Affiliations: School of Occupational Therapy, La Trobe University,
Melbourne, Australia | Ergonomist, Health and Safety Department, Ford
Australia, Victoria, Australia
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Amanda Kunelius, Royal Talbot
Rehabilitation Centre, 1 Yarra Boulevard, Kew, Victoria, Australia. Tel.: +61
39490 7618; E-mail: amanda.kunelius@austin.org.au
Abstract: Objectives: (1) To develop a normative data set for hand strength
and anthropometric dimensions in automotive trim line workers. (2) To examine
the relationship between trim line worker demographics and hand strength. Background: Work tasks inherent in the automobile manufacturing industry such
as forceful gripping and pinching, place physical demands upon the hands and
fingers. This places workers at risk of developing a musculoskeletal injury. To
reduce the risk of injury it is necessary to apply user strength data in the
design phase of hand intensive tasks in order to create a fit between the
person and the task. Method: Demographic variables, anthropometry and
maximal grip and pinch strength were measured for one hundred and sixty-one
trim line automotive workers. Their data were analyzed to examine the
associations between the variables. Results: Significant hand strength
differences were found in relation to age, gender, hand dominance and
anthropometry. The workers in this study had significantly lower strength
values than previously used reference data. Discussion: The disparity
between the present study's strength data and that of Mathiowetz et
al. [22] may be due to the different demographic pools from which the
populations were drawn. A training effect appeared to exist in trim line
workers which may have reduced the disparity in hand strength between the hands
as the number of years worked on the line increased. Conclusion: Caution
should be taken when applying international normative data sets to the design
of hand tools/workstations, as global differences in hand strength are likely
to exist.
Keywords: Grip strength, pinch strength, normative data, anthropometry, automotive industry
