Harmful Effects in Personal Assistants ́ Client Transfer Situations

The aim of this study was to describe personal assistants’ risks for harmful effects in client transfer situations at work. Observation and assessment of their working postures in transfer situations were performed by the Swedish ergonomic regulations concerning “red flags” (AFS 1998:1), by video recordings and by biomechanical analysis. The results showed that among eight home care assistants, four assistants had a low-back posture in client transfer situations which was flexed and/or rotated >60, classified as a harmful effect, a red flag, with a high risk for musculoskeletal workrelated symptoms and disorders and the other four had a risk for harmful effects, yellow flags. The harmful effects were noted in highly flexed and rotated working postures when technical equipment was not used or not possible to use anthropometrically correct. All eight personal assistants ́ neck flexion indicated yellow flags, thus there were risks for harmful effect in the neck.