Workplace Risk Factors Research Articles

Driven to the Bottle

This study examines the role of workplace risk factors associated with stress, social availability, and policy enforcement in explaining the severity of alcohol misuse among truck and bus drivers. Using a sample of 227 commercial (i.e., bus and truck) drivers drawn randomly from the employees of eight Israeli transportation enterprises, findings indicate that less than 6% of drivers engage in hazardous drinking, with a far smaller proportion engaging in more risky forms of misuse (i.e., harmful or dependent drinking). Key work-related factors associated with the severity of drivers’ alcohol misuse include the perception of permissive coworker drinking norms, role conflict, and supervisory abuse. Consistent with tension relief models of alcohol misuse, felt strain mediated the association between driver stressors and the severity of alcohol misuse. Perceptions of coworker drinking norms moderated the associations between stressors and supervisory monitoring (on one hand) and alcohol misuse (on the other). Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

General population job exposure matrix applied to a pooled study of prevalent carpal tunnel syndrome.

A job exposure matrix may be useful for the study of biomechanical workplace risk factors when individual-level exposure data are unavailable. We used job title-based exposure data from a public data source to construct a job exposure matrix and test exposure-response relationships with prevalent carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Exposures of repetitive motion and force from the Occupational Information Network were assigned to 3,452 active workers from several industries, enrolled between 2001 and 2008 from 6 studies. Repetitive motion and force exposures were combined into high/high, high/low, and low/low exposure groupings in each of 4 multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for personal factors. Although force measures alone were not independent predictors of CTS in these data, strong associations between combined physical exposures of force and repetition and CTS were observed in all models. Consistent with previous literature, this report shows that workers with high force/high repetition jobs had the highest prevalence of CTS (odds ratio = 2.14-2.95) followed by intermediate values (odds ratio = 1.09-2.27) in mixed exposed jobs relative to the lowest exposed workers. This study supports the use of a general population job exposure matrix to estimate workplace physical exposures in epidemiologic studies of musculoskeletal disorders when measures of individual exposures are unavailable.

Chapter 21 - Low-back pain

Low-back pain is one of the most common painful conditions experienced by humans throughout their life. Some occupational risk factors (namely, heavy manual material handling) may also contribute to the development of low-back pain: due to the high prevalence of both low-back pain and manual material handling in the adult working population, it has been estimated that low-back pain is probably the most common occupational disorder worldwide. Lifetime prevalence of low-back pain has been reported to be as high as 84%, depending on the case definition used, and no age group is spared, even children. Although low-back pain is not a lethal condition, it was estimated at the third rank among all diseases by disability-adjusted life-years in 2010 in the USA, after ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and at the first rank by years lived with disability. It also ranked high (13th) globally for the same year, in disability-adjusted life-years. Low-back pain is currently classified as nonspecific/specific as to putative cause and as acute (lasting less than 6 weeks), subacute (6-12 weeks), or chronic (more than 12 weeks) according to duration of symptoms. The distinction between nonspecific/specific and acute/subacute/chronic low-back pain is useful not only for epidemiologic studies, but also (mainly) for choosing the appropriate strategy for the diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. Workplace risk factors for low-back pain include manual lifting and whole-body vibration exposure. This chapter will provide an overview of modern concepts of low-back pain (in general) and will then outline some distinctive features of work-related low-back pain.

0318 An epidemiologic study of acute coronary syndrome in the working population

ObjectivesSome of cardiovascular diseases, like stroke and acute coronary syndrome (ACS), are compensable diseases in Taiwan as well as Japan and Korea. The number of compensated cases in the disease...

Psycho-behavioural risks of low back pain in railway workers.

Low back pain (LBP) is the most costly ailment in the work force. Risky work behaviour and psychological stress are established risk factors. To explore the associations between workplace risk factors, psychological stress and LBP among Malaysian railway workers. A cross-sectional study was carried out on railway workers in Malaysia. Socio-demographics, workplace risk factors for LBP, perceived psychological stress and history of LBP over the previous month were obtained by direct interviews using a structured closed-ended questionnaire. Descriptive, bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted. There were 513 study participants (70% response rate). The prevalence of LBP in the previous month was 69%. Multivariate analysis yielded four significant predictors of LBP: employment of ≥ 10 years, lifting and lowering heavy loads, prolonged standing posture and psychological stress. The high prevalence of LBP and its significant associations with physical and psychological stress factors in railway workers points to an urgent need for preventive measures, particularly among workers in high-risk occupations.

Development of the Chinese Version of the Quick Exposure Check (CQEC)

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are a major public health concern. There has been a strong demand from occupational safety and health agencies and operators to develop simple tools for risk assessment and management of WMSDs. The Quick Exposure Check (QEC) was designed to assess exposure to WMSDs risk factors affecting the back, shoulder/upper arm, wrist/hand, and the neck. It is a valuable observational ergonomic assessment tool, suitable for field-based assessment. This study set out to translate, culturally adapt, and validate a Chinese version of the Quick Exposure Check (CQEC), an observational tool used to assess exposure to physical and psychosocial workplace risk factors for the development of WMSDs in different body sites. The CQEC was translated from its original English version using a forward- and back-translation approach. Content validity was examined by an expert panel and expert committee using item- and scale-level content validity indices. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to analyze the inter-rater reliability of the observer's assessment, with kappa statistics and percentage agreements used to estimate the test-retest reliability of the worker's assessment of individual items. The CQEC demonstrated an excellent scale-level content validity index (S-CVI > 0.90). The ICC lay between 0.71 and 0.97, indicating good inter-rater reliability. Test-retest reliability showed substantial agreement between the two measurement occasions for most of the items (kappa=0.68 to 1, percentage agreement=76 to 100%) capturing exposure to risk factors. The CQEC is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to calculate levels of exposure to risk factors for WMSDs.

Workplace risk factors for anxiety and depression in male-dominated industries: a systematic review

Background and Aims: Working conditions are an important health determinant. Employment factors can negatively affect mental health (MH), but there is little research on MH risk factors in male-dominated industries (MDI). Method: A systematic review of risk factors for anxiety and depression disorders in MDI was undertaken. MDI comprised ≥ 70% male workers and included agriculture, construction, mining, manufacturing, transport and utilities. Major electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Informit, PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus) were searched. Each study was categorised according to National Health and Medical Research Council's hierarchy of evidence and study quality was assessed according to six methodological criteria. Results: Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Four categories of risk were identified: individual factors, team environment, work conditions and work–home interference. The main risk factors associated with anxiety and depression in MDI were poor health and lifestyles, unsupportive workplace relationships, job overload and job demands. Some studies indicated a higher risk of anxiety and depression for blue-collar workers. Conclusion: Substantial gaps exist in the evidence. Studies with stronger methodologies are required. Available evidence suggests that comprehensive primary, secondary and tertiary prevention approaches to address MH risk factors in MDI are necessary. There is a need for organisationally focused workplace MH policies and interventions.

Associations Between Worker Characteristics, Workplace Factors, and Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study of Male Construction Workers in Nigeria

Objective. This study assessed the association between worker characteristics, workplace factors, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in Nigeria’s construction industry. Methods. A cross-sectional site-by-site survey was conducted in 5 existing construction companies in Uyo, Nigeria. The subjects (n = 1200 males), aged 18-55 years, filled in the semistructured Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire and the job content questionnaire on demographics, work and lifestyle characteristics, and workplace risk factors for WMSDs. Results. The overall prevalence of WMSDs was 39.25%. Differences in age, race, weight, body mass index (BMI), education status, and employment status were significantly associated with the prevalence of WMSDs. Prevalence according to trade was as follows: ironworkers highest at 49% and administrative staff lowest at 31%. Ironworkers (55.7%), administrative staff (53.3%), and security staff (38.7%) scored higher on physical, psychosocial, and individual risk factors, respectively. Workplace factors with increased odds for WMSDs were psychological demands and mental workload, age, BMI, low work experience, low education status, awkward movement of head and arms, working against force or vibration, fast work pace, and race. Conclusion. The recorded high prevalence was multifactorial in etiology; hence, multi-intervention strategies are required.

Significance and prospect of workers health center

Systematic health management is crucial in small-sized enterprises since the number of enterprises and their employees make up a large proportion of all businesses and they account for the majority of industrial accidents and occupational illnesses. The Korean government had operated the Banwol-Sihwa Regional Center for Occupational Health to provide occupational health services and chronic disease management to the workers in small-sized enterprises as a pilot health promotion project from 2007 to 2010. Since then, Gyeonggi-seobu workers health center (WHC) was established in 2011 to provide physician care for small-sized enterprises through the Industrial Accident Compensation Fund. The WHC has provided basic occupational health services including health promotion activities to prevent work-related diseases. Core strategies of the WHC were networking with regional health resources, post-examination care for workers with abnormal findings in health screenings, the operation of branch offices for better accessibility, and services for vulnerable workers including immigrant, women, and elderly workers. An evaluation of WHCs conducted in 2012 showed excellent performance in terms of cost-effectiveness, high satisfaction, and intent toward continuous use among visitors. For the advancement of WHCs, visiting services to the worksites have to be integrated adequately with services in WHCs, and more subsidiary centers need to be established for better accessibility. Moreover, the expansion of the service items and development of specialized health programs are needed. Measures should be considered to systematically collect health data and identify workplace risk factors to improve the quality of post-examination care.

A Pilot Study on Work-Related Neck-Shoulder Pain among Sewing Machine Operators

Prevalence of neck-shoulder pain among sewing machine operators is well known. It may be due to the nature and incorrect posture used by sewing machine operators while performing sewing work. However, up till now there is no empirical evidence that can be used to relate the risk factors that would results towards the development of neck and shoulder pain among sewing machine operators. The main objective of this study is to identify and investigate the risk factors that result in neck and shoulder pain among Malaysian sewing machine operators. Twenty female sewing machine operators took part in answering a survey questionnaire to investigate the prevalence of neck and shoulder pain among sewing machine operators. The survey questionnaire was divided into five sections: socio-demographic, work background, workload information, physical exposures and physical musculoskeletal symptoms experienced by workers. Having done that, sewing machine operators who have been screened with neck and/or shoulder pain was evaluated with Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) to determine the level of workplace risk factors. Subjects without neck and/or shoulder pain were excluded. Results of the study shows that all sewing operators were expose to risk of prolonged sitting, repetitive task and working at high speed. Ninety five percent of sewing machine operators had experienced neck and/or shoulder pain and 80% of them were exposed to high work risk factors that require them to undergo further investigation. Shoulder pain was found to be strongly correlated with high work risk factor among sewing machine operators (p<0.05). In conclusion, occurrence of shoulder pain among sewing operators is due to posture and nature of sewing work.

The Impact of Gender on Personal, Health and Workplace Psychosocial Risk Factors for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Between 2001 and 2010 six research groups conducted coordinated multi-year, prospective studies of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders in US workers from various industries and collected detailed subjectlevel exposure information with follow-up symptom, physical examination, electrophysiological measures, and job changes. Objective. This analysis of the pooled cohort examined the incidence of dominant-hand carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in relation to demographic characteristics and estimated associations with occupational psychosocial factors, adjusting for confounding by personal risk factors. Methods. 3,515 participants, without baseline CTS, were followed up to 7 years. Case criteria included symptoms and an electrodiagnostic study consistent with CTS. Adjusted hazard ratios were estimated in Cox proportional hazard models. Workplace biomechanical factors were collected but not evaluated in this analysis. Results. Females were at elevated, though statistically non-significant, risk for CTS (HR=1.30; 95%CI: 0.98-1.72). The incidence of CTS increased linearly with both age and BMI over most of the observed range. High job strain increased risk (HR=1.86; 95%CI: 1.11-3.14) and social support was protective (HR=0.43; 95%CI: 0.23-0.78). There was no effect modification of gender on age, BMI or high job strain. Conclusions. Personal factors associated with an increased risk of developing CTS were BMI, age and being female, though no effect modification by gender was evident. Workplace risk factors were high job strain while social support was protective.

The impact of gender on personal, health and workplace psychosocial risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome

Between 2001 and 2010 six research groups conducted coordinated multi-year, prospective studies of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders in US workers from various industries and collected detailed subject-level exposure information with follow-up symptom, physical examination, electrophysiological measures, and job changes. Objective. This analysis of the pooled cohort examined the incidence of dominant-hand carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in relation to demographic characteristics and estimated associations with occupational psychosocial factors, adjusting for confounding by personal risk factors. Methods. 3,515 participants, without baseline CTS, were followed up to 7 years. Case criteria included symptoms and an electrodiagnostic study consistent with CTS. Adjusted hazard ratios were estimated in Cox proportional hazard models. Workplace biomechanical factors were collected but not evaluated in this analysis. Results. Females were at elevated, though statistically non-significant, risk for CTS (HR=1.30; 95%CI: 0.98-1.72). The incidence of CTS increased linearly with both age and BMI over most of the observed range. High job strain increased risk (HR=1.86; 95%CI: 1.11-3.14) and social support was protective (HR=0.43; 95%CI: 0.23-0.78). There was no effect modification of gender on age, BMI or high job strain. Conclusions. Personal factors associated with an increased risk of developing CTS were BMI, age and being female, though no effect modification by gender was evident. Workplace risk factors were high job strain while social support was protective.

90 Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among white-collar women employees

ObjectivesWork-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are one of major occupational health problem in developed and developing countries. WMSDs can affect all workers, but literature reviews indicate that women in general report...

153 Health assessment for workers performing visual examination in an electronic enterprise of Taiwan

ObjectivesIt is understood that visual display unit (VDU) workers complain of visual fatigue during or after work hours. The objective of the study is to conduct a cross-sectional health assessment...

The role of ergonomic and psychosocial workplace factors in the reporting of back injuries among U.S. home health aides

Due to the aging population and a shift to patient home care, home health aides (HHAs) are a fast-growing occupation. Since little is known about workplace risk factors for back injuries among HHAs, we examined the role of ergonomic and psychosocial factors in injury reporting among HHAs. We used the 2007 U.S. National Home Health Aide Survey data (weighted n = 160,720) to predict the risk of back injuries by use of/need for ergonomic equipment and supervisor support with logistic regression, adjusted for socio-demographic variables. The annual prevalence of back injuries for U.S. HHAs was 5.2%. Injury risk was increased in HHAs reporting the need of additional ergonomic equipment in patient homes, and marginally associated with low reported supervisor support. Improvement of workplace ergonomic and psychosocial factors could be targeted as a strategy to decrease work-related injuries in HHAs.

A prospective study of carpal tunnel syndrome: workplace and individual risk factors

ObjectivesTo quantify the risk for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) from workplace physical factors, particularly hand activity level and forceful exertion, while taking into account individual factors including age, gender, body...

Personal and workplace psychosocial risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome: a pooled study cohort

BackgroundBetween 2001 and 2010, six research groups conducted coordinated multiyear, prospective studies of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) incidence in US workers from various industries and collected detailed subject-level exposure information...

Risk factors for sickness absence among Estonian employees

During the last decade, sickness absence rates in Estonia have reached the level of Nordic countries. This places Estonia in a group of countries with the highest absence rate in the European Union. Unlike Nordic countries, factors associated with sickness absence have not been studied in Estonia. To investigate which work-related, individual and health factors, other than current illness, influence sickness absence among Estonian paid employees. The study population consisted of 2941 employees who completed an Estonian Health Interview Survey conducted in 2006. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to explore associations between individual, health and work-related factors and recent sickness absence. Sickness absence was significantly associated with poor self-rated general health (OR = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.34-2.48), presence of chronic disease (OR = 1.66; 95% CI = 1.21-2.27), lower education (OR = 1.59; 95% CI = 1.20-2.12) and job dissatisfaction (OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.23-2.26) in the final multivariate model after adjustment for age and gender conclusions: Most sickness absence risk factors revealed by previous studies were only moderately associated with sickness absence in the Estonian working population. In contrast to Nordic countries, there was no gender difference or age gradient. Among workplace risk factors, job dissatisfaction was most strongly associated with sickness absence.

Association between Workplace Risk Factor Exposure and Sleep Disturbance: Analysis of the 2nd Korean Working Conditions Survey

ObjectivesSleep is essential for human beings to live and work properly. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between occupational exposures to workplace risk factors and sleep disturbance in Korean workers.MethodsThe data were drawn from the second Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS); a total of 7,112 paid workers were analyzed. The independent variables were occupational exposures such as physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial risk factor in the workplace, and psychosocial risk factor was divided into five categories (job demand, job control, social support, job insecurity, lack of reward). We estimated the relationship between various occupational exposures and sleep disturbance using multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe results showed that people who exposed to physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial (high job demand, inadequate social support, lack of reward) risk factors were more likely to increase the risk of sleep disturbance. Furthermore, after adjusting for general and occupational characteristics, we found significant positive associations between exposures to physical (odds ratios [OR] 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-2.07) and psychosocial (high job demand (OR 2.93, 95% CI 2.16-3.98), inadequate social support (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.14-2.15), lack of reward (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.08-1.96)) risk factors and sleep disturbance.ConclusionThese results suggest that occupational exposures to physical and psychosocial workplace risk factors are significantly related to sleep disturbance.

Modifiable workplace risk factors contributing to workplace absence across health conditions: A stakeholder-centered best-evidence synthesis of systematic reviews

A challenge facing stakeholders is the identification and translation of relevant high quality research to inform policy and practice. This study engaged academic and community stakeholders in conducting a best evidence-synthesis to enhance knowledge use. To identify modifiable workplace disability risk and protective factors across common health conditions impacting work-related absence. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINHAL, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, BusinessSourceComplete, and ABI/Inform from 2000 to 2011. Systematic reviews that employed quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods of work-focused population were considered for inclusion. Two or more independent reviewers reviewed titles only, titles and abstracts, and/or full articles when assessing eligibility for inclusion. Selected articles underwent methodological screening. The search strategy, expert input and grey literature identified 2,467 unique records from which 142 full text articles underwent comprehensive review. Twenty-seven systematic reviews met eligibility criteria. Modifiable work factors found to have consistent evidence across two or more health conditions included lack of social support, increased physical demands at work, job strain, lack of supervisory support, increased psychological demands, low job satisfaction, low worker control of job, and poor leadership quality. The active engagement of stakeholders led to greater understanding of relevance of the study findings for community stakeholders and appreciation of the mutual benefits of collaboration.