Abstract
The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of cognitive task and change of height on the postural stability and cardiovascular stress of at-height workers. The study included 32 healthy men aged 25–47. Due to the type of work performed, two groups were identified: at‒height workers, HW (n = 16), and office workers (mainly work at desk with a computer) OW (n = 16). The objective measures of postural stability (posturography) and cardiovascular stress (heart rate monitor) were evaluated for both groups at two different platform heights (ground level and 1 m above the ground) with or without cognitive task (backward counting). The increased height and the cognitive task were found to significantly affect measures of postural stability and cardiovascular stress. It was observed that in inexperienced OW employees, higher platform height and performing a cognitive task meant that posture stability significantly decreased, while cardiovascular stress and difficulties in maintaining balance increased. In HW group postural stability is less affected by distress conditions than in OW group.
Highlights
The construction industry and in particular work at height are often considered to be one of the most dangerous occupations [1]
Regardless of the change in the conditions, higher results were identified for sway path (SP) and SPML (F = 6.63, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.18 and F = 12.67, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.30, respectively) in the office workers (OW) group (Figure 3)
It was reported that center or pressure (COP) path lengths, cardiovascular stress, and difficulties in maintaining balance during task performance are statistically significantly lower in experienced heighterror workers (HW) employees
Summary
The construction industry and in particular work at height are often considered to be one of the most dangerous occupations [1]. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [2], any work during which the distance between the working platform and the ground involves a fall from one level to a lower level is work at height, e.g. on scaffoldings or building structures. The “Labor Code” [3] recommends examinations of the balance system of people working at above one meter from ground/floor level. This type of work may result in an accident or illness [2,4,5]. Every year in the UK, 10 million people perform different forms of work at height and falls from a height cause nearly three out of ten fatal injuries (29%) [6,7]. In 2013/2014 alone, they caused losses estimated at 567,000 working days: that is why understanding all the possible challenges related to working at height becomes necessary [4,6]
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