• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.192-202
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• 2018

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are accumulative disorders that are most frequently found in agricultural farmers. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that affect symptoms resulting from work-related musculoskeletal disorders among Cambodian farm workers working in fruit plantations in the eastern region of Thailand. Methods: The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment, and Hazard Zone Jobs Checklist techniques were used to interview 861 farmers who participated in the study. Results: The data showed that men who had been working for >10 years were more at risk of neck pain than those working for <1 year with adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.90, 14.5). Among women those who had been working for >10 years experienced lower back pain with aOR 8.13, 95% CI (1.04, 63.74), compared with those who had been working for <1 year. Men whose tasks required raising the arms above shoulder height had a risk factor contributing to neck pain of aOR 1.68, 95% CI (1.08, 2.61) when compared with those who did not work with this posture, and women had aOR 1.82, 95% CI (1.07, 3.12) when compared with those who did not work with this posture. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that work-related health conditions are monitored in migrant plantation workers to reduce the risks of musculoskeletal disorders.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.259-267
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• 2016

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries and disorders (WMSD) are a significant issue in the health care sector. Allied Health professionals (AHP) in this sector are exposed to physical and psychosocial factors associated with increased risk of developing a WMSD. Clarification of relevant hazard and risk factors for AHP is needed to improve understanding and inform WMSD risk management. A systematic analysis of the literature was undertaken to determine prevalence and risk factors for WMSD in AHP. Databases of Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCO), EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were reviewed. This quality of articles was low. Outcome measures were varied, with prevalence rates of WMSD reported from 28% to 96% over a one-year time period. The lower back was the most commonly affected body part. Relevant factors identified with the development of WMSD included inexperience in the role and area of employment. Future research needs to focus on undertaking high quality prospective studies to determine the factors associated with WMSD development in AHP.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.211-216
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• 2010

Fire service personnel and ambulance paramedics suffer musculoskeletal disorders as they lift and carry patients while performing Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The objective of the current study was performed to examine the association between working environment and musculoskeletal disorders of 119 paramedics and to analysis the EMS activities for them through basic survey (including task characteristics, risk factors, symptoms and illnesses). Observational job analysis of EMS activities indicated the squatting posture during first-aid performed on floor and the abrupt use of force during carrying heavy load including stretcher with patients on as hazard factors, and excessive low back twisting and bending during stairway transfer was observed. In addition, work-physiological assessment revealed various but rather high lumbar muscle usage rate among the study subjects, being 14.6~32.8% compared with Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC) during patients transfer work. Resting heart rate showed 65/min, on the other hand, heart rate on mobilization indicated maximum 124~156/min. Therefore, the results of analysis to the EMS activities, rescuer activities and medical tasks were accompanied with high possibility of accident and musculoskeletal disorders. Also, EMS activities indicated high muscle fatigue and energy consumption, and accumulated muscle fatigue with during continued work.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.153-158
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• 2013

Objective: This study aims to suggest different approaches in analyzing risks associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDS) for risk assessment. Background: Upon concluding that the changes in the industrial environments have made it hard to regulate diverse risk factors, the government has implemented a policy for risk assessment. Method: This study has proposed a method, creating programs using Excel that perform qualitative or quantitative analysis, for evaluating risk factors in risk assessments and has applied this in manufacture and service industries. Results: To verify the validity of the developed program, risk assessment has been performed on restaurant chefs as an example. For quantitative evaluation, the study has suggested approaches using the results for REBA evaluation and the analysis report on the work scenes of a fitting-shop in a shipbuilding industry. Application: Constructing and adapting a system using Excel in evaluating risk factors for risk assessments as this study suggests, is expected to contribute to revitalizing risk assessments.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.315-325
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• 2022

Background: Firefighters are required to carry self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), which increases the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. This study assessed the newly recruited firefighters' internal forces and potential musculoskeletal disorders when carrying SCBA. The effects of SCBA strap lengths were also evaluated. Methods: Kinematic parameters of twelve male subjects running in a control condition with no SCBA equipped and three varying-strapped SCBAs were measured using 3D inertial motion capture. Subsequently, motion data and predicted ground reaction force were inputted for subject-specific musculoskeletal modeling to estimate joint and muscle forces. Results: The knee was exposed to the highest internal force when carrying SCBA, followed by the rectus femoris and hip, while the shoulder had the lowest force compared to the no-SCBA condition. Our model also revealed that adjusting SCBA straps length was an efficient strategy to influence the force that occurred at the lumbar spine, hip, and knee regions. Grey relation analysis indicated that the deviation of the center of mass, step length, and knee flexion-extension angle could be used as the predictor of musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: The finding suggested that the training of the newly recruits focuses on the coordinated movement of muscle and joints in the lower limb. The strap lengths around 98-105 cm were also recommended. The findings are expected to provide injury interventions to enhance the occupational health and safety of the newly recruited firefighters.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.51-57
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• 2009

The goal of this study is to propose the effective method of investigating the injurious factors and make improvement plans that prevents the workers against musculoskeletal disorders at plastic product companies and the same business field with similar working conditions and process. A questionnaire are adopted to analyze the symptoms of workers' musculoskeletal disorders, and ergonomic assessment methods such as RULA, OWAS are performed to find out harmful factors of workplace and working posture. Based on the result of the evaluation, to enhance the working environment, improvement of worktable, working space, tools, and outfit was suggested, and induction of mechanical system was also suggested. It can be concluded that the method and process described in this paper could be helpful for diagnosing the musculoskeletal disorders risk factors and making improvement plans to the plastic product companies and the same business field with similar working conditions and process.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.136-147
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate work-related risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in various departments and tasks at an oriental medicine hospital. Methods: 269 hospital workers were selected for the study. The questionnaire survey included general characteristics, work-related characteristics and MSDs. Cross-tabulation analysis, multiple logistic regression, adjusted for age, work time, job demand and workload, were used to evaluate the effects of work-related factors on MSDs. Results: There were differences in MSDs depending on gender, age, occupation, and work-related factors. Prevalence rates of MSDs were 23.79% shoulder, 14.13% back, 10.41% neck. Risk factors for MSDs was packaging of drugs, transfer, and exercise therapy of physical therapist. Shoulder pain was significantly influenced by using power tools, over-reaching, and job demand while back pain was significantly influenced by weight-lifting operations and keyboard typing. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that consideration of MSDs characteristics of workers in oriental medicine hospital is necessary to change unsuitable work environments and educate on preventing MSDs.

• 대한안전경영과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한안전경영과학회 2009년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.69-78
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• 2009

The goal of this study is to propose the effective method of investigating the injurious factors and making improved plans that prevents the workers against musculoskeletal disorders at an autoparts company and the same business field with similar working conditions and process. A questionnaire were adopted to analyze the symptoms of workers' musculoskeletal disorders, and an ergonomic assessment method such as RULA, OWAS were performed to find out harmful factors of workplace and working posture. Based on the result of the evaluation, to enhance the working environment, improvement of worktable, working space, tools, and outfit was suggested, and induction of mechanical system was also suggested. It can be concluded that the method and process described in this paper could be helpful for diagnosing the musculoskeletal disorders and making improvement plans to the autopart company and the same business field with similar working conditions and process.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.73-77
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• 2022

Background: Whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure of coal mine dumper operators poses numerous health hazards. The case-control study was aimed at assessing the relative musculoskeletal health risk of dumper operators' exposure to WBV with reference to the nonexposed group. Methods: Measurements of WBV exposure were taken at the operator-seat interface using a human vibration analyzer for 110 dumper operators in three coal mines. This vibration measurement was supplemented by a questionnaire survey of 110 dumper operators exposed to WBV and an equal number of workers not exposed to WBV. The relative risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) has been assessed through the case-control study design. Results: ISO guidelines were used to compare the health risk. It was observed that the prevalence of pain in the lower back was 2.52 times more in the case group compared to the control group. The case group of Mine-2 was 2.0 times more prone to vibration hazards as compared to Mine-3. Conclusion: The case group is more vulnerable to MSDs than the control group. The on-site measurement as well as the response of the dumper operators during the questionnaire survey corroborates this finding.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.156-169
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• 2009

In this study, the authors introduced DASH (Disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand), which had been developed for evaluating the functional impairment in the movement of upper extremities in regular daily activities, work ability and sports/performing arts ability. It is an ergonomic risk assessment tool used for industrial workers and also a disability measurement tool for upper extremity disorders arising from musculoskeletal disorders and symptom. This study intended to examine the applicability of DASH in occupational health field. Firstly, DASH development process and composition were reviewed through The DASH outcome measure user's manual and early articles. Secondly, reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the DASH in various languages at the application stage as well as its reliability and validity at the early stage of development were investigated. Thirdly, focusing on the application of DASH to clinical cases, workers with musculoskeletal symptoms, healthy workers, workers with other diseases, and general population were discussed besides workers with major musculoskeletal disorders. Lastly, DASH questionnaire was examined for its potential as a reference for assessing the functional impairment in the movement of upper extremities of workers with musculoskeletal symptoms in industrial workers in Korea.