Course leader presentation: Kaj Bo Veiersted

Techniques for Assessment of Activities and Postures at the Workplace, 8th – 10th of October 2019, STAMI – The National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway

What is your background?

I am a Norwegian, grown up in Sweden (Gothenburg) and graduated at the Medical School in Copenhagen in 1983. 1986 I got a scholarship in Oslo, with the purpose of detecting predictors in muscle activity patterns for neck pain in chocolate packers by using electromyography (EMG) of the trapezius muscle. One of the results was that few short interruptions in muscle activity (EMG gaps) predicted neck pain. Another result of that study was an increased focus on muscle rest in many research labs all over the world.

Since then I have been examining technical students and their introduction to working life as well as workload and health in assumed heavy work as construction and health care workers. The main focus has been physical (mechanical) exposure and musculoskeletal disorders.

Why do you think your course topic is an important and current issue to discuss in 2019?

The validity of subjective assessment of both activities and mechanical exposures is mainly poor. In practical interventions for changing activity at work or improve mechanical exposure you mostly need more precise assessments to evaluate change in exposures. This is also important in research as performed in field studies or in larger epidemiological studies.

The technological development has improved size, capacity and price of devices that may contribute to valid exposure assessments. This course aims at demonstrating these possibilities and give participants experience of “hands on” as well as the background for the methods and how to use the results.

What would you like to say to the participants of the course?

Equipment for assessment of physical activity and postures have now been developed to such a degree they are possible to afford, to use and to quite easily interpret the results. This course gives you possibility to be updated and trained to use these methods by several experienced researchers in the field.

More information: Course web page
Registration: Course registration
Last registration date: August 26th 2019