions of the upper limbs;
  • repeat every few minutes, or even more frequently; and
  • occur for at least 1–2 hours per day or shift.

These are typically found with 'assembly-line work' or processes with high rates of production.

ART is not intended for use in Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessments.

Who needs to be involved in the assessment?

To use ART effectively, you must consult workers doing the task. Several factors can only be assessed accurately with proper input from workers who have real experience doing the task.

Consider whether people with other areas of expertise are required for the assessment. This may include other people in the company with responsibility for designing and managing the repetitive work (such as engineers, task supervisors, and safety representatives).

At what time should the assessment be made?

It is important to consider the time in the day or shift when you do an ART assessment. It is possible workers may feel the task is more demanding or report more difficulties towards the end of the shift, or after they have been doing the task for several hours. This is often a better time to do the assessment.

If you must make the assessment at the start of the shift, or when workers just begin the task, make sure you ask how they find the work towards the end.

What equipment is needed during the assessment?

ART is intended to be used with minimal equipment.

However, to make a more accurate assessment, it might be helpful to use a video camera to film some workers doing the task. This will allow you to view the task away from the work area, look closely at workers' postures and make more accurate judgements about the time workers spend doing each element of the task.

It would also be useful to have more detailed information about the weights of any items handled and the forces applied to any objects. There are measurement tools, such as force gauges and dynamometers to take physical measures which are very helpful for collecting this type of information.

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. upper limb disordershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/uld/index.htm
  80. Download the ART tool https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg438.pdf
  81. Upper limb disorders in the workplacehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg60.htm

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Updated: 2020-09-15