RULA Analysis Dialog Box

This describes the various concepts of the RULA Analysis. The RULA Analysis dialog box appears when you select RULA Analysis and you are able to specify the RULA specifications.

To access the dialog box, select RULA .

This dialog box contains controls for:

This page discusses:

Basic Concepts

In the Kinematics Solver dialog box, the Optimize Criteria option allows you to choose to optimize the posture according to either Postural Score or RULA Analysis. This option is in effect when IK mode or Reach mode uses the IK solver to resolve a constraints update. By default, None selects. Only one of the three options can be available at the same time. When the Postural Score is on, the IK internally refers to the Postural Score. It tries to find the best score for each segment involved in the IK chain that manipulates. This requires you to apply preferred angles to these segments, before using the optimize capability. If no Preferred Angles applies to the Manikin, then the Postural Score option grays out and is unavailable. Select RULA, then IK uses RULAs internal preferred angles calculation. That leads to a global score when RULA uses inside the appropriate Human Activity Analysis command. To lead to an optimized posture of the involved segments during manipulation involving the IK solver. Here you do not need to explicitly apply Preferred Angles to the segments of the Manikin.

Side

Use the two to select the side, Left or Right of the manikin that is analyzed.

Parameters

RULA Parameters

Use the options in this zone to specify settings that cannot be define automatically.

Posture
Three types of postures are:
  • Static
  • Intermittent
  • Repeated

Select the choices that best describe the worker's situation.

Repeat Frequency
Uses this parameter to determine the task frequency. Two choices are available:
  • Fewer than 4 times per minute.
  • More than 4 times per minute.
  • Arm supported/Person Leaning.
  • Arms are working across the midline.
  • Confirm balance.
Select one or more of these options to provide additional information that may affect the output of the RULA analysis.
Load
Use this field to specify the weight of the manipulated object. Select the arrows to increase or decrease the weight or use the keyboard to directly enter a value into This field.

RULA Score

Score

There are two modes for the score display: basic mode and advanced mode.

Basic mode
The data displayed in This mode is the final score accompanied by a colored zone. The color of This zone changes from green to red according to the final score.

The RULA analysis examines the following risk factors: number of movements, static muscle work, force, working posture, and time worked without a break. All these factors combine to provide a final score that ranges from 1 to 7.

  • 1 and 2: (Green) Posture is acceptable if it maintains or repeats for long periods of time.
  • 3 and 4: (Yellow) Further investigation requires and changes may require attention.
  • 5 and 6: (Orange) Investigate and changes require soon.
  • 7: (Red) Investigate and changes require immediate attention.
  • Use More to switch from the basic mode to the advanced mode.
Advanced mode
The data displayed in the basic mode is also displayed in the advanced mode. The advanced mode, in addition, also displays the intermediate scores. Some of these scores obtain by subjective values. In the basic mode, these values are automatically define to default, in the advanced mode you can change these values. The score modifies to reflect these new values.
Details
[+] Upper Arm: 1

[+] Forearm: 1

[+] Wrist: 1

[+] Wrist Twist: 1

Posture A: 1

Muscle: 1

Force/Load: 0

Wrist and Arm: 2

[+] Neck: 1

[+] Trunk: 1

Leg: 1

Posture B: 1

Neck, Trunk, and Leg: 2

Use Less to switch back to the basic mode.

Details
The Details section that is displayed when you click More presents the score obtained for each section and used to calculate the final RULA score. Edit the parameters of six of these segments:

  • Upper arm: Shoulder elevation, Arm abduction.
  • Forearm: Arm rotation.
  • Wrist: Wrist deviation.
  • Wrist twist: Wrist twist.
  • Neck: Neck twist, Neck side-bending.
  • Trunk: Trunk twist. Trunk side-bending.

For each of the parameters, you have a choice of three options: Auto, Yes, and No.

Auto: (No or Yes): RULA is using the parameters defined in the RULA Parameters field in Preferences. This determines the state of a specific segment, that is, Shoulder in elevation or not, Arm in abduction or not.
Yes: By selecting Yes, you force RULA to consider the segment is at the specified state (elevation, abduction, and others) independent on the posture of the selected manikin.
No: By selecting No, you force RULA to consider the segment is not at the specified state (elevation, abduction, and others) independent on the posture of the selected manikin.

These intermediate scores, represented by a number and a color, uses to calculate the final RULA score. The following table indicates the score range for each segment as well as the associated color.

Segment Score Range Color associated with the score
1 2 3 4 5 6
Upper arm 1 to 6 G G Y Y R R
Forearm 1 to 3 G Y R
Wrist 1 to 4 G Y O
Wrist twist 1 to 2 G R
Neck 1 to 6 G G Y Y R R
Trunk 1 to 6 G G Y Y R R

G= Green

Y=Yellow

R=Red

O=Orange

For viewing the RULA Colors on the manikin, see the Profiles node. See Segment Coloring Concepts.

Related Topics

For more information on the RULA method, seeRULA Employee Assessment Worksheet.

For more information about customization, see Customizing settings RULA Specifications.

For exporting the data in a report, see Reporting Capabilities.