Applications of the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire: A Review

Sustainability seeks to provide economically viable products in an environmentally friendly way while respecting worker rights. Physical wellbeing forms part of these rights. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) diminish productivity, cause absence from work, impose costs on the public health system and can cast doubt on the sustainability of a company or a product. The objective of the present work is to review the literature on the application of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) on a worldwide level. In this work, the use of the NMQ has been classified by categories of knowledge, countries and years. The search was made using “Web of Science-Core Collection”. In total, 259 articles were chosen from scientific journals and conferences related, according to the title and or abstract, to the practical application of the questionnaire. In conclusion, the NMQ has been applied mainly in three sectors: “activities related to treating human health and social issues”, “manufacturing industries”, and “agriculture, livestock, fishing, and forestry”. The NMQ is an indirect method commonly used individually or complemented with other methods for evaluating the MSD and possible associated psychosocial and labour risks. The use of NMQ can help in the evaluation of the sustainability of a company

Not Just an Ache: Examining the Rate of Musculoskeletal Pain in City Bus Drivers

This paper examines the rates of musculoskeletal discomfort in a sample of 957 city bus drivers at King County Metro, a public transportation agency serving the greater Seattle area. It also examines how often such pain prevented drivers from doing their normal work, needed treatment from a medical professional, or incited one or more worker’s compensation claims. To assess the level of musculoskeletal discomfort in city bus drivers, an anonymous survey was distributed to drivers at King County Metro, a public transportation agency serving the greater Seattle area. This survey consisted of a Nordic Questionnaire asking drivers whether or not they experienced pain in certain areas of the body in the past twelve months, along with a small section asking for basic information such as age, hours per week worked, and gender. The results of the survey demonstrate that bus drivers experience very high rates of musculoskeletal pain, with 85% of respondents indicating pain in at least one area of the body. Comparisons to CDC data show higher rates of musculoskeletal pain in this sample than in the general population. Female and full-time drivers showed consistently higher rates of pain across all areas of the body then their male and part-time counterparts, while variables such as BMI and age showed less influence. Rates of pain in the lower back, shoulders, and knees were especially elevated. Of those experiencing pain in at least one area of the body, more than 50% were prevented from doing their normal work and visited a medical professional. For all drivers experiencing pain, there were large gaps in the rates of medical visits and worker’s compensation claims. Policy recommendations include the provision of active-suspension seats in the agency’s fleet of buses and better placement of key controls in the drivers’ workstation, two goals potentially attainable through increased participation of drivers in the bus-procurement process. The role of different route types, stop placement patterns, and road surfaces in addressing rates of musculoskeletal pain in bus drivers should also be investigated

Lighting, well-being and work performance: A review of the literature

Commissioned White Paper Report for Philips International

Evaluation of a Participatory Ergonomics Intervention in Small Commercial Construction Firms

BACKGROUND: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) among construction workers remain high. Participatory ergonomics (PE) interventions that engage workers and employers in reducing work injury risks have shown mixed results. METHODS: Eight-six workers from seven contractors participated in a PE program. A logic model guided the process evaluation and summative evaluation of short term and intermediate impacts and long term outcomes from surveys and field records. RESULTS: Process measures showed good delivery of training, high worker engagement, and low contractor participation. Workers’ knowledge improved and workers reported changes to work practices and tools used; contractor provision of appropriate equipment was low (33%). No changes were seen in symptoms or reported physical effort. CONCLUSIONS: The PE program produced many worker-identified ergonomic solutions, but lacked needed support from contractors. Future interventions should engage higher levels of the construction organizational system to improve contractor involvement for reducing WMSD

Achieving workplace inclusiveness by using ergonomics risk assessment

Traditional manufacturing work practices do not consider human variability issues during the design process. However, most manual assembly activities demand high levels of repetition and speed without compromising product quality and work productivity. Individual factors including age, gender, skill, experience and anthropometry cause variations in task strategies that lead to variations in individual and organizational work performance. The ergonomics-based risk assessment methods OWAS, REBA and RULA have been used to evaluate risk levels associated with working methods. This paper discusses the need for these methods to understand and highlight the key issues generated by these variations with the objective of minimizing these variations. Methods that can be used to promote working strategies that minimize the level of risk are described. The proposed research method potentially reduces work-related musculoskeletal disorders, injuries, pain, and promotes safe, healthy, productive and more inclusive working strategies suitable for a diverse working population

Self-Reported Upper Body Discomfort due to Driving: Effect of Driving Experience, Gender and Automobile Age

This study investigated the human upper body discomfort caused by automobile driving. Both global and local discomfort estimates were achieved by means of a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire used a Borg CR10 scale to evaluate human discomfort, and contained sections to gather information regarding the driving experience, gender and most frequently used automobile of the respondent. The geographic area surveyed was the city of Turin, Italy, and data from a total of 269 drivers was analysed. For all subgroups analysed, the back region was reported to suffer the greatest discomfort, followed in order of decreasing discomfort by the neck, shoulder, arm, hand-wrist, forearm, head, chest and mandible. Generally, female drivers provided higher discomfort responses than male drivers. Subdividing the data according to driving experience lead to large and statistically significant (a<0.05) differences inboth global and local discomfort. Subdividing by gender suggested some significant differences, while subdividing by automobile age produced few differences. The results suggest the usefulness of controlling for test subject driving experience and gender when performing subjective evaluations of automobiles. Further, comparison of the global and the local discomfort responses suggested that individuals were able to form a stable estimate of global discomfort based on the sensations perceived in each of the individual body regions involved. This suggests the interesting possibility that global evaluations may not always provide an accurate understanding of human discomfort since situations can be imagined in which different distributions of upper body discomfort might produce the same, global, response

Gender and Posture are Significant Risk Factors to Musculoskeletal Symptoms during Touchscreen Tablet Computer Use

[Purpose] To investigate the prevalence of neck and shoulder symptoms during the use of tablet computer, and to identify the risk factors associated with these symptoms. [Subjects and Methods] A cross-sectional survey was conducted to study tablet computer usage, posture during use, and neck and shoulder symptoms in 412 participants in a school setting. Significant risk factors for musculoskeletal symptoms during tablet computer use were identified. [Results] Overall prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms during tablet computer use was 67.9% with greater prevalence of neck symptoms (neck: 84.6%; shoulder/upper extremity: 65.4%). Significant risk factors associated with symptoms during use were: current musculoskeletal symptoms, gender, roles, and postural factors including: sitting without back support, sitting with device in lap, and lying on the side and on the back during tablet computer use. A multivariate analysis further showed that the odds for females to have symptoms were 2.059 times higher than males. [Conclusion] The findings revealed that female gender and other postural factors were significantly associated with musculoskeletal symptoms during the use of tablet computer. Among all postural factors, sitting without back support was identified as the most important risk factor for having musculoskeletal symptom

Modeling of VDT Workstation System Risk Factors.

The objectives of this research were to determine the most important risk factors in VDT workstations associated with physical symptoms and to investigate the interrelationship among these risk factors. A conceptual model was first developed to describe the interrelationship among the basic components in a VDT workstation system and their possible health effects. A research model was then proposed to describe the hypothesized relationships among the following categories of variables: demographic, task, workstation design, work environment, psychosocial factors, work posture, psychological stress, musculoskeletal symptoms, visual symptoms, and general physical symptoms. A method which consisted of a questionnaire, measurement and posture analysis was then developed. A field study was conducted among daily computer users in a local industry. Ninety three VDT operators participated in the study. Factor analysis was applied to the physical symptoms to help identify the underlying factors. Multiple regression was used to determine the most important factors related to the physical symptoms and the effect of interactions among the risk factors. The four factors identified among physical symptoms are: ocular discomfort, general musculoskeletal symptoms, upper extremity symptoms, and other physical symptoms. Ocular discomfort is significantly related to screen glare; both general musculoskeletal symptoms and other physical symptoms are related to fatigue; and upper extremity symptoms are related to awkward upper body posture. Many interactions between the risk factors and their effects are identified, such as, psychosocial factors and demographic, and workstation factors and working posture. Psychosocial factors are found to interact with other variables and contribute to psychological stress. The implication of this research is that both physical and social environment need to be evaluated and the interactions among the components of a VDT workstation system need to be understood in order to determine physical symptom risk factors

Developing an Intervention Toolbox for the Common Health Problems in the Workplace

Development of the Health ↔ Work Toolbox is described. The toolbox aims to reduce the workplace impact of common health problems (musculoskeletal, mental health, and stress complaints) by focusing on tackling work-relevant symptoms. Based on biopsychosocial principles this toolbox supplements current approaches by occupying the zone between primary prevention and healthcare. It provides a set of evidence-informed principles and processes (knowledge + tools) for tackling work-relevant common health problems. The toolbox comprises a proactive element aimed at empowering line managers to create good jobs, and a ‘just in time’ responsive element for supporting individuals struggling with a work-relevant health problem. The key intention is helping people with common health problems to maintain work participation. The extensive conceptual and practical development process, including a comprehensive evidence review, produced a functional prototype toolbox that is evidence based and flexible in its use. End-user feedback was mostly positive. Moving the prototype to a fully-fledged internet resource requires specialist design expertise. The Health ↔ Work Toolbox appears to have potential to contribute to the goal of augmenting existing primary prevention strategies and healthcare delivery by providing a more comprehensive workplace approach to constraining sickness absence