Workers' motor efficiency assessment through an IMU-based standardized test and an automated and error-minimizing measurement procedure

In recent years, National and European organizations have conducted several studies on worker health and well-being programs, focusing primarily on wellness-at-work interventions' advantages. But the intervention should be designed based on the workers' physical level. For this, it is possible to administer simple tests to define the physical profile during periodic medical evaluations. This paper aimed to evaluate and standardize simple tests to assess the worker's coordinative abilities. It is essential because its assessment can provide information about a worker's effectiveness and responsiveness in the face of sudden danger. Ten young workers between 26 and 30 were enrolled in this study to determine the effects of a series of repetitive hand exercises on reaction time as assessed by a standardized test. After asking participants to perform exercises to simulate a repeated movement, the results showed motor variability behaviors that were subject to the timing of test execution, highlighting how each worker has different adaptations to the motor tasks required. Repetition of dexterity exercises for a longer lead time resulted in improved reaction time in 9 out of 10 workers. When the repetitive movement execution times were shorter, only 7 out of 10 had an improvement in reaction time. The acquisition of this data can be a key factor in characterizing the worker's efficiency level. The importance of the presented study is both focused on the test's meaning and its automated implementation by means of an IMU sensor. It was used to assess hand movement during the reaction time test, thus minimizing human interventions and possible systematic errors in the measurement of the reaction time. In addition, measurements were used to determine whether participants could undergo physical interventions to maintain and/or improve their motor abilities.