Static posture scores (rs = .599) and extra scores (rs =
.551) correlated moderately, whereas scores on action
forces (rs = .467) had the lowest correlation. Material
handling showed the highest possible correlation (rs =
1.000) because such scores were only assigned to 1 of
the 20 tasks, which was the same for both observers in
real life and simulated.
As expected, a positive relationship between AAWS
risk assessment on real-life tasks and corresponding
DHM simulations was found. The average correlation
for AAWS risk classification was moderate. The average correlation of AAWS total scores was quite good,
although significant differences in overall mean occurred because of higher posture scores and extra scores
in DHM simulations. Furthermore, scores on action
forces showed high differences in paired AAWS scores
and a rather low correlation between real-life tasks and
DHM simulations.
3.4. Correlations with Workers’
Perceived Exertion
In addition to the ergonomists’ AAWS risk assessment,
workers were asked to rate their perceived exertion on
the Borg RPE scale while they were working on the production line. Workers’ ratings ranged from 10 (“slightly
exertive”) to 17 (“very exertive”) with a median of 13
(“somewhat exertive”). Table 5 shows Spearman rank
correlations between AAWS total scores and subjective
RPE scores. The mean of AAWS total scores from both
observers and workers’ RPE scores was significantly
correlated in real-life tasks (rs = .509, p < .05) and
in DHM simulations (rs = .406, p < .05). Yet, some