Assessing the risk of musculoskeletal injuries in a car seat assembly line using a novel pose estimation method

Musculoskeletal disorders are highly common among workers performing manual material handling tasks thus resulting in significant costs. This study focused on the risk assessments of occupational activities related to installing seats in a car assembly line. Pose estimation was conducted using a neural network-based method and motion analysis techniques. To evaluate the risk of musculoskeletal injuries during sequential tasks of lifting the seat from the trolley, pulling, lifting the seat beside the car, and installing the seat, 4 biomechanical tools (e.g., OpenSim) and 17 ergonomic tools (e.g., NIOSH and WISHA) were utilized. It was found that the lifting activity beside the car created the highest risk of injury. The study proposed three interventions that effectively managed the injury risk.