The study evaluates two simple instruments that may be used to describe aspects of physical workload in almost any occupation: a pedometer, which measures the number of steps taken by the subject wearing it, and a posimeter, which quantifies the time spent sitting and the number of changes between sitting and a The present data showed that the pedometer registers the correct number of steps at 'ordinary' walking speed independent of type of floor (plastic carpet and stone floor), shoes (wooden shoes and sneakers) and gender. At 'slow' walking (2.4 km/h) a reduced number of steps was recorded. In a field study the median difference between pedometer registration and observation was 6% (range 1-27) of the observed obtained for the five investigated pedometers was 0-15%. The posimeter was found to give a good estimate of the percentage time spent sitting (mean deviation 3%, range 0-15%). The number of changes between sitting and standing was overestimated by the posimeter (median deviation 63% of the observed). Some extreme working postures can be misread by the posimeter.