Abstract
Background: The automotive industry is heavily affected by sick leaves caused by the handling of loads and using postures that produce musculoskeletal disorders. Research is needed to analyse their causes and find possible solutions to eliminate or mitigate these risks. Objective: Our objective was to analyse the level of musculoskeletal risk in the different work tasks performed by truck and bus mechanics. Our intention is also to analyse whether postural training and feedback can help reduce risk. Methods: The rapid entire body assessment (REBA) was used to assess the postures performed by 35 mechanics from eight branches throughout Spain. The participants were subsequently divided randomly into two groups (experimental group and control group). The experimental group (EG) was given training and feedback on their postures and the control group (CG) was not offered any type of intervention. A few months after the initial assessment, their postural load in the usual tasks was re-evaluated. Results: An overall average REBA Score: 10.49 ± 1.33. The main risk was found in the trunk and arms with sustained above-the-head postures. EG’s second results are significantly improved compared to the first (p = 0.026 *). Conclusions: These jobs have a high-risk level of musculoskeletal disorders. The course of action presented with postural training and feedback has shown satisfactory results. Nevertheless, given the size of the sample, further research will be needed to delve deeper into this possibility as a future line of intervention.
Highlights
The analysis of the report on the main activities based on accident rates for 2019 [1]indicates that there were 60,929 work accidents with sick leave and 42 fatalities in the vehicle repair economic activity, with one of the main causes of these workday accidents with sick leave being injuries due to overexertion from the handling of loads and using postures that create musculoskeletal disorders (MSD)
The sociodemographic characteristics of experimental group (EG) and control group (CG) participants were shown in Table 1, there were no significant differences in age, height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), and work experience between participants in the EG and CG groups
A relevant fact was that the average Body Mass Index (BMI) of the mechanics in the sample was 26.3 ± 3.249; according to the classification [18] the average weight of the mechanics in the sample was higher than normal
Summary
Indicates that there were 60,929 work accidents with sick leave and 42 fatalities in the vehicle repair economic activity, with one of the main causes of these workday accidents with sick leave being injuries due to overexertion from the handling of loads and using postures that create musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). These sick leaves lead the list of accidents with a total of 139,618 in 2020. Given the size of the sample, further research will be needed to delve deeper into this possibility as a future line of intervention
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