# The OCRA High-Precision Checklist: how the score is built, the five risk bands and the 2026 update > The OCRA High-Precision Checklist scores repetitive upper-limb work from measured times instead of estimated fractions of the cycle. This guide walks through every factor in the score, the multipliers for recovery and duration, the five risk bands and what changed with the 2026 update. - Type: free guide · 6 chapters - Topics: OCRA, Methods - Author: Postura Ergonomics team - Published: 2026-11-10 · Updated: 2026-11-10 - Overview: https://postura.vision/resources/guides/ocra-checklist-guide/ - Read online: https://postura.vision/resources/guides/ocra-checklist-guide/read/ ## Why the OCRA Checklist matters Repetitive work of the hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders is where most work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limbs start. The OCRA Checklist is the screening method that ISO 11228-3 and ISO TR 12295 point to for mapping that risk across a plant. Its High-Precision version keeps the same scale and bands but works from measured seconds, and its score is now directly linked to the share of workers expected to be affected. - **16** the new OCRA Checklist boundary between low and medium risk, up from 14, after validation on 11,734 exposed workers. (Source: [Occhipinti & Colombini, IEA 2021 Congress (LNNS 222)](https://link.springer.com/search?query=OCRA+checklist+validation+Occhipinti+Colombini)) - **5 bands** from green to purple, with every upper limit included in its band, as set out in Dossier Ambiente no. 153. (Source: [Colombini & Occhipinti (eds.), Dossier Ambiente 153 (2026)](https://www.amblav.it/)) - **~21%** of exposed workers expected to be affected by upper-limb disorders at an OCRA Index of 9.0, against about 5% at 2.2. (Source: [Occhipinti & Colombini, Ergonomics 50(11), 2007](https://doi.org/10.1080/00140130701674331)) - **2026** second edition of ISO 11228-3, the standard for repetitive movements and exertions of the upper limbs. (Source: [ISO 11228-3:2026](https://www.iso.org/search.html?q=11228-3)) ## Which OCRA instrument do you need? Answer up to four questions about the assessment you are planning. You get the OCRA instrument the guide recommends, with the reason behind it. 1. Does the result have to support a decision about an individual worker, such as a return to work? If yes → **OCRA Index**: The Index is the analytical instrument, recommended for return-to-work and medico-legal assessments. 2. Is the assessment for a job redesign, a return to work or a medico-legal case? If yes → **OCRA Index**: The Index is the analytically precise instrument, recommended where the detail of each action matters. 3. Do you need to map many workstations and decide where to act first? If yes → **OCRA HP Checklist**: The Checklist is faster and was built for covering many workstations. The High-Precision version does it from measured times, without estimation error. 4. Does the operator rotate between several repetitive tasks during the shift? If yes → **OCRA Multitask**: A rotation needs a multitask model. The score of a single task does not replace the overall exposure of the shift. If none applies: If the upper limbs do not repeat the same pattern of actions, OCRA does not apply. Screen the postures with REBA and reassess if the work becomes repetitive. ## Who it is for - **HSE:** HSE managers who present OCRA results to management and need to explain what each band means. - **Ergonomics:** Ergonomists and assessors who want a shared, up-to-date reference for the Checklist and the 2026 changes. - **Occupational health:** Occupational physicians who match assessments against workers' restrictions. ## Contents 1. **What the OCRA HP Checklist measures** — Repetitive tasks, technical actions, standard versus High-Precision, and what the method does not cover. 2. **The five factors in the score** — Frequency, posture, stereotypy, complementary factors and force, and how each one is scored. 3. **Recovery and duration** — The recovery multiplier, valid recovery inside the cycle and the net duration of repetitive work. 4. **Reading the score** — The five risk bands, what the yellow zone really means, rounding and a worked example. 5. **The 2026 update** — The boundary moved from 14 to 16, the link between score and expected disorders, and the new ISO 11228-3. 6. **Checklist, Index or multitask** — When the Checklist is enough, when you need the Index and how to handle rotations and whole-plant maps. ## FAQ **What is the OCRA High-Precision Checklist?** The OCRA High-Precision Checklist is an evolution of the OCRA Checklist introduced in 2011 by the EPM research unit (Colombini, Occhipinti and colleagues). It keeps the same scoring scale, the same five risk bands and the same predictive model, but scores posture, force and complementary factors from the actual net time in seconds instead of estimated fractions of the cycle. It is the method Postura computes from video. **What is the OCRA Checklist?** The OCRA Checklist is a validated method for assessing the risk of repetitive work of the upper limbs. It scores five factors (frequency, posture, stereotypy, complementary factors and force) separately for the right and left side, corrects the result for recovery and for the duration of the repetitive work, and classifies it into five risk bands. **What are the OCRA Checklist risk bands?** Up to 7.5 is green, acceptable. Above 7.5 and up to 11.0 is yellow, borderline. Above 11.0 and up to 16.0 is orange, low risk. Above 16.0 and up to 22.5 is red, medium risk. Above 22.5 is purple, high risk. Each upper limit belongs to its own band, so a score of exactly 16.0 is still low risk. **Why did the boundary between low and medium risk change from 14 to 16?** A validation of the OCRA Checklist on 11,734 exposed workers, presented by Occhipinti and Colombini at the IEA 2021 Congress, linked the score directly to the expected prevalence of upper-limb disorders. On that basis the boundary was moved to 16, and the change is consolidated in the 2026 OCRA 30th-anniversary dossier. **Is a yellow OCRA score acceptable?** Not in a strict sense. The yellow band is a borderline zone: there is no scientific evidence that upper-limb disorders will develop at that exposure, and no evidence that they will not. Only the green band is evidence-based as safe, so a yellow result states uncertainty and deserves monitoring. **What is the difference between the OCRA Checklist and the OCRA Index?** Both assess the same risk and both are validated. The Checklist is faster and built for mapping many workstations. The Index is more analytical: it compares actual and recommended technical actions for each limb over the shift, and is recommended for job redesign, return-to-work and medico-legal assessments. **Does OCRA apply if there is no fixed cycle time?** Yes, if the work is repetitive. A task is repetitive when the same pattern of technical actions recurs during the shift, even without a takt time, for example picking orders of different sizes. In that case a video of one to four minutes of typical actions is used as the observed cycle. --- ## Introduction The OCRA Checklist scores the risk of repetitive work of the upper limbs over a shift, separately for the right and left side, and places the result in one of five risk bands. Its **High-Precision version (HP Checklist)** keeps the same scale and bands but builds the score from measured times in seconds instead of estimated fractions of the cycle. It is the version this guide follows, and the one Postura computes from video. It is also easy to misread. A score that looks precise can rest on a wrong cycle time, a recovery break counted twice or a yellow band read as "fine". This guide explains how the score is actually built, so you can check it, defend it and act on it. ### What the guide covers - **What the Checklist measures**, what the High-Precision version changes, and what neither covers. - **The five factors** that make up the score: frequency, posture, stereotypy, complementary factors and force. - **The two multipliers** for recovery and for the duration of repetitive work. - **How to read the result**: the five bands, the yellow zone and a worked example. - **The 2026 update**: the new boundary at 16, the link between score and expected disorders, and the second edition of ISO 11228-3. - **When to use the OCRA Index or a multitask model** instead. ### Sources The content follows the method as published by its authors, Enrico Occhipinti and Daniela Colombini: the original paper (Ergonomics, 1998), the 2007 update of reference values, the 2011 paper introducing the High-Precision Checklist (La Medicina del Lavoro), the 2021 validation of the Checklist and the 2026 OCRA 30th-anniversary dossier (Dossier Ambiente no. 153). Where Postura applies an internal convention, the guide says so. ## 1. What the OCRA HP Checklist measures The OCRA Checklist measures the biomechanical overload of the upper limbs caused by repetitive work over a shift. It applies only to repetitive tasks, and it scores each side of the body on its own. ### What counts as a repetitive task A task is **repetitive** when the upper limbs perform the same pattern of technical actions again and again during the shift. Under the authors' definition, that means at least one of: - the work is organised in **cycles**, a sequence of actions performed the same way and repeated, whatever their length; - the **same gesture** is repeated for more than half of the working time. **Repetitive does not mean machine-paced.** An operator preparing orders of 3 to 20 items, with no fixed cycle time, is still doing repetitive work if the actions are always the same: pick, place, close the box, move it on. In that case the observed video, typically one to four minutes of typical actions, stands in for the cycle. Acyclic phases inside a repetitive task, such as restocking, unpacking, machine time and waiting, **are part of the task**. Treating them as non-repetitive time leaves only the dense part of the work and overestimates the risk. ### The technical action The **technical action** is the elementary unit of OCRA: one task-oriented action of one upper limb, such as take, position, screw or insert. Actions can be **dynamic** or **static** (a sustained hold, such as gripping a tool throughout the cycle). Counting them reliably normally needs a video review. Some actions do not happen in every cycle, for example a refill every ten pieces. These **technical actions in frequency** must be included when they are standard and recurring, pro-rated in the count or handled as a separate phase. ### Standard or High-Precision The **High-Precision Checklist** was introduced in 2011 by the EPM research unit as an evolution of the standard Checklist. The model, the formula, the bands and the predictive model are the same; what changes is how precisely the inputs are measured. | Factor | Standard Checklist | High-Precision Checklist | | --- | --- | --- | | **Posture** | Class by fraction of the cycle (1/3, 2/3, 3/3) | Actual net seconds in each awkward posture | | **Force** | Qualitative duration class ("about half"...) | Exact net seconds in each Borg force band | | **Complementary factors** | Presence with coarse duration thresholds | Net duration in seconds | | **Frequency, recovery, duration** | Same | Same | | **Bands and predictive model** | Same | Same | The gain is largest where the fraction classes introduce observation bias: complex or variable cycles and multitask stations. When the timings come from video analysis, measured seconds are the native output, so the High-Precision version is also the faster one to compute. ### One score per side The Checklist is computed **separately for the right and left upper limb**. A task can be green on one side and red on the other; the assessment reports both, and action follows the worse one. ### What it does not measure | The OCRA Checklist does not cover | Use instead | | --- | --- | | Lifting and lowering loads with both hands | NIOSH Lifting Equation (ISO 11228-1) | | Pushing, pulling and carrying | Snook & Ciriello tables (ISO 11228-2) | | Whole-body postures of trunk, neck and legs | REBA or TACOS | | Work without a recurring pattern of actions | Postural screening (REBA) | If a station combines several of these demands, each is assessed with its own method. The companion guide *OCRA vs NIOSH vs REBA* explains how to choose and combine them. ## 2. The five factors in the score The base of the OCRA Checklist is the **Partial score**, the sum of five factors scored for each side: frequency, posture, stereotypy, complementary factors and force. **Partial = Frequency + Posture + Stereotypy + Complementary factors + Force** The Partial score describes the task itself, before recovery and duration are taken into account. In the High-Precision Checklist, posture, force and complementary factors are scored from the **percentage of the cycle** they actually occupy, measured in seconds. ### Frequency **Frequency** scores how many technical actions the limb performs per minute. Dynamic and static actions are scored as separate components, and the frequency score is the higher of the two. Technical actions in frequency, the ones that recur once every few cycles, are included in the count. ### Posture **Posture** scores how long each joint spends outside a neutral position: shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand grip. The posture factor takes **only the highest** of the joint contributions, not their sum. For the hand, only a grip on an object about 3 to 5 cm across counts as congruent. **Pinch, palmar and hook** grips are awkward. Ill-fitting gloves effectively turn every grip into an awkward one. Postura measures joint angles from the video frame by frame and applies angle thresholds for each joint. ### Stereotypy **Stereotypy** scores the repetition of the same movements. It is scored as the **maximum** of two contributions, a very short cycle or the same actions repeated for most of the cycle, not their sum, and it is added only once. As an internal convention, Postura scores a cycle of up to 8 seconds as 3 points and a cycle of more than 8 and up to 15 seconds as 1.5 points. ### Complementary factors **Complementary factors** are mechanical and organisational conditions that add to the overload. Mechanical factors score up to 9 points, organisational factors up to 2, and the two are added. | Mechanical factor | Points | | --- | --- | | Inadequate gloves for more than half the time | 2 | | 2 or more sudden, jerky movements per minute | 2 | | At least 10 impacts per hour with the hand used as a tool | 2 | | Cold surfaces (below 0°C) or cold rooms for more than half the time | 2 | | Vibrating tools for at least a third of the time | 2 (4 for high vibration) | | Tools that compress muscles or tendons | 2 | | Precision work on areas under 2 to 3 mm for more than half the time | 2 | | More than one of these factors at the same time for more than half the time | 2 | | One or more of these factors for almost the entire cycle | 3 | | Organisational factor: work rate set by machine | Points | | --- | --- | | Some pace adjustment possible (buffer between stations) | 1 | | Line moving at very slow speed | 1.5 | | No pace adjustment possible | 2 | Screwdrivers count as vibrating tools only if they kick back. ### Force **Force** scores the effort the operator perceives during specific actions, rated on the **Borg CR-10 scale** from 0 to 10, together with how long each effort lasts in the cycle. It is usually collected by interviewing the operator after the video. ## 3. Recovery and duration Two multipliers turn the Partial score into the result: the **recovery multiplier** for the distribution of breaks and the **duration multiplier** for how long the repetitive work lasts in the shift. **Intrinsic score = Partial × Recovery multiplier** **Final score = Intrinsic score × Duration multiplier** ### The recovery multiplier The recovery multiplier is looked up from the number of **hours without adequate recovery** in the shift, counted analytically from the real distribution of breaks, half hours included. - The **last hour of the shift** and the **hour before the meal break** count as recovered. - For what remains unrecovered in each hour: under 20 minutes scores 0, 20 to 40 minutes scores half an hour, more than 40 minutes scores one hour. ### Recovery inside the cycle Some cycles contain their own recovery, a period in which the limb is completely inactive. As Postura applies it, this counts as **internal recovery** only when it lasts at least 10 consecutive seconds, appears in every cycle and keeps the ratio between active time and recovery no higher than about 5 to 1 (Postura tolerates up to 6.5 to 1). When valid internal recovery is present, the recovery multiplier is 1. This is why waiting time for a machine must stay in the video: cut it, and the recovery disappears from the analysis. ### The duration multiplier The duration multiplier depends on the **net duration of repetitive work** in minutes. Net means excluding breaks, the meal, non-repetitive work and valid internal recovery, without subtracting the same recovery twice. If a task fills only part of the repetitive time, use its actual duration, not the whole shift. The multiplier is read from the table in ISO 11228-3. ### Time-and-methods times are not OCRA times A frequent source of disagreement: the cycle times from an industrial engineering study include line saturation and added recovery allowances, so they **do not map directly** onto the net repetitive time OCRA needs. The gap is almost always explained by non-repetitive tasks that neither the time study nor the shift supervisor sees. Before comparing an OCRA result with a time study, reconcile the two times. ## 4. Reading the score An OCRA Checklist score up to 7.5 is green and acceptable; above 22.5 it is purple, high risk. In between are three bands, yellow, orange and red, each with its upper limit included. | OCRA Checklist score | Band | Risk level | | --- | --- | --- | | Up to 7.5 | Green | Acceptable | | Above 7.5, up to 11.0 | Yellow | Borderline | | Above 11.0, up to 16.0 | Orange | Low | | Above 16.0, up to 22.5 | Red | Medium | | Above 22.5 | Purple | High | The bands follow the 2026 OCRA dossier (Dossier Ambiente no. 153). **Every upper limit belongs to its own band**: a score of exactly 16.0 is still low risk, and medium risk starts above it. ### The yellow band is not "safe" The yellow band is a **borderline zone**. There is no scientific evidence that upper-limb disorders will develop at that exposure, and no evidence that they will not. Only green is evidence-based as acceptable. Read a yellow result as uncertainty: monitor the station and improve it when you can. ### How Postura rounds the score Postura rounds each score **up to one decimal** before showing it and classifying it, so the number and the colour always agree. A score of 7.50 stays 7.5 and is green; 7.501 becomes 7.6 and is yellow. Because all band limits are expressed to one decimal, the band is the same as for the unrounded score. This is a Postura convention, not a rule of the method. ### Worked example A single repetitive task, right side. | Step | Value | | --- | --- | | Partial score (five factors) | 7.5 | | Hours without adequate recovery | 3, so recovery multiplier 1.20 | | Intrinsic score | 7.5 × 1.20 = **9.0** | | Net duration of repetitive work | 454 minutes, so duration multiplier 1.00 | | Final score | 9.0 × 1.00 = **9.0**, yellow (borderline) | The intrinsic and final scores coincide here only because the duration multiplier is 1. On its own, the task would be green: it is the break distribution that pushes it into yellow. That tells you where to act first. ### One task is not the whole job The final score of a single task does **not** replace the overall result of a rotation. If the operator moves between several repetitive tasks in the shift, the overall exposure comes from a multitask model, covered in chapter 6. ## 5. The 2026 update Following the 2021 validation, the OCRA Checklist boundary between low and medium risk moved from 14 to 16; the 2026 OCRA dossier consolidates the change and ties the score directly to the expected prevalence of upper-limb disorders. ### The boundary moved from 14 to 16 The change comes from the validation of the OCRA Checklist presented by Occhipinti and Colombini at the IEA 2021 Congress, on a population of **11,734 exposed workers**. It is consolidated in the method's 30th-anniversary publication, *OCRA 30° anniversario* (Dossier Ambiente no. 153, 2026), which also gives the mathematical rationale for the new value. If your risk assessment still uses 14, stations scored above 14.0 and up to 16.0 change from medium to low risk. Re-read them before you re-plan the corrective actions. ### From score to expected disorders The same validation produced a direct predictive model between the Checklist score and the **expected prevalence of upper-limb disorders** (PA, the percentage of affected workers): **PA = 0.742 × Checklist score** (R² = 0.86, 11,734 workers) It turns a score into a figure management can understand: the expected prevalence of upper-limb disorders in a group of workers exposed at that score. For the OCRA Index, the 2007 update of reference values gives a similar model, with about 5% of workers affected at an Index of 2.2, 11% at 4.5 and 21% at 9.0. ### A new edition of ISO 11228-3 **ISO 11228-3:2026** is the second edition of the international standard on repetitive movements and exertions of the upper limbs, replacing the 2007 edition. It: - adds a normative **quick assessment** model; - expands the guidance on **choosing an assessment method**; - classifies assessment tools by what they include and by their **predictive and concurrent validity**. ### What to do now - Check that your tools and templates use **16**, not 14, as the boundary between low and medium risk. - Re-read the stations scored above 14.0 and up to 16.0 and update their priority. - Use the predictive model when you present results: an expected share of affected workers is easier to act on than a colour. ## 6. Checklist, Index or multitask Use the OCRA Checklist to map and prioritise many workstations, the OCRA Index when you need an analytical result for a job redesign, a return to work or a medico-legal case, and a multitask model whenever the operator rotates between tasks. | Criterion | OCRA Checklist | OCRA Index | | --- | --- | --- | | **Output** | One score per side, five bands | Actual / recommended technical actions (ATA/RTA), per limb and shift | | **Speed** | Fast | More detailed, takes longer | | **Built for** | Mapping many workstations, setting priorities | Job redesign, return to work, medico-legal cases | Both instruments assess the same risk and both are validated, so the choice depends on **what the output is used for**. Where the result has to support a decision about an individual worker, such as a return to work, the more analytical Index is the usual choice. ### Rotations need a multitask model When an operator rotates between several repetitive tasks in the shift, the score of each task is an intermediate result. The overall exposure comes from the **OCRA multitask** procedure, with a weighted-average or a more complex method depending on the rotation. Never report a single-task score as the exposure of a worker who rotates. ### Mapping a whole plant A **risk map** assesses every workstation of a department with the OCRA Checklist and places each one in its band. It is the basis for three decisions: - **Priorities**: which stations to redesign first. - **Health surveillance**: which groups of workers the occupational physician should follow. - **Individual exposure**: through homogeneous exposure groups and the multitask models. Start with the Checklist across the department, then move to the Index on the stations where the detail matters. ## Your next step Take the OCRA Checklist scores you already have and check two things: the boundary between low and medium risk is 16, not 14, and every station in the yellow band has a monitoring plan. Then pick the station with the highest score and look at which factor drives it. ### With Postura Postura computes the **OCRA High-Precision Checklist** from the videos of a station, because measured seconds are what video analysis produces: the AI counts the dynamic technical actions and measures postures frame by frame. You enter cadence, static actions, stereotypy, perceived force (Borg), complementary factors, breaks and shift length, and Postura applies the formulas with the 2026 bands, for each side, with every factor visible. - **See it on your own footage**: [book a demo](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ1vaRyHk2DvHW84TDK4rpDfgwOFSYqkmYbXOn_17BZ2S8BvLTSLYXhy7wdXo_DlMxpu61AJvnxv). - **Recording the video**: read [How to film a workstation for an ergonomic assessment](/resources/guides/video-recording-ergonomic-assessment/). - **Choosing the method**: read [OCRA vs NIOSH vs REBA](/resources/guides/ocra-vs-niosh-vs-reba/).