Wearable Sensors and Machine Learning for the Assessment of Biomechanical Risk in Lifting Tasks

Lifting loads can cause work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) established a methodology for assessing lifting actions by means of a quantitative method based on intensity, duration, frequency, and other geometrical characteristics of lifting. Body-worn inertial sensor technology provides a number of opportunities to advance the safety and health of workers engaged in physical work. Motion-tracking systems together with Machine learning (ML) algorithms are used in the ergonomic field for biomechanical risk assessment by means of data acquired by wearable inertial systems. The investigators posed the question whether it is possible to classify lifting tasks belonging to different risk classes according to the value of LI using a machine learning approach by means of features extracted from raw signals. Aim of this study was to develop and validate, through ML algorithms, a non-invasive detection system of kinetic-kinematic parameters using IMU and EMG sensors, for the ergonomic assessment of the risk associated with a load lifting activity.