Abstract
Early leaving of workplace by work forces is one of the fundamental problems worldwide. Maintenance and enhancement of employees work ability are important for raising productivity.This study investigated the relationship between work ability index and physical working conditions and was carried out in 2013 on 641 workers at a manufacturing plant in Tehran. Work ability was assessed by the questionnaire of work ability index and the participants were classified into four work ability groups of poor, moderate, good, and excellent. Physical working conditions were evaluated by the MUSIC-Norrtalje questionnaire and the participants were classified into two groups with proper and poor physical working conditions. The mean score of work ability questionnaire was 42.40; and 2.5% (16 persons), 9.2% (59 persons), 38.2% (245 persons), and 50.1% (321 persons) of the participants were in poor, moderate, good, and excellent work ability groups, respectively. The mean score of physical working conditions questionnaire was 20.06. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that even after adjusting the confounding variables, a significant correlation existed between work ability and physical working conditions (p<0.05). According to the results of this study, there may be a correlation between physical working conditions such as awkward postures, repetitive movements, load lifting, exposure to whole body vibration and so on with work ability. Therefore it seems that enhancement of the quality of physical working conditions may increase work ability.
Highlights
Leaving of workplace by work forces is one of the fundamental problems in developed and developing countries (Ilmarinen, 2001)
This study investigated the relationship between work ability index and physical working conditions and was carried out in 2013 on 641 workers at a manufacturing plant in Tehran
Work ability is defined as the amount of job that a worker can perform at present and future, and how he/she will do his/her work according to job requirements, personal health status, and mind resources (Lin et al, 2006)
Summary
Leaving of workplace by work forces is one of the fundamental problems in developed and developing countries (Ilmarinen, 2001). Maintenance and enhancement of employees work ability are important for raising productivity and preventing them from early leaving of workplace. Assessment of work ability and identifying individuals with inappropriate work performance will gain importance more than ever in the near future. Work ability is defined as the amount of job that a worker can perform at present and future, and how he/she will do his/her work according to job requirements, personal health status, and mind resources (Lin et al, 2006). The major factors affecting work ability include occupational factors (psychological and physical factors), health status, lifestyle, and physical activities. Imbalance between psychological and physical capacities of workers and job requirements has increasingly resulted in workers’ health problems and www.ccsenet.org/gjhs
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