01
What Are the Main Ways to Assess Lifting and Posture at Work?
There are four common ways: an in-person checklist, wearable sensors, video-based tools in general, and GRW Movement, a video read built in Calgary. Each one sees a different part of the job.
Most safety teams do not pick just one. They use a checklist to find the tasks that matter, then a measured method to back up the riskiest ones. The table below puts them side by side.
| Method | What it sees | What it misses | Time on site | Who signs off | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-person checklist | The task, the load and the setting, through a trained eye | Late-shift fatigue, fast movements, what happens when no one watches | Short visit per task | Your competent person | Walking the site and finding the tasks to look at |
| Wearable sensors | Body angles over a long stretch of work | The load and the setting around the worker | Fitting, wearing and collecting devices | Your competent person, with the vendor data | Long studies of a few workers on one known task |
| Video-based tools in general | Posture through the task, on footage you can replay | Anything out of frame or hidden by a poor angle | A few minutes of filming per task | Your competent person | Measured evidence without gear on the worker |
| GRW Movement | Trunk lean, knee alignment, balance, head posture, range of motion and pace, per task | Load weight and the reasons behind a habit | A few minutes of phone video per task | Your competent person | Part 14 lifting checks, COR hazard work and symptom reviews in Alberta |
02
1. In-Person Checklist Observation
A trained person watches the task and scores it on a form. It is quick to start and needs no equipment. It also catches the setting: the shelf height, the cluttered floor, the pallet in the wrong spot.
The weak spot is time. One person sees a few lifts in a few minutes. Fatigue shows late in a shift, and fast movements are hard to judge by eye. Two observers can score the same lift in different ways.
Use it to walk the site, list the tasks that move loads, and find the ones that need a closer look.
03
2. Wearable Sensors
Sensors worn on the body record angles and movement over hours. That is useful when you need to study one worker through a full shift.
They do not see the load or the setting. You also have to buy, charge, fit and collect the devices, and some workers do not want to wear them. Results depend on where the sensor sits and how well it is fitted.
Use them for long studies of a small group on a task you already know is a problem.
04
3. Video-Based Tools in General
Video tools read posture from footage of the task. Most need only a phone. You can replay the clip, slow it down, and compare it before and after a change.
They miss what is out of frame, and detail drops when the camera angle is poor. Some tools keep the footage on their servers. Ask where the video goes, who can see it, and when it is deleted.
Use them when you need measured evidence on specific tasks without putting gear on the worker.
05
4. GRW Movement
GRW Movement reads a phone video of a task and measures trunk lean when lifting, knee alignment, left and right balance, forward head posture, range of motion, and reps and pace. You get a written report for each task to file with your assessment. The video is deleted once it is read.
It does not weigh the load or tell you why a worker lifts the way they do. Pair it with your own notes and a talk with the crew.
It was built in Calgary for Alberta sites, so the report lines up with the Part 14 factors and with the hazard identification a COR auditor reviews.
A clipboard sees one lift. A video sees the shift.
06
What to Ask Any Method
Before you pick a method, ask four plain questions. What exactly does it measure? How does it show you what it saw, so you can check it? What does it do when the view is poor or the task is hidden? Who can see the data, and for how long?
A good method is clear about what it does not see. If a tool gives you a score with no way to check how it got there, treat the score with care.
07
Worker Trust and Privacy
Any method that watches people at work needs the crew on side. Tell workers what you are measuring, why, and what happens to the data. Show them the report. Most people want a safer task, and they will help if they know the goal is the task, not a grade on them.
Ask any vendor where footage or sensor data is stored, who can see it, and when it is deleted. Put the answers in writing.
08
How to Combine Them
A simple way to work: walk the site with your checklist and list every task that moves a load. Rank them. Film the top few on a phone and get a measured read. Fix the task. Film it again and compare.
Use wearables only when you need to follow a worker through a full shift on a task you already know is a problem.
09
What About Cost and Time?
A checklist costs the time of a trained person on site. Wearables add the devices and the time to manage them. Video adds a few minutes of filming per task and the tool itself.
The hidden cost is redoing work. A checklist made from memory is hard to compare after a fix. A dated video record makes the before and after easy to show.
10
Which Should You Use?
Pick by the question you need to answer. To find the risky tasks, walk the site with a checklist. To study one worker over a long shift, use wearables. To measure a task and show what changed after a fix, use video.
Most sites already have the checklist. The gap is usually a measured, dated record of the riskiest tasks, before and after the fix. That record is what a hazard assessment, a symptom review and a COR audit all ask you to show.