No student was found to have acceptable posture, that is, posture in Action Level 1. The majority were
in Action Level 2, indicating that further investigation is needed and changes to the working environment or work practices may be required. Thirty percent were in Action Level 3, indicating that further investigation and changes are required soon. Just 5% of students were in Action Level 4. Investigation and changes are required immediately for these students. Similar results were found by Oates et al [4] where none of the 95 schoolchildren in their study were deemed to have acceptable posture (Action Level 1). Research which used RULA to assess the posture of adults during computer use, similarly found no subject to have acceptable posture [14]. The findings of this and other existing studies in the subject area raise an interesting issue. The fact that no subject in any of the reviewed studies was in Action Level 1 is a matter of concern. This implies that none of the subjects worked at the computer in an acceptable posture. An alternative explanation may be that the RULA marking system places too strict a limit on what is considered “acceptable” posture.