Application of visual analog scales (VAS) for the comparative evaluation of tool and equipment designs and work methods

For a few years now, researchers of the Equipe de recherche en sécurité du travail (EREST) at the Ecole de technologie supérieure have been using psychophysical methods, VAS in particular, in their research work, in order to make precise assessments of tools, equipments and working methods. In all studies conducted, using VAS enabled the researchers to carry out precise evaluations and to recommend solutions for validating a choice, or to make the required modifications to tools, equipments or working methods. When physiological and/or physical measurements were also recorded at the same time as the psychophysical evaluations, results have consistently shown excellent correlation between these measurements. In this article, we present a summary of the main studies where the psychophysical technique of visual analog scales has been used successfully.