Risk Of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders Research Articles

Application of the rapid upper limb assessment tool to assess the level of ergonomic risk among health care professionals: A systematic review.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and ergonomic risk factors are widespread problems in the healthcare sector. The primary objective of this review is to evaluate the application of the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) tool in various healthcare professionals and to assess the level of ergonomic risk among them. The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, LILACS, SCIELO, DOAJ, PubMed, and PEDro were searched with terms associated with ergonomics, assessment, health care providers, risk factors, workplace, and RULA. We reviewed the literature from 2000 to 2020, including studies assessing RULA's effectiveness for evaluating the WMSD's and ergonomic risk in health care practitioners. We excluded the studies which were not open access and freely available. Overall, 757 records were screened; of these 40 potential studies, 13 different healthcare professionals were identified as eligible for inclusion. In most studies, the RULA tool was established as an effective tool in application and evaluating the level of the ergonomic risk among them. The RULA tool assessed the high ergonomic risk levels in dental professionals and low ergonomic risk levels in professionals working in the pharmacy department, clearly suggesting potential changes in work postures were necessary to prevent or reduce these risk factors.

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders: Prevalence Among Clinical Radiographers in Teaching Hospitals in North-Western Nigeria


 
 
 
 
 Background: The components and activities within the scope of radiography practice pose high risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) to radiographers in the course of performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
 Objectives: To determine the prevalence of WMSDs and identify the possible causes among radiographers within the study locality.
 Methods: A validated self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all registered and licensed radiographers working in teaching hospitals within the region. The questionnaire contained 21 questions, divided into 3 sections; “A” captured demographic data; “B” captured educational qualifications and work experience; and “C” captured the prevalence, possible causes and responses to WRMSDs.
 Results: The respondents were basically within the age range of 21 – 30 years (66.6%), with most of them being male. Most radiographers had clinical working experience between 1 to 10 years, and worked between 6-8 hours and above daily, with a case load of 30 patients and above. The reported case of WRMSD was 93.3%. The major identified causes of WRMSDs were maintaining of prolonged static position (20%), and frequent bending and twisting (16.7%). This study showed no statistically significant correlation between gender and WRMSDs.
 Conclusion: There was remarkable evidence of WRMSDs among the practicing clinical radiographers within the North-Western Nigeria.
 
 
 
 
 

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders: Prevalence Among Clinical Radiographers in Teaching Hospitals in North-Western Nigeria


 
 
 
 
 Background: The components and activities within the scope of radiography practice pose high risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) to radiographers in the course of performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
 Objectives: To determine the prevalence of WMSDs and identify the possible causes among radiographers within the study locality.
 Methods: A validated self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all registered and licensed radiographers working in teaching hospitals within the region. The questionnaire contained 21 questions, divided into 3 sections; “A” captured demographic data; “B” captured educational qualifications and work experience; and “C” captured the prevalence, possible causes and responses to WRMSDs.
 Results: The respondents were basically within the age range of 21 – 30 years (66.6%), with most of them being male. Most radiographers had clinical working experience between 1 to 10 years, and worked between 6-8 hours and above daily, with a case load of 30 patients and above. The reported case of WRMSD was 93.3%. The major identified causes of WRMSDs were maintaining of prolonged static position (20%), and frequent bending and twisting (16.7%). This study showed no statistically significant correlation between gender and WRMSDs.
 Conclusion: There was remarkable evidence of WRMSDs among the practicing clinical radiographers within the North-Western Nigeria.
 
 
 
 
 

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physical therapists in Taiwan.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) refer to musculoskeletal injuries caused by the occupation. Physical therapists (PTs) suffer from a high risk of WMSD despite their extensive knowledge in ergometrics and injury prevention. This study aims to discover the incidence and prevalence of WMSD among PTs using Taiwan's nationwide claims database. The trend of annual patients seeking rehabilitation and the prevalence of WMSD among PTs were presented. The age- and gender-specific incidence of WMSD were also calculated. The prevalence of WMSD in PTs varied from 6.1% to 75.2%, and the incidence ranged from 6.1 to 29.1 per 100 person-years during 1997 and 2012. For those aged ≤30 years, the incidence was higher in females than males (incidence rate ratio = 1.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.14, P = .011), whereas for those aged from 31 to40 years, females had lower incidence of WMSD than males (incidence rate ratio = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.80–0.96, P = .007). The patients/PTs ratio was higher (270.56–337.74) in 1998 and 2004 to 2007 and became stable (245.93–252.82) in 2008 to 2012, correlating with a rise in the WMSD prevalence in 1999 to 2007 and a steady prevalence after 2008 (63.5%–66.3%) in PTs. In conclusion, the risk of WMSD among PTs was positively correlated to the frequency of patients seeking rehabilitation service. In addition, age and gender were important risk factors for developing WMSD among PTs.

Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Its Association with Mental Health and Quality of Life among Working Physiotherapists

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are defined as “regional impairments describing as inflammation and degenerative diseases and disorders of the muscles, tendons, nerves, joints, and fascia. When the surrounding work environment, work events (work itself) and the performance of work contribute in causing such kind of disorders over a time period, then they are called work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). It results into range of symptoms like pain, ache, disability, discomfort, fatigue, mental stress and thus resulting into loss of work time, work restriction of task, transfer to another job, sickness absenteeism and reducing overall quality of life. Workplace stress occurs in the workplace or work related organization, and is defined as “a harmful mental and physical reaction coming from discordance between employee’s ability, resources, and willingness and work requirement. Also stress coming from pain, discomfort can also alter the mental status of the person and can quality of life (QoL) of employees. Purpose of the study: To determine the Prevalence of WRMSD among working physiotherapist and the objective was to find out the association of WRMSD with mental health and quality of life. Methodology: In this study a google form was created using 3 questionnaires (Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire for determining the musculoskeletal disorder, Quality of life was assessed through WHO-BREF. Mental health was assessed by General health questionnaire (GH-12). Results: The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among the Physiotherapists is 82%. It is also concluded that the low back and neck are the most common sites susceptible to injury followed by upper back and thighs. There was a significant association of Work related musculoskeletal disorders with quality of life only. Conclusions: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are an important health risk within the physiotherapy profession. Therefore, it is recommended that education programs on prevention and coping strategies for musculoskeletal symptoms in Physiotherapists should be made mandatory in order to decrease the risk of WRMSDs which will ultimately improve the quality of life. Keywords: [Work-Related Musculoskeletal disorders, Pain, quality of Life, Mental health, Physiotherapists, Physiotherapy]

A qualitative exploration of tools used by WHS professionals for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders

Although a number of prevention tools are available to support work health and safety (WHS) professionals in the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), little is known about their use in real world settings. The aim of the current study was to explore the use of tools designed for the identification and management of physical and psychosocial hazards, in a range of high-risk industry sectors, to support prevention of WMSDs. A qualitative study design was used. Twenty-nine WHS professionals from high WMSD risk industry sectors were interviewed and presented with a list of 33 tools (identified through a literature review) designed to support risk management of WMSDs, to determine, 1) their level of awareness and use of tools 2) how tools were being used, and 3) barriers to implementation of these tools. Most participants reported awareness of some of the 33 tools presented however, only 30% of participants were currently using at least one of these toolsin their practice. Reported barriers to the use of tools included a lack of tool awareness and availability, practical deficits in the tools, and organisational challenges to implementation. WMSDs are complex disorders which require identification and control of relevant physical and psychosocial workplace hazards, yet findings from the current study suggest that tools are not being effectively used to support mitigation of workplace physical and psychosocial hazards. Improved availability of practical tools and implementation guidance is required to support effective implementation of tools for workplace risk management of WMSDs. Future research into the development and implementation of new evidence-based tools would assist in improving the effectiveness of WMSD risk management in high-risk industry sector workplaces.

Ergonomic Task Analysis for Prioritization of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Mango-Harvesting Farmers

This paper proposes a mixed ergonomic tool analysis algorithm to prioritize work-related musculoskeletal problems. This study is a cross-sectional study assessing the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) with associated risk factors among 14 male mango-harvesting farmers (all right-handed) with the mean age of 52.28 ± 7.75 years. Four tasks following mango-harvesting processes were analyzed: (1) mango harvesting, (2) mango transporting, (3) mango size sorting, and (4) mango weighing and transporting to the truck. The perceived physical exertion while working on a mango-harvesting farm was based on the Borg CR-10 with a modified Standardized Nordic Questionnaire. Physical risk level due to awkward posture was evaluated by the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and risk due to whole-body posture in association with the level of WMSDs risk was evaluated by the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) score sheets. The subjective feelings of fatigue and posture analysis were normalized and combined using the theorem of power superposition to establish the fatigue effective index (FEI) for determining priorities to solve ergonomics-based task problems. This study indicated clearly that WMSDs are highly prevalent in mango-harvesting farmers, whereas the highest prevalence of WMSDs was reported in the right shoulder, right upper arm and lower back. The result provided the FEI of mango-harvesting farmers, ranked as follows: (1) size-sorting task, (2) weight-lifting task, (3) harvesting task, and (4) transporting task. The authors concluded that mango size sorting should be the first task to be improved to resolve the muscle fatigue problems among male mango-harvesting farmers.

Ergonomic Risk Assessment of Hairdressers Using Rapid Entire Body Assessment

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) are one of the most prevalent causes of occupational injury and disability in both developed and developing nations, affecting a wide range of jobs. Hairdresser in their careers faces many harmful factors, including WRMSDs, especially in the neck, waist and shoulder areas. The study groups comprised 5 healthy males and 8 healthy female participants that work at the hair dresser saloons in Turkey. Hair-coloring and hair-cutting were the most common tasks completed by participants. The population ranged in age from 18 to 45 years old. The respondents' average age, height, and weight, as well as their standard deviations were 33.15 ± 8.97 years, 166.38 ± 8.84 cm, and 68.31 ± 10.14 kg, respectively. The aim of this research was to investigate the individual and occupational risks associated with the tasks on the prevalence and consequence of WRMSDs. In this descriptive analytical study, the risk of WRMSDs was evaluated using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method. The REBA results showed that working postures should be changed as soon as possible

Effectiveness of training program in manual material handling: A health promotion approach

BACKGROUND:Even in an era of automation and digitalization, Manual Material Handling (MMH) can be called the most common industrial task. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) induced by manual handling tasks on the workers of a printing factory in Tehran in 2017 and then to evaluate the effectiveness of a training intervention based on health promotion.MATERIALS AND METHODS:This study had quasi experimental design and was conducted on 40 men. First, demographic data were collected and the Nordic questionnaire was used to determine the prevalence of MSDs in workers. Then, MMH tasks were assessed using Manual Handling Assessment Chart (MAC). A short training course was designed to promote health. Finally, the same MMH tasks were re-evaluated 3 months after the training intervention.RESULTS:Among the various tasks, the highest prevalence of work-related MSDs (WMSDs) was observed in the lower back (77.5%) and shoulder (62.5%). Based on the final scores of the MAC method, the jobs that received the highest scores were cutting (individual lifting), with 22 scores and action level “immediately necessary,” cutting (individual load carrying), with 15 scores with action level “urgently needed.” Arranging the forms (individual lifting) received a similar score. After the training intervention, the estimated risk level reduced by 12, 9, and 6 points, respectively, reaching a safe action level, i.e., “necessary in the future.”CONCLUSION:The results demonstrated that educational interventions might be equally effective in low-technology work environments. More in general, the MAC method can be used to make informed planning of educational interventions against WMSDs risk in MSDs. This health promotion approach is critical for care of human recourse.

A Multiple Classification Model for the Prediction of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorder

In recent times, musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) represent one of the most common and expensive occupational health problems in both developed and developing countries. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) are impairments that are mostly caused by the workplace and immediate environment. A two-step predictive model is introduced here using KNN and Decision tree machine learning algorithms. This model for predicting WRMSD enables for early detection and correction of upper and lower back disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome and other WRMSD disorders associated with office workers. Key informant interview technique, observation of previous methods, online repository and published related works were used in data gathering. In training the model, 80% of the dataset was used while 20% was used for testing the model to prevent overfitting using python programming language. JavaScript, Hypertext preprocessor (PHP), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Stylesheet (CSS) and MySQL were also used to develop the front and backend of the application. The result revealed that the proposed model had 90.44% accuracy, 92.71% Recall (sensitivity), 97.16% precision, and 94.88% F1-Score. The proposed model, however, makes it easy for multiple classifications in other to predict both present and future risk of WRMSD. Performance is estimated to have high accuracy, recall, precision and f1 score in comparison to other existing algorithms.

Approval status and characteristics of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among Korean workers in 2020.

This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) in occupational disease claims and identify patterns of WRMSDs for each body part by industry and occupation. This study analyzed the raw data of occupational disease claims for musculoskeletal disorders deliberated by the Occupational Disease Decision Committee of the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service in 2020. The data was classified into 6 body parts with the highest numbers of occupational disease cases by using the complete enumeration data on principal diagnoses and 4 types of subdiagnoses in the raw data. The characteristics and approval rates of WRMSDs by body part, industry and occupation were examined and summarized. A total of 13,015 occupational disease cases for WRMSDs were classified, and lumbar spinal (back) diseases accounted for the largest proportion of claimed diseases, followed by shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, and neck diseases in a descending order. The occupations with the highest and second highest numbers of occupational disease cases by body part were found to be automobile assemblers and production-related elementary workers for the neck, school meal service workers and cooks for the back, construction frame mold carpenters and school meal service workers for the shoulder, elementary workers in mining and food service workers for the elbow, food service workers and automobile parts assemblers for the wrist, and ship welders and school meal service workers for the knee. This study examined the characteristics and approval status of WRMSDs by body part and occupation. Based on the study results, management strategies for the prevention of WRMSDs should be established regarding occupations with a high risk of WRMSDs for each body part.

Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Workability and its Predictors among Nurses Working in Delhi Hospitals: A Multicentric Survey

Introduction: Nurses are considered to be the frontline healthcare professionals with prolonged hours of caring for ailing as well as critically ill patients. This highly demanding work pattern can lead them to experience Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSD) and thus makes it important to study its prevalence and its impact on workability and to develop appropriate supportive strategies to improve their health and work efficiency. Aim: To explore the prevalence of WRMSDs among hospital nurses in Delhi, including the risk factors and coping strategies adopted by them to avoid the risk of WRMSDs. Materials and Methods: This multicentric survey, cross-sectional study was conducted in different hospitals in Delhi, India, from October 2020 till March 2021 among 260 nurses. Data were collected using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Workability Index (WAI). Pearson’s product moment correlation was used to develop correlations for continuous variables and Biserial correlation test was used for dichotomous variables. The level of significance was 95% (p-value <0.05). Results: The mean age and mean work duration were 35.62±7.12 years, and 8.60 hours per day respectively. Out of total, 230 (88.5%) were females and 30 (11.5%) were males. The prevalence of WRMSD was 80% during the last 12 months with low back pain, the most commonly reported problem. The majority of nurses communicated moderate workability (47.7%) and moderate level of stress (73.5%). The result of linear multiple regression analysis showed that the independent variables of (age, work hours, type of job, back and shoulder pain) explained 46.4% of the workability index (R2 =0.444, adjusted R2 =0.395), and the model significant (F-value=14.76, p-value <0.001). Conclusion: Nurses are at high-risk for WRMSD as well as observing prolonged stress and reduced workability. Special measures should be taken to ensure that they work in an ergonomically acceptable workplace and that proper body mechanics and stress management practices are adopted. Lifestyle intervention would help in preventing and reducing impact of WRMSDs.

Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Physiotherapist - A Review

Introduction: Healthcare professionals, especially those with in direct contact of patient are at the highest risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), physical therapists being one of them. Aim: Our aim was to review current knowledge relating to the prevalence, risk factors and prevention of WMSDs among physiotherapists. Method: Google Scholar and PubMed were searched for terms relating to WMSDs in Physiotherapists from inception to 2021. Result: The prevalence of WMSDs among Physiotherapist was high, with the lower back as the most frequently affected followed most often by the neck, upper back and shoulders. Knee joint was commonly affected joint in lower extremity. Multiple risk factors have been found responsible for WMSDs in physiotherapist and some of them are modifiable. Conclusion: Implementing preventive strategies for WMSDs in early stage of a physiotherapist’s career may help to prevent WMSDs and maintain good quality of treatment for patients. Keywords: Pain, Musculoskeletal disorders, Ergonomics, Prevention.

Decision-Making Framework for Implementing Safer Human-Robot Collaboration Workstations: System Dynamics Modeling

Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems are often implemented seeking for reducing risk of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) development and increasing productivity. The challenge is to successfully implement an industrial HRC to manage those factors, considering that non-linear behaviors of complex systems can produce counterintuitive effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design a decision-making framework considering the key ergonomic methods and using a computational model for simulations. It considered the main systemic influences when implementing a collaborative robot (cobot) into a production system and simulated scenarios of productivity and WMSD risk. In order to verify whether the computational model for simulating scenarios would be useful in the framework, a case study in a manual assembly workstation was conducted. The results show that both cycle time and WMSD risk depend on the Level of Collaboration (LoC). The proposed framework helps deciding which cobot to implement in a context of industrial assembly process. System dynamics were used to understand the actual behavior of all factors and to predict scenarios. Finally, the framework presented a clear roadmap for the future development of an industrial HRC system, drastically reducing risk management in decision-making.

Ergonomics and Human Factors as a Requirement to Implement Safer Collaborative Robotic Workstations: A Literature Review

There is a worldwide interest in implementing collaborative robots (Cobots) to reduce work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) risk. While prior work in this field has recognized the importance of considering Ergonomics & Human Factors (E&HF) in the design phase, most works tend to highlight workstations’ improvements due to Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). Based on a literature review, the current study summarises studies where E&HF was considered a requirement rather than an output. In this article, the authors are interested in understanding the existing studies focused on Cobots’ implementation with ergonomic requirements, and the methods applied to design safer collaborative workstations. This review was performed in four prominent publications databases: Scopus, Web of Science, Pubmed, and Google Scholar, searching for the keywords ‘Collaborative robots’ or ‘Cobots’ or ‘HRC’ and ‘Ergonomics’ or ‘Human factors’. Based on the inclusion criterion, 20 articles were reviewed, and the main conclusions of each are provided. Additionally, the focus was given to the segmentation between studies considering E&HF during the design phase of HRC systems and studies applying E&HF in real-time on HRC systems. The results demonstrate the novelty of this topic, especially of the real-time applications of ergonomics as a requirement. Globally, the results of the reviewed studies showed the potential of E&HF requirements integrated into HRC systems as a relevant input for reducing WMSD risk.

A multilayered ergonomic intervention program on reducing musculoskeletal disorders in an industrial complex: A dynamic participatory approach

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are closely identified with common complaints in different workplaces. This study aimed to implement an intervention program through which ergonomic measures were dynamically localized in industry. An interventional study, including three basic layers, namely, training workshops, participatory ergonomics (PE), and workstation redesign was fulfilled in an Iranian steel manufacturing complex from 2017 to 2020. A steering committee (SC) was formed following several meetings held for clarification of the project to the management team. The SC members then attended four organized workshops managed by an ergonomics specialist. Afterwards, the basics of ergonomics were transferred to action groups. After developing ergonomic assessment tools, the ergonomic problems were prioritized and numerous positive changes were made by the action groups. The findings of the tailored checklists revealed a load of WMSDs risk factors. All the three layers of the program were implemented as initiated. Ergonomics training workshops were then held and significant differences were observed between the participants' pre/posttest mean scores in all workshops (p < 0.001). Moreover, PE measures were exercised at all levels of the organization inducing enthusiastic motivation of the workforce to consider ergonomic requirements in the workplace. Consequently, the workers' innovative ideas and the managerial support yielded diverse workstation redesigns due to a growth in either the workers' ergonomics awareness or participatory culture grounding. A multilayered ergonomic intervention was implemented in this study. In conclusion, a multifaceted long-term follow-up intervention program could be applied to enhance workers’ health status and to raise system productivity.

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Nurses at the Ho Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Nurses are at an increased risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) especially in developing countries, where the use of assistive technology to minimize the adverse effects of manual handling and poor patient lifting are lacking. A cross-sectional study design was used to evaluate the prevalence of WRMSDs among nurses at the Ho Teaching Hospital in Ghana using the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. Results indicated a 94% prevalence of WRMSDs, with a significantly higher (p=0.031) prevalence in females (97%) than males (87%). Age and working hours were significantly associated with MSDs (p=0.048, p=0.001, respectively). The most prevalent WRMSDs by body region were low back pain (73.3%), upper back pain (55.7%), ankle/feet pain (55.0%), and neck pain (35.5%). A high prevalence of WRMSDs exist among nurses at the Ho Teaching Hospital. A detailed assessment of ergonomic exposures among nurses in Ho is warranted to better understand the causes of WRMSDs among this population.

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Hospital Midwives in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China and Associations with Job Stress and Working Conditions.

BackgroundMidwives have a high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), which are the leading cause of pain and disability. However, the association between job stress and WMSDs among midwives has not been studied. The aim of this project was to specifically describe relationships between the job stress and WMSDs among a sample of hospital midwives in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among a sample of 769 eligible midwives in the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province, China from May 2018 to January 2019. All participants completed a questionnaire regarding the presence and severity of different pain symptoms and job stress assessed by the Korean occupational stress scale.ResultsA total of 597 participants responded (77.6%), and 491 (82.2%) reported that they had experienced WMSDs at some time over a 12-month period. The most common pain site was low back (72.7%), followed by the neck (52.8%) and shoulders (42.7%). We revealed that various aspects of job stress were associated with WMSDs in the current study, namely “Owing to my workload, I always feel time pressure” (OR, 2.05; 95% CI: 1.28–3.28), “My job has become increasingly overbearing” (OR, 2.34; 95% CI: 1.46–3.77), “My work requires long lasting concentration” (OR, 3.50; 95% CI: 2.13–5.74), “I have to do various jobs simultaneously”, (OR, 3.15; 95% CI: 1.93–5.14)), “My work requires creativity” (OR, 2.15; 95% CI: 1.31–3.54), “My work requires a high level of skill or knowledge” (OR, 2.83; 95% CI: 1.67–4.80), “My supervisor is helpful in getting the job done” (OR, 0.53; 95% CI: 0.33–0.84), “I have someone who understands my difficulties at work” (OR, 0.53; 95% CI: 0.34–0.85), “Undesirable changes (ie, downsizing) will come to my job” (OR, 3.28; 95% CI: 2.01–5.77), “My company provides me with sufficient organizational support” (OR, 0.47; 95% CI: 0.29–0.74), “Departments cooperate each other without conflicts” (OR, 0.50; 95% CI: 0.32–0.80), “I am provided with the opportunity to develop my capacity” (OR, 0.57; 95% CI: 0.36–0.91) and “My company climate is authoritative and hierarchical” (OR: 3.21; 95% CI: 1.97-5.23).ConclusionOverall, this study suggests that job stress has an important influence on WMSDs among a sample of hospital midwives in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China. Given the multifaceted nature of identified risk, a comprehensive approach to reduce this risk is clearly required and a job stress management program will be essential.

Development of an ergonomic wearable robotic device for assisting manual workers

Sometimes the automation equipment cannot solve all the problems for industrial enterprises, and human workers cannot be replaced by machines in production activities. The possibility that the workers develop work-related musculoskeletal disorders, while performing high intensity and repetitive installation and commissioning work over a long period of time, is very high. A mechanical design of a passive upper extremities exoskeleton suit to reduce the muscles effort of upper limbs is proposed in this article. Thereby, a decrease in the work-related musculoskeletal disorders risk is expected. To evaluate the ergonomic contribution of the passive upper extremities exoskeleton suit, both static and dynamic tool lift experiments were designed, in which 10 volunteers were asked to participate in the experiments. The surface electromyography is captured from these volunteers to measure the magnitude of muscle output forces that are applied with and then without passive upper extremities exoskeleton suit assistance during the process of manual handling, and the tests are collected for comparison. Results show that there is a significant decrease in the output force and fatigue in deltoid, biceps brachii, and brachioradiali, especially in biceps brachial which is up to 67.8%. The implementation of passive upper extremities exoskeleton suit is not only a benefit to reduce workers’ upper extremities fatigue but also ultimately increase the work efficiency by minimizing work-related musculoskeletal disorders and safety accidents.

Risk assessment for musculoskeletal disorders based on the characteristics of work posture

Construction workers are at high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Although the existing observational assessment methods are easy to use, when it comes to a more in-depth statistical analysis of the dynamic characteristics of the worker's operation, the sample data to be processed turn out to be large, the labor cost high, and the analysis easily affected by the prejudice of the evaluator. This study examines a novel WMSD prediction method based on the dynamic characteristics of the working posture, which comprises three artificial intelligence algorithms in series. In this method, the posture detector identifies the limb angles and state in the working video, the posture risk evaluator evaluates the risk level of the working posture frame by frame, and the task risk predictor predicts the risk level of the current work process. The collected video data of common tasks of construction workers and the MPII Human Pose dataset were used for training and evaluation of the algorithms. The method achieved 87.0% accuracy of the joint point recognition. The micro-averaged accuracy, recall, and F1-score (harmonic average of accuracy and recall) reached 96.7%, 96.0%, and 96.6%, respectively. The results showed that the proposed method has great potential for real-time risk assessment. It can output all of the changes of the limb angles of workers in the work process frame by frame and predict the risk level of the whole work process.