Assessing Psychosocial and Personal Factors in Industrial Work: Issues and Challenges for the Occupational Ergonomics Practitioner and Researcher

Abstract

The occupational ergonomics practitioner has traditionally focused on physical aspects and risk factors of industrial jobs (e.g., forces exerted, moments and loading on the joints, low back compressive force, upper extremity repetitive motion, etc.). However, some studies have shown that physical risk factors may only account for about 37% of low back pain (Punnett et al., 2005). Psychosocial factors continue to be identified as an important element in the incidence of many occupationally-related musculoskeletal disorders. Some researchers have included assessments of psychosocial and personal/individual factors to biomechanical assessments in studies of occupational injury risks (e.g., Marras et al., 2000, Ferguson et al., 2012). Others (e.g., Barim et al., 2019) have examined incorporating personal/individual factors into risk assessment methods to give a more complete picture of injury risk that an individual or a subgroup of workers (e.g., gender, age, prior injury) may face on jobs. This discussion panel will explore the research in the fields of psychosocial and personal risk factors and their relevance to the assessment of injury risk. This session is relevant for the practitioners who must understand, interpret and apply the results of research to real-world problems.