Risk Assessment of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Printing Workers by Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA)

Abstract

This study aims to assess the risk of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) in printing industry workers. The study included 100 workers working in different press and pre-press units of Printing presses situated in the Thane district. The study employed demographic details, job details, self-reported Nordic Body-Map Questionnaire (NBM) to collect data, along with the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) to evaluate the working posture of the workers. The results showed that 37% of the participants experienced musculoskeletal complaints, with left knee pain being the most prevalent (13%), followed by right knee pain (11%) and Hips (11%). The RULA assessment revealed that a significant percentage of participants were at intermediate to high risk of developing WMSDs due to their working posture.