천보람  김영규  김태훈

Vol. 40,  No. 6, pp. 81-87, Dec.  2025
10.14341/JKOSOS.2025.40.6.81

VDT work environment musculoskeletal burden work measurement error ergonomic assessment tools evaluation method development

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This study examined musculoskeletal risk factors and potential sources of measurement errors in ergonomic assessments of video display terminal (VDT) work within a semiconductor inspection process. Applying the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Symptom Survey, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) Guide–based hazard assessment, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment/Ovako Working Posture Analysis System/Rapid Entire Body Assessment (RULA/OWAS/REBA) evaluations, and a 54-item VDT work environment checklist, 52.78% of workers reported upper-body musculoskeletal symptoms, confirming the task as a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk activity. While RULA proved applicable across all evaluators, OWAS and REBA could not be applied due to mismatches between the task characteristics and the structural criteria of the tools. Within RULA, evaluator-to-evaluator score variability was observed. Meanwhile, the VDT work environment checklist identified broad ergonomic issues but had limited ability to distinguish the intensity of risk due to its binary response format. These findings indicate that tool selection, applicability constraints, and evaluator judgment can all act as sources of structural measurement errors in VDT work assessments. Accordingly, developing a dedicated evaluation method tailored to static upper-limb-dominant VDT tasks and standardizing assessment procedures are necessary for improving the accuracy of MSD risk evaluations in such environments.