Survey of Musculoskeletal Symptoms among Building Construction Workers in Southern Taiwan

Abstract

Construction industry is a hazardous industry. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are major problems among construction workers. However, musculoskeletal (MS) research in general is very limited in Taiwan. There were two objectives in this pilot study. The first one was to characterize the MS injury of building construction workers in Taiwan. The second one was to identify work-related activities and job factors that the building construction worker perceived contributing the most to their symptoms. 105 construction workers (99 male, 6 female) participated in this questionnaire survey. The result showed that 76.2% of the most prevalent work-related MS symptoms (74.6%), neck symptoms were the second (43.8%), and low back symptoms were the third (38.1%). After analyzing work-related activities, working in static position and awkward posture are the most frequently reported worker-related activities causing MS symptoms among building construction workers in Taiwan. The results indicated that building construction workers have high prevalence rate of MSDs. The future ergonomic intervention for these workers should focus on reduction of workers exposure to job-related risk activities, especially working in static or awkward posture.