What are the methods of assessing the employee’s energy expenditure?

It is the duty of every employee of the OHS service to know the basic criterion of the general principles of assessing the nuisance of work, i.e. energy expenditure. Such an assessment is necessary in the implementation of the regulations on preventive meals and drinks and in the case of burdensome, dangerous or harmful work for pregnant women and breastfeeding women. Several methods of assessing the nuisance of work are used, which enable an independent assessment of such an assessment.

The results of the assessment of energy expenditure can be the basis for changing the environmental conditions, tools and working methods to improve the worker’s effort, or they can be a warning against the effects of excessive load. The general assessment of the physical workload consists mainly of the amount of energy expenditure, static effort and the load caused by monotypic movements.

On the other hand, the measurement of energy consumed for a specific dynamic work is made by an indirect method:

  • by the method of lung ventilation measurements,
  • direct calorimetry method,
  • indirect calorimetry method,
  • using time-tabular methods.

EE-type energy expenditure meters use the relationship between lung ventilation, oxygen consumption and energy expenditure. Measurements with this method require professional training and extensive experience, therefore they are performed only by appropriate specialists. Additionally, this method of assessing energy expenditure is burdensome for the surveyed employees and disrupts the production cycle.

When using this method of assessing the nuisance of work, it should be taken into account that when performing light work, the measurement of lung ventilation itself may be such a strong emotional stimulus that it will overestimate the data in relation to the actual metabolic demand.

Erroneous results may also occur during very high effort due to the accumulation of acidic waste products, which disturb the acid-base balance and lead to overestimation of the results.

The timing-tabular method assumes that the energy expenditure is similar for different people performing the same activities and having the same experience in carrying out tasks. The differences that occur with such an estimate most often concern the body weight of employees performing the same activities.

The decisive element of differentiating the amount of energy expenditure for a given job is the different time needed to complete it.

The timing and tabular method consists mainly in observing the work and distinguishing activities for which the energy expenditure can be determined on the basis of the developed tables.

When it is difficult to assess the energy expenditure for given activities in the developed tables, the Lehmann method should be used. It consists in determining two references, useful for the assessment of the arduousness of work. These can be, for example, body position, muscle group involvement and the degree of hardness of the work (light, medium or heavy work).

After determining the data, according to the Lehmann table, they should be multiplied by the duration of the activity. The calculated value is the total energy expenditure.

When using the Lehmann method, the factor 0.85 should be taken into account, which is important when assessing the work performed by women and the measurement of microclimate parameters in the assessed position.

Thanks to the methods described above, the OHS service can assess the energy expenditure of an employee and recommend appropriate changes to the employer that will improve working conditions.

Source: https://www.bhp-center.com.pl/metody-oceny-wydatku-energetycznego-pracownika/

Region Gdański NSZZ „Solidarność”

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.

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