Anthropometric characteristics of Chilean workers for ergonomic and design purposes

Obtaining an appropriate match between a product and its end-users requires anthropometric data, which are typically outdated and show variations among different countries. Chile had its anthropometric data taken nearly 20 years ago, thus they are probably outdated. The purpose of this article is to describe some anthropometric characteristics of Chilean workers. An anthropometric survey involving 27 measures and five calculated body dimensions was conducted in 2016. The measurements were based on ISO 7250 and ISO 15535 to ensure the highest standards possible, and a total of 2946 workers, aged from 18 to 76 years old, participated in the survey. The results showed that Chilean workers have smaller dimensions than Dutch and US workers but have larger dimensions than South Koreans. The data presented in this article constitute the most up-to-date anthropometric dataset describing the dimensions of Chilean workers. Practitioner Summary: In Chile, women are smaller and weigh less than men, and both of these populations have high body mass index (BMIs). In addition, the Chilean population exhibits substantial differences compared with other international adult populations. The data presented in this article should be used as a reference when designing for Chilean workers.This work was supported by the Mutual de Seguridad C.Ch.C en el marco del fondo 'Proyectos de Investigacion e Innovacion SUSESO'. 'Trabajo fue seleccionado en la Convocatoria de Proyectos de Investigacion e Innovacion de Prevencion de Accidentes y Enfermedades Profesionales "2015" de la Superintendencia de Seguridad Social (Chile), y fue financiado por "Mutual de la C.Ch.C" con recursos del Seguro Social de la Ley No 16.744 de Accidentes del Trabajo y Enfermedades Profesionales.' The authors wish to thank all the participating workers, as well as to the 7 physiotherapists for their collaboration in the measurements process (Gonzalo Bravo, Agustina Cardenas, Felipe Llanca, italo Mercurino, Soraya Sabaj, alvaro Villanueva, Romina Zamorano)