Work Discomfort Research Articles

Workers’ experiences with nonspecific low back pain: a qualitative study

A dor lombar não específica é uma condição apresenta impactos negativos no âmbito econômica e social, pois está diretamente relacionada aos fatores laborais. O objetivo deste estudo foi de analisar as experiências dos trabalhadores com dor lombar não específica. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa; com sete trabalhadores com dor lombar não específica, de ambos os sexos, com idade superior a 18 anos. Para coleta de dados, foi utilizado um questionário semiestruturado. As entrevistas foram gravadas em áudio e posteriormente transcritas e analisadas pela técnica de análise de conteúdo. Após a análise dos dados, foram encontradas duas categorias de análise: Desconforto nas atividades da vida diária é desconforto no trabalho é relação da dor lombar não específica com a capacidade funcional e qualidade de vida no trabalho. A dor lombar reflete em muitos contextos da vida dos funcionários, não apenas suas funções no trabalho, mas também outras situações da vida cotidiana.

NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATOR STRESS, SATISFACTION, AND INTENTIONS TO LEAVE

Previous studies reported that high Nursing Home Administrator (NHA) turnover correlates with low staff morale and poorer care outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess how NHA job satisfaction (JS) (in five subscales: job content, coworkers, work demands, work load, work skills, and rewards) interacts with role conflict and ambiguity, autonomy, work conflict, and influence and to estimate the odds of having NHA’s intent to quit by degree of job satisfaction. A total 208 responses were collected from the online survey in 2017 among NHAs currently working in nursing homes in 5 states. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression models. The findings suggested that NHAs were generally satisfied in all JS subscales and expressed moderately high levels of autonomy, neutral levels of work conflict, role conflict and role ambiguity. NHAs with good coworker relations (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0.67), fair job demands (AOR=0.68) and rewards (A0R=0.8), were less likely to harbor quitting intents. Interestingly, NHAs reporting higher job skills were more likely to consider leaving nursing homes (AOR=1.46). Overall, study findings are consistent with previous JS research with the exception that higher perceived skill efficacy was found to be associated with greater likelihood of quitting in the near future. This suggests perhaps that more highly skilled NHAs may now have less tolerance for work discomfort. These findings are presented in the context of earlier studies on NHA turnover as well as likely implications of changing market conditions.

Work and musculoskeletal discomfort of Nigerian health workers: pattern and predictors

Background: Ergonomic hazards are the precursors to work-related musculoskeletal discomforts (WMSDs) in most work environments, hence, to locate a hazard, search for WMSDs. This study investigates the pattern and predictors of WMSDs and the attending ergonomic hazards that potentiate these WMSDs among employees in a tertiary healthcare centre.Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey involving employees of Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta Ogun State Nigeria. They completed a questionnaire on the perceived presence of ergonomic hazards at their work stations and the standardized Nordic questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to examine the data.Results: 71.9% of the respondents reported WMSDs with lower back, upper back and the neck being the three most affected areas. Prolonged standing (53.1%) and prolonged sitting (40.8%) were the most prevalent perceived ergonomic hazard among the respondents. Forceful exertion was the hazard that has the highest estimated relative risk of causing musculoskeletal pain over a 12 month period (OR = 4.8), followed by prolonged standing (OR = 2.7), and frequent bending (OR = 2.6). Educational status and age of the respondents were significantly associated with the presence of WMSD (p < 0.005). Significant predictors of the presence of WMSDs were length of employment and department of employee (p < 0.005).Conclusion: WMSD is most prevalent around the back predicted by length of employment and department of employee.

Development of an effective product quality management system

The object of research is product quality management. During the research, the analysis method was used to study approaches to product quality management. The paper reveals the theoretical foundations for product quality management. It is shown that in order to control the quality of products, it is necessary to establish relations between subjects and objects of quality, their changes using the method of a systematic approach. This method shows that for the sustainable economic development of a manufacturing enterprise, first it is necessary to study the structure of the management system. After that, it will be possible to propose an improved control system, schematically depicting it. The international standards proposed in the work will allow the manufacturer to be competitive among others. Producers who seek to export their products must implement in their production a system of measures focused on high product requirements. However, the transition to modern equipment should occur without any psychological discomfort for workers. Do not forget that the use of a quality management system in production is quite long and financially costly. The process of enterprise restructuring should be economically justified, since owners must have income from manufacturing products. That is, the implementation of a quality management system should be cost-effective for a manufacturing enterprise. The use of integrated quality control systems in the modern era of innovation is a sign of enterprise competitiveness. In the work, an improved product quality management system is obtained. This is due to the fact that the proposed system has advantages, in particular, modernization of the material and technical base and employee incentives, not only through material rewards, but also through professional qualifications. Thanks to this, it is possible to obtain new quality indicators. Compared with similar outdated quality methods, the proposed model provides such advantages as the introduction of innovative technologies and equipment in production, training in modern technologies for workers, and allows them to compete in the labor market.

The dis/comfort of white British nationhood: encounters, otherness and postcolonial continuities

ABSTRACT Recent work on the affective dimensions of nationhood, identity and belonging has often overlooked discomfort in favour of positive experiences of sameness and security. Contrary to this tendency, this paper, based on interview narratives produced with white British middle-class people in the suburbs of London, examines the role of discomfort in experiences of nationhood, as well as the nature and meaning of that discomfort. In the first part of the paper, I demonstrate how nationhood becomes in and through uncomfortable encounters with other people, places and objects. Then, in the second part, I show how, for some, the experience of becoming national in encounters with the ‘other’ is itself experienced uncomfortably in the context of a postcolonial Britain where people are expected to ‘love themselves as different’. On the one hand, the paper challenges the idea of privileged national belonging as wholly comfortable. Yet, the analysis also exposes the relative comfort of white British people’s nationhood. The paper offers important insight into the uneven and hierarchical nature of contemporary nationhood and highlights the value of attending to the entanglement of comfort and discomfort in work on affective nationalism.

Sistema de monitoramento de temperatura corporal para atividades com exposição ao frio artificial controlado

O objetivo desse estudo foi utilizar um sistema completo para avaliar as condições ambientais e o desconforto térmico dos trabalhadores com exposição a baixas temperaturas artificiais. O sistema proposto consiste em uma rede de sensores sem fio (WSN) usando a tecnologia Zigbee, fornecendo um conjunto de sensores para medir simultaneamente a temperatura corporal em diferentes regiões do corpo de trabalhadores expostos a baixas temperaturas e para medir as condições ambientais que influenciam na avaliação de desconforto térmico. Os dados foram coletados por um módulo USB Zeegbee conectado a um PC com Windows e os resultados são gravados e exibidos em tempo real. O estudo foi realizado com avaliações em 153 trabalhadores de linha de corte de um frigorifico de abate e cortes de frangos. O sistema apresentado foi comprovado como uma maneira fácil e rápida para instalar e confiável para avaliar a exposição ao frio artificial. Os resultados mostraram que apesar da atividade representar um PMV adequado, atendimento aos critérios legais e normativos nacionais, os resultados do dedo da mão e do hálux apresentam condições de frio e dor durante quase toda jornada de trabalho.

RANCANGAN MEJA DAN KURSI SORTASI RSS (RIBBED SMOKED SHEET) YANG ERGONOMIS MENGGUNAKAN PENDEKATAN ANTHROPOMETRI (Studi Kasus PTPN XII Banjarsari)

Rubber is an export commodity which gave the country’s contribution in increasing Indonesia's foreign exchange effort. PTPN XII Banjarsari isone of the industries which process the latex material. From the whole processing stages, the sorting-part workers were the workers who complained the most about work discomfort. A sorting table with no cavities for the feet would caused workers complain about knee and calf pain. This study aimed to redesign the sorting chair and table based on the anthropometry principle. This research was expected to create table and chair sortation design that can reduce workers’ complaints in order to increase productivity and reduce human error. The data collecting method was done by 3 steps, they were interview, questioner, and direct measurement. Then, the obtained anthropometric data was made into the most appropriate sorting design of chair and the table based on the worker's posture and it was tested on the employee’s complaints, productivity and human error. The results showed that the redesign of the tables and chairs on RSS sortation caused the complaint of sorting workers in PTPN XII Banjarsari decreased. Productivity increased to 8.6%. Human error had decreased, before the redesign it was 8.1% and decreased to 1.9%. The lighting source before redesigned did not fulfill the lighting standard, therefore the redesigned lighting source used an 8 watt LED flourecent with average intensity of 685 lux. It was compatible with the lighting standard to do work that requires average intensity between 500 to 100 lux (Kuswono, 2014).&#x0D; Keywords: anthropometric, ergonomic, RSS

Managing warehouse efficiency and worker discomfort through enhanced storage assignment decisions

Humans are at the heart of crucial processes in warehouses. Besides the common economic goal of minimising cycle times, we therefore add in this paper the human well-being goal of minimising workers’ discomfort in the context of order picking. We propose a methodology for identifying the most suitable storage location solutions with respect to both goals. The first step in our methodology is to build data-driven empirical models for estimating cycle times and workers’ discomfort. The second step of the methodology entails the use of these empirically grounded models to formulate a bi-objective assignment problem for assigning products to storage locations. The developed methodology is subsequently tested on two actual warehouses. The results of these practical tests show that clear trade-offs exist and that optimising only for discomfort can be costly in terms of cycle time. Based on the results, we provide practical guidelines for taking storage assignment decisions that simultaneously address discomfort and travel distance considerations.

The effects of a passive exoskeleton on muscle activity, discomfort and endurance time in forward bending work

Exoskeletons may form a new strategy to reduce the risk of developing low back pain in stressful jobs. In the present study we examined the potential of a so-called passive exoskeleton on muscle activity, discomfort and endurance time in prolonged forward-bended working postures.Eighteen subjects performed two tasks: a simulated assembly task with the trunk in a forward-bended position and static holding of the same trunk position without further activity. We measured the electromyography for muscles in the back, abdomen and legs. We also measured the perceived local discomfort. In the static holding task we determined the endurance, defined as the time that people could continue without passing a specified discomfort threshold.In the assembly task we found lower muscle activity (by 35–38%) and lower discomfort in the low back when wearing the exoskeleton. Additionally, the hip extensor activity was reduced. The exoskeleton led to more discomfort in the chest region. In the task of static holding, we observed that exoskeleton use led to an increase in endurance time from 3.2 to 9.7 min, on average.The results illustrate the good potential of this passive exoskeleton to reduce the internal muscle forces and (reactive) spinal forces in the lumbar region. However, the adoption of an over-extended knee position might be, among others, one of the concerns when using the exoskeleton.

Stand up: comparison of two electrical screed levelling machines to reduce the work demands for the knees and low back among floor layers

Electrical screed levelling machines are developed to reduce kneeling and trunk flexion of sand–cement-bound screed floor layers. An observational intervention study among 10 floor layers was performed to assess the differences between a self-propelled and a manually moved machine. The outcome measures were work demands, production time, perceived load, discomfort and applicability. Compared to the self-propelled machine, the duration of kneeling (∆13 min; p = 0.003) and trunk flexion (∆12 min; p < 0.001) was shorter using the manually moved machine, and the duration of pushing and pulling increased (∆39 min; p < 0.001). No significant or relevant differences were found for production time, perceived load and discomfort. Nine out of ten floor layers found the manually moved machine applicable and three out of ten found the self-propelled machine applicable. When compared with the traditional manner of floor laying, both electrical machines reduced the exposure towards kneeling and trunk flexion.Practitioner Summary: Electrical machines may help to reduce high physical work demands on floor layers. A manually moved machine is better applicable for the installation of screed floors in residences with smaller floor areas. A self-propelled machine is better applicable on large floor areas with a minimum width of 4 m.

Pengaruh Pemberian Informasi Dan Diskusi Terstruktur Pada Perubahan Sikap Karyawan Terhadap Penggunaan Alat Pelindung Diri

One of the factors causing high rates of workplace accidents is the human factor, i.e., the view that the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will cause the work discomfort and reduce the work speed so it will reduce the productivity. This attitude discourages employees to use PPE set by the company. This study was aimed to determine the effect of the provision of information and structured discussion on changes in employee attitudes towards the use of PPE. The design of experiment used in this research was multiple treatments and control with pretest, which involved two experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group (EG1) was treated with the provision of information (academic detailing) and structured discussion. The second experimental group (EG2) received structured discussion without any provision of information. The control group (CG) was not given any treatment. The study involved 48 subjects, i.e. 16 people on EG1, 17 people on EG2, and 15 people in the CG. Statistical analysis using mixed ANOVA showed that there was a significant change in attitude towards the use of PPE (F=12.670; p 0.05).

Postural variability: an effective way to reduce musculoskeletal discomfort in office work.

This article investigates whether different interventions aimed at promoting postural change could increase body movement throughout the shift and reduce musculoskeletal discomfort. Many researchers have reported high levels of discomfort for workers that have relatively low-level demands but whose jobs are sedentary in nature. To date, few interventions have been found to be effective in reducing worker discomfort. Thirty-seven call center operators were evaluated in four different workstation conditions: conventional workstation, sit-stand workstation, conventional workstation with reminder software, and sit-stand workstation with break reminder software-prompt to remind workers to take break The primary outcome variables consisted of productivity, measured by custom software; posture changes, measured by continuous video recording; and discomfort, measured by simple survey. Each condition was evaluated over a 2-week period. Significant reductions in short-term discomfort were reported in the shoulders, upper back, and lower back when utilizing reminder software, independent of workstation type. Although not significant, many productivity indices were found to increase by about 10%. Posture-altering workstation interventions, specifically sit-stand tables or reminder software with traditional tables, were effective in introducing posture variability. Further, postural variability appears to be linked to decreased short-term discomfort at the end of the day without a negative impact on productivity. An intervention that can simply induce the worker to move throughout the day, such as a sit-stand table or simple software reminder about making a large posture change, can be effective in reducing discomfort in the worker, while not adversely impacting productivity.

Ergonomic job rotation strategy based on an automated RGB-D anthropometric measuring system

Ergonomic job rotation is a novel strategy to increase work efficiency and decrease work fatigue of the operators in manufacturing lines. In this paper, we proposed an automated anthropometric measuring system based on RGB-D camera and a job rotation strategy based on particle swarm optimization (PSO). The first training stage involved a series of 3D data-processing techniques to generate parametric models from scanning human database. The second stage can estimate the anthropometric measurements from the depth maps captured by RGB-D camera system. Finally, a novel job rotation strategy is proposed with PSO based on three target functions, which are designed to measure the work discomfort levels and risks. The experimental data is a real case which includes the operators of a quartz blanks manufacturing line. The experimental results show that our proposed system can effectively and dramatically reduce the average risk and decrease the number of operators who experienced either a high risk or a medium risk levels.

The interrelationships between student approaches to learning and group work

As part of the process of nursing students becoming 'work ready' within future health care teams, students need the skills to work collaboratively. In higher education, establishing group work assignments is a teaching method to develop group work skills. Not only is group work an important teaching method to develop effective group work skills but it is also used to activate deep learning. However, to date, there has been a lack of research on the impact of group work on student approaches to learning. This study aimed to examine the interrelationships between students, group work characteristics, and their approaches to learning. A survey design was used, before and after a targeted academic skills development intervention, which had a specific focus on the development of group work skills. The sample involved first year undergraduate nursing students undertaking a Bachelor of Nursing programme at a regional university in Australia. A total of 92 students completed the pre-survey, and 102 students completed the post-survey. Data were collected using quantitative surveys. Metacognitive awareness was found to best predict a deep approach to learning. Young age and experiencing discomfort in group work were two predictors of a surface approach to learning. Findings indicate that nurse educators should develop strategies that support students' metacognitive awareness in relation to group work, and also support those students who feel less comfortable in working with others.

Effects of Work and Environmental Measurement Protocols in High Temperature Exposure

Nonoptimal environments often result in worker discomfort and loss of productivity in the workplace. The temperature in a workplace can strongly influence efficiency of task. Hot, humid conditions added to the demands of moderately heavy to heavy physical work may cause excessive stress and potential health risks by reducing a person's work capacity. Discomfort produced by exposure to conditions outside the comfort zone can distract a person from the task at hand and may increase the potential for unsafe act. Various factors affecting the feeling of comfort are temperature, humidity, air velocity, work load, clothing and radiant heat loss. By altering environmental protocols one can improve comfort within the discomfort zone. An attempt is made to investigate factors like temperature, humidity and determining continuous heat exposure for workers working in a hot environment. By altering environmental protocols one can prevent heat injuries like heat stroke, fatigue, irritation, discomfort, giddiness; disorientation at work. This paper discusses the effect of temperature and humidity for an industrial worker working in a hot environment.

Work related diseases in Korean fire fighters

The purpose of this study is to investigate work related diseases in Korean firefighters and to prepare the preventive measure for health management for the firefighters. Structured self-reported questionnaire was distributed to the firefighters. The result revealed that 37.7% of fire fighters had chronic diseases and 12.3% had chronic low back pains. The affected parts included lumbar region(41.5%), shoulder(33.0%), and neck(23.6%). The affected parts caused physical pain and work discomfort for more than a month. A total of 54.1% firefighters visited to the hospital within a year. This results suggest that it is necessary to develop the health promotion program for the prevention of musculoskeletal disease and regular health checkup for the acute disorders caused by workload.

Avaliação da Carga de Trabalho Físico Baseada na Frequência Cardíaca em Operadores de Fornalhas

Labor with repetitions coupled to intense physical efforts is associated with an increase in the number of accidents and discomfort for workers in several industrial sections. Current analysis evaluates the physical workload, based on heart beat frequency, in furnace workers. Samples comprised two furnace workers in the soya-bean drying sector, who signed a Free Consent Term. A description of the premise and activities was undertaken on the work site and an evaluation of physical work load was conducted by measuring heart beat (Polar® S610 with interface of model S610). Rates were stored at 60-sec intervals during the work period. Cardiovascular load was calculated according to methodology by Apud (1989). The workers worked during approximately 10 h a day. Worker A had a rest heart beat frequency (FCR) of 83bpm; maximum heart beat frequency (FCM) of 197bpm, heart beat frequency during work (FCT) of 107bpm, cardiovascular capacity (CCV) of 21.5% and limit heart beat frequency of 129bpm. Worker B had a FCR of 87bpm, FCM of 182bpm, FCT of 103bpm, CCV of 16.84% and FCL of 121bpm. Results show that physical workload based on heart beat frequency did not exceed the maximum limit of 40% and the need of reorganizing rest time during the working period was not required.

Genetic algorithms based optimization of artificial neural network architecture for buildings’ indoor discomfort and energy consumption prediction

Growing concerns about energy consumption reduction and comfort improvement inside buildings make it more and more necessary to be able to predict with fine precision building’s heating loads and indoor discomfort. This article proposes a method based on genetic algorithms (GAs) to optimize the architecture, training parameters and inputs of an artificial neural network (ANN). The ANN is doomed to predict energy consumption and indoor discomfort in future work on the development of an on-line method for control setting optimization. Simple and advanced controllers were used in this study: ON-OFF, PID and fuzzy controllers. Validation of the optimized ANN showed good prediction accuracy, as regression coefficients R 2 for consumption and discomfort were respectively greater than 0.77 and 0.84 for the three tested controllers. Various prediction “distances” and ANN training data quantities were tested. Conclusion is that prediction at a 2-hour “distance” and a 3-day quantity of data are the best tested optimization conditions.

Identification of awkward postures that cause discomfort to Liquid Petroleum Gas workers in Mumbai, India

Background:Awkward, extreme and repetitive postures have been associated with work related musculoskeletal discomfort and injury to the lower back. Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) workers in India; that is the delivery men carry heavy cylinders on their shoulders and back. The cylinders come in commercial and residential form which range in weight from 14.2kgs, 16.2kgs, 19.2kgs, 32kgs, 40 kgs etc. They have a tedious schedule of 8 h/day and mostly associated with loading and unloading of the cylinders. Their job demands a high intensity of strength and power. They are exposed to high level of physical demands and relatively lesser amount of rest which makes them vulnerable to various injuries over a period of time.Materials and Methods:100 LPG workers (delivery men) were interviewed using the Ovako work assessment system OWAS posture code and action category system developed by ISMAIL et al.[10] was used. A battery of questions with specific stress was constructed and validated in the Department of Physiotherapy, Padmashree Dr D.Y Patil University, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, India.Results:This study presented an ergonomic assessment of LPG workers. The results show that the workers work in awkward postures. They transfer the cylinders in poor postures with high velocity and motion repetitiveness thus subjecting their spine to greater amounts of compressive forces. Regarding to work discomfort survey questionnaire, the postures cause ill effects on their various body segments. Among them 90% fall in category 4 while loading the cylinder, that is the load by those postures have a very harmful effect on musculoskeletal, system-corrective action for improvement required immediately. And while unloading 70% fall in category 3, which are postures that have harmful effect on musculoskeletal system. Corrective actions should be done as soon as possible. Majority of workers also complained of severe injury to back-34%, shoulder-20%, knee-20%, neck-16%, and toes-10%.Conclusion:These findings provide a prima facie evidence of higher occupational stresses among the LPG workers because of identified specific stressors prevalent in their jobs and explore the possible intervention strategies for its reduction.

Ergonomic microscope comfort and control.

Microscope use in the inspection phase of computer chip manufacturing is a major cause of worker discomfort and injury. A two-phase ergonomics project to reduce employee fatigue and discomfort was planned, implemented, and evaluated in a microscope user environment within a high-technology manufacturing environment. Total Quality Management methodology and tools were employed by a multidisciplinary team led by an occupational health nurse practitioner to accomplish the project goals. A multifaceted approach including equipment changes, administrative changes, and focused training for behavior changes achieved the desired reduction in reports of fatigue and discomfort among microscope users. Occupational health nurses are ideal candidates to lead teams to accomplish meaningful health and safety goals consistent with corporate quality initiatives and strategic objectives.