Lower extremity (LE) work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are known to occur with cumulative exposure to occupational and personal risks. The objective of this disserta-tion study was to find if creating a quantifiable risk detection model for the LE was feasible. The primary product of the literature review conducted for this study resulted in focu-sing the attention of the model development process onto creating the initial model of the LE for assessing knee disorder risk factors.LE occupational disorders affect numerous industries and thousands of people each year by affecting any one of the musculoskeletal systems deemed susceptible by the occupa-tional and personal risk factors involved. Industries known to be affected tend to have labor intensive job descriptions. Some of the numerous industry examples include mining, manufacturing, firefighting, and carpet laying. Types of WMSDs noticed by the literature include bursitis, osteoarthritis, stress fractu-res, tissue inflammation, and nerve entrapment. In addition to the occupationally related disorders that may develop, occupationally related discomforts were also taken into consideration by this study. Gene-rally, both the disorders and the discomforts can be traced to either a personal or occupational risk factor or both. Personal risk factors noted by the literature include a person’s physical fitness and health history (such as past injuries). Meanwhile, occupational risks can be generalized to physical postu-res, activities, and even joint angles. Prevalence data over a three year interval (2003-2005) has found that LE WMSDs make up on average approximately 7.5% of all the WMSD cases reported to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). When the literature is refined to iii the information pertaining to occupational knee disorders, the mean prevalence percentage of the same three year range is about 5%. Mean cost for knee injuries were found to be $18,495 (for the year between 2003 and 2004).

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