Remote Work Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Health in Lagos, Nigeria: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Remote workers are at risk of musculoskeletal disorders due to the sedentary nature of their work and ergonomic safety compliance is a necessary control measure. This work evaluated ergonomic compliance and work-related musculoskeletal disorders among fully remote workers in Lagos. Following approval, 371 remote workers were recruited to participate in a cross-sectional study. They responded to a Questionnaire, the main study tool, which biodata, work information, knowledge of ergonomics, workstation compliance, level of support offered by employer to aid ergonomic compliance, behavioral factors, musculoskeletal disorder symptoms and medical Information regarding past and present diagnosis/ treatment. To support data on workspace compliance, physical and virtual observations were carried out on 361 workspaces. Collated data were analyzed using descriptive tools. The data analysis showed that a large percentage of remote workers, about 66.31% had high knowledge on ergonomics. However, a relatively lower percentage, about 23.36% had highly compliant workspaces. Only 8% were highly compliant based on behavioral patterns as a larger 48% fell into the low category. The study showed that only 15.36% of employers gave a very high level of support to encourage ergonomic compliance. The Most prevalent musculoskeletal disorder amongst the population studies is the lower back pain, which has been suffered by 90.5% of respondents at varying durations and levels. This was closely followed by the upper back pain at 85.7% then eye pain at 47.1. The study shows a positive correlation between Employer support and: ergonomic compliance based on workspaces, ergonomic compliance based on behavioral patterns as well as knowledge on ergonomics at 0.26828222, 0.151881985 and 0.188086546 respectively. There is an urgent need to educate employees on ergonomic safety, create effective occupational health plans tailored specifically for the remote work model, develop feasible measures for compliance checks, and work with authorities to enact laws to protect the health and safety of remote workers in the long run.