Low Postures

The Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) publishes job-related information on physical demands; environmental 

conditions; education, training, and experience; as well as cognitive and mental requirements. The job requirements 

reflect those necessary for workers to perform critical tasks in support of the critical job functions, and not the 

capabilities of individual workers. Low postures estimates are considered part of the physical demand for workers in the 

U.S.

There are four positions included in low postures:

• Crawling – moving about on hands and knees or hands and feet.

• Crouching – bending the body downward and forward by bending the legs and spine.

• Kneeling – bending the legs at the knees to come to rest on the knee or knees.

• Stooping – bending the body forward and down while bending the spine at the waist 45 degrees or more either 

over something below waist level or down towards an object on or near the ground. Stooping should be 

significant enough that when bending, if arms were extended, workers’ hands would be at or below the knees. 

Stooping must be performed while standing.

The low posture estimates indicate the percentage of workers with the requirement to perform critical tasks in low 

postures and are provided as:

• Not required – when no low posture position is generally required to perform critical tasks.

• Required – when the job, the nature of critical tasks performed, or the physical settings of work environment 

dictates the use of specific low postures.

• Worker’s choice – when none of the criteria from required apply and workers may choose the posture they use. 

For instance, workers may be able to either crouch or kneel to perform a job requirement.

Workers may be required to perform some critical tasks in a specific low posture and other critical tasks may allow for 

choice in low postures.

Low postures were not required for 43.2 percent of civilian workers. There were some occupations where more than 

99.5 percent of workers were not required to perform critical tasks in low postures. For example, web and digital 

interface designers, economics teachers, and hearing aid specialists.

While 56.8 percent of civilian workers were required to perform critical tasks in low postures, crouching was required for 

8.9 percent of workers. Another 38.9 percent of civilian workers were able to choose whether to crouch to complete 

critical tasks. (See Chart A.)
Occupational Requirements Survey ●www.bls.gov/ors ●orsinfo@bls.gov ●202.691.6199

Crawling was required for 71.9 percent of firefighters, 61 percent were required to crouch, 62.3 percent were required 

to kneel, and 60.8 percent were required to stoop. (See Chart B.)

Crawling is the only low posture that involves movement, and it is less easily replaced by other low postures. Although 

crawling is less interchangeable, there may be instances where workers have a choice whether to crawl or perform 

another posture. For example, electricians may have a choice of whether to crawl while working on low wiring, but they 

may also stoop, kneel, or crouch if they prefer. Crawling was required for 34.9 percent of electricians and 18.3 percent 

could choose to crawl. (See Chart C.)

Durations of low postures

Low posture duration estimates are also published when possible. However, these measure the duration of low postures 

and are not available for individual postures (crawling, crouching, kneeling, and stooping).

Duration estimates provide the percentage of workers performing low posture by the portion (or range) within the 

workday spent performing critical tasks in low postures. For instance, 39.1 percent of cooks, fast food were required to 

perform critical tasks in low postures up to two percent of the workday (seldom) and 40.8 percent were required to 

perform tasks in low postures occasionally (two percent to 1/3 of the workday).

The sum of these estimates equals the total percentage of cooks, fast food with low posture requirements: 79.9 percent.
Occupational Requirements Survey ●www.bls.gov/ors ●orsinfo@bls.gov ●202.691.6199

Similarly, while 98.7 percent of highway maintenance workers were required to perform tasks in low postures, 16.3 

percent of these workers performed critical tasks seldom (up to two percent of the workday), 66.3 percent performed 

critical tasks in low postures occasionally (from two percent up to 1/3 of the workday), and 16.1 percent performed 

tasks in low postures frequently (from 1/3 up to 2/3 of the workday).

Table 1. Percentage of workers with low posture requirement durations by occupation, 2023

Occupation Required Seldom Occasionally Frequently

Highway maintenance workers 98.7 16.3 66.3 16.1

Automotive service technicians and mechanics 97.5 7.4 74.3 15.8

Motorcycle mechanics 95.5 36.7 53.3 5.5

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses 87.1 28.8 55.3 3.0

Locker room, coatroom, and dressing room attendants 85.3 48.1 36.4 0.8

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders 83.3 7.6 75.1 0.6

Cooks, fast food 79.9 39.1 40.8 -

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders 79.6 26.3 53.3 -

Food batchmakers 75.6 21.7 53.9 -

Team assemblers 64.2 19.1 35.3 9.8

Note: Dashes indicate that estimate was not publishable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey

Additional resources:

• Latest news release

• Archived ORS news releases

• Handbook of Methods

• Collection manuals

• Factsheets

Articles:

• All The Economics Daily (TED) articles on ORS

• Minds at work: what’s required according to the Occupational Requirements Survey (PDF)

• A look at teachers’ job requirements, employer costs, and benefits (PDF)

• Occupational Requirements Survey: Third wave testing report (PDF)

• Occupational Requirements Survey: results from a job observation pilot test

• The Occupational Requirements Survey: estimates from preproduction testing

For additional information on occupational requirements see the ORS homepage or download the ORS complete dataset

to explore the latest estimates.