The manual material handling is considered one of the main risk factors in the appearance of back injury.To perform the analysis of the level of risk, different more or less complex procedures are applied according to the type of task.

The main objective of this article is to provide information that will allow prevention technicians to choose the appropriate procedure for the assessment of ergonomic risks inherent in the manual material handling, one that will enable a more agile analysis without sacrificing reliability in the results.

In order to achieve this goal, we formulated ten case studies in which we varied both the handling conditions and their level of complexity. For each one of them we made a comparison between the result of applying the recommended procedure from the technical point of view and the simplified procedure. Thereafter, prevention technicians and experts in ergonomics assessed their usefulness. We chose the application Ergo/IBV as our computer tool.

The simplification proposals were found to be very useful in cases 6 (palletizing up to 8 layers), 7 (variability in weight) and 10 (different tasks that the same worker performs during the course of the day) and quite useful in case number 8 (important variability in terms of weight and frequency). 

Balance disorders, in their several manifestations (vertigo, dizziness, instability), are very frequent. Those who suffer from this disorder complain of highly incapacitating symptoms that make these alterations a real healthcare problem.          

In this article, the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) presents a system that has been specifically designed for the functional assessment and rehabilitation of patients suffering from balance disorders, based on eValanz software.        
Technological appropriateness, ease of use, reliability, robustness and maintenance not to mention cost have been aspects that IBV has taken into consideration during the development of the eValanz System application.