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RAMP

FAQ

Problems running the programs

Question: I have problems with running the programs. Can you help me out?

Answer: If you have problems running the programs, the following may be supportive.

  1. Make sure you are using Excel 2010 or newer versions of Excel, which is needed to use the digitalized version of the RAMP tool correctly.
  2. Consult your IT support. Please report issues to us though our contact form in the menu.

Support with assessments

Question: I would like some support on how to make assessments with the RAMP tool.

Answer: We do not provide support on how to make assessments with the RAMP tool, except the following guidance:

  1. Read the user manual, where there is quite a lot of examples and advice on how to make assessments.
  2. Check with this FAQ questions below.
  3. Starting during the late autumn 2017, three courses on how to use the RAMP tool will be made available free of charge. They can be followed at edx.org via KTH.
  4. Consult an ergonomist.

In general, what should be assessed?

Question: What should be assessed, how work is carried out in reality or how one is supposed to/should perform the work?

Answer: It depends on what you want to assess. If you want to assess the work at a workplace where most employees carry out the work “correctly” and one carries it out in a "wrong" way, it may be advisable to make the assessment of those who do it "right", but take actions (education, training) for the one who performs it in a "wrong " way. If you want to assess the risks when employees are working as intended, you should analyze the work for such a case, i.e., when employees work as they are supposed to do.

How to make the assessment is a choice the assessor/company needs to decide on. An assessment of an "ideal case" refers to the potential of a worker who works with the right technique and not necessarily the risks actually present in the normal work.

Paste results into the Results program

Question: I try to paste the results from a RAMP assessment into the RAMP Results program, but it I am not successful in getting it right. What should I do?

Answer: Read the instruction under the “Introduction” sheet in the Results program! Then do as follows:

  1. Open the file you want to extract data from. Go to the "Action Plan" sheet. Select (mark) the color-coded area that has a dashed frame around it. Copy the area.
  2. Open the results program sheet "Results at detailed Level” and place marker in the top cell where the result shall appear. Select Paste VALUE and press enter. Now the results should be inserted into the file and displayed correctly.
  3. Remember to also include information about the current risk assessment, i.e. copy (as usual) the table from the “Input data” sheet in the original file to the correct input data table in the Results program “input data” sheet. Also this is described in the “Introduction” sheet.

How to insert assessment scores into the RAMP II program

Question: In RAMP I I can insert my assessment into the sheet “Checklist” and then view the results of the assessment in the “Results” sheet. But in RAMP II I can’t insert my assessment into the sheet” 1. Postures”. How do I insert my assessment scores into the RAMP II program?

Answer: In the first version of the RAMP II program, you can’t enter the Risk score directly into most of the sheets with the risk categories and assessment items, but have to enter them into the Results sheet. You can use a printout of the RAMP II pdf-file and fill in the assessments on it and then use that when entering the scores into the RAMP II programs Result sheet. There are two exceptions however: you can fill in the sheets ”3. Lifting work” and ”4. Pushing and pulling work” in the RAMP II program, where the respective Risk scores are calculated and automatically transferred to the corresponding fields on the “Results” sheet.

How to assess wrist posture and wrist movement in RAMP II

Question: An employee performs a static work task, pouring cement from a jug with the wrist bent sideways more than 10 degrees, with a firm grip and in this wrist posture for a little more than 5 minutes at a time, 12 times per working day. How should this be assessed in RAMP II’s assessment item “1.7 Wrist posture”? That is, what Risk score and Risk and priority level? And how should this be assessed in “2.2. Movements of the wrist”, that is, what Risk score and Risk and priority level should be inserted in this case?

Answer: In RAMP II, “1.7 Wrist posture” the posture of the wrist is assessed. In this case the wrist is bent sideways more than 10 degrees and held in a static posture a little more than 5 minutes at a time, 12 times per working day. This equals to a little more than 60 minutes in total during a working day. This lies in the time interval “1 to < 2 hours”, which is assessed with Risk score “2” and this is assessed as “yellow”.

In ”2.2 Movements of the wrist” wrist movements are assessed. 12 times per working day equals to 1.5 times per hour. In 2.2 this lies in the time interval “Up to 5 times per minute”, which is assessed with Risk score “0” and this is assessed as “green”.

Assessment of recovery in RAMP II at asymmetric loading

Question: In RMP II, recovery during work is estimated in "2.4 Shorter recovery/variation during work". How should recovery be assessed in a case where the right hand and arm are used in a similar way approximately 54 minutes per hour, while the left hand and arm are essentially resting all the time? The breaks for the right hand and arm are at least 20 seconds long each time.

Answer: The load on the right hand and arm (which also results in strain on the right shoulder) of 54 minutes per hour is interpreted as that 6 minutes per hour and at least 20 seconds each time the right hand and arm are given the opportunity to recover. This corresponds to 1 minute recovery per 10 minutes of work. This is in the interval "Between 30 and 90 seconds per 10 minutes work", which is assessed with Risk score 4 and results in a "yellow" assessment. Comment: For work with the right hand and arm, these structures are loaded on the right side, regardless of whether the left hand and arm are also used, i.e. when the right hand and arm are used in work, this time is not considered as recovery.

Action suggestions to word report

Question: I want to compile reports (word documents) where I have the automatically generated action suggestions from the RAMP Action Module (i.e. those from the "Action Suggestions" sheet). How should I do?

Answer: You can make a screenshot (PrintScreen) that can be cut directly in word, or alternatively in the Paint program or a similar program. However, it is not a good solution if you want a whole page as it becomes small in word. If the quality is not good enough, if you do this, you can print the parts you want from the program to PDF files. They can then be added as attachments to the document/report you want to create. If you have converted your word document into PDF, you can insert other PDF files in this.

Action Plan to the client

Question: I work as a consultant for a company and want to send the current Action plan template to them so that they can design the Action plan for an assessed case. How should I do?

Answer: You can simply send over the program for the assessed case. Alternatively, you can print the template as PDF and send that.

Assessment of lifting work in RAMP II

Question: We want to assess a work station where objects with different weights are lifted during the working day. The average weight of lifted items is 5.1 kg and the total number of lifts is 980 per working day. How should we assess this in RAMP II?

Answer: Use the sheet "3. Lifting work" in the RAMP II program. Read the User Manual on how to make assessments. First, assess the average case. Enter Table 1 with the value of 980 lifts per day, which is in the range of "961-1920" lifts per day and the weight 5.1 kg, which is in the range "over 5 kg - 7 kg". This leads to the frequency-and-weight factor 3.3. Enter this into Table 3 in the column "Factor" and also enter the other factors into this column, depending on what the current case looks like to derive at "Risk score 1". Then make an assessment of each of the different types of lifts that occur during the day, classifying them by the weight intervals in Table 1 and find the frequency-and-weight factor they receive. Insert these in Table 3 under "Possible worst case factor" (analyze them one at a time) to see if any of them leads to a higher value than the average you received for the average case. Such a worst case leads to "Risk score 2".

Determination of Lifting area factor assessing lifting work in in RAMP II

Question: I shall assess a lift that occurs from above shoulder height (but not above head height) near the body to chest height near the body. What Lifting area factor should I choose?

Answer: Read the manual. Table 2, in the "3.Lifting work" sheet in RAMP II shows that the Lifting area factor for the start of the lift is 2.0 in this case, and the final value 1.0, assuming a "straight path" from start to end point. One should choose the highest of these values, i.e. the Lifting area factor is 2.0 in this case.

The meaning of "the majority of lifts” in RAMP II

Question: What does "the majority of lifts” mean in the sheet "3. Lifting work "in RAMP II?

Answer: That it occurs in more than 50% of the lifts.

Nice ‘printouts’ to reports?

Question: How do I get ‘nice’ printouts of the Results, the Action Suggestions and Action Plan to reports?

Answer: One way is to Choose ‘Print’ and to PDF, another is to ‘Save as PDF’. Both these create a PDF document for each page. The Excel-sheets are already prepared for “nice” printouts.