Evaluation of whole body vibration and back pain problem among Light Rapid Transit (LRT) drivers

A cross sectional study was conducted to evaluate whole body vibration (WBV) and back pain problem among light rail transit (LRT) driver. This study was carried out to determine exposure level of whole body vibration and identify back pain problem due to whole body vibration exposure among LRT driver. Standardized Nordic questionnaire was used for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms, to identify the prevalence of back pain, information about health history, working time duration, and working experiences was obtained from 52 drivers of light rail transit (LRT) train. HVM 100 Larson Davis was used to measure whole body vibration measurement of eight LRTs with different vehicle number. The measurement of whole body vibration was done during operation working time. The data collected from HVM 100 were transferred to the Blaze software for getting the vibration magnitude of the experiment while data collected from survey were analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for statistical analysis. The analysis of graph patterns and the differentiation of magnitude value from each LRT were studied to determine the exposure level of vibration. A high prevalence of back pain (82.7%) among LRT drivers was found and high daily exposure level was obtained. The finding showed that, there are relations between back pain and daily vibration exposure which resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.709, with significant at α = 0.05. In conclusion, it was expected that the individuals subjected to the high vibration levels would tend to report back pain

Effect of working posture on back pain occurrence among electronic workers in Malaysia

Back pain remains a major work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) and has caused loss in individuals’ workdays and organisations’ productivity. Hence, this study compares muscular activities of the trapezius and erector spinae muscles of the back, in order to identify the onset of fatigue among standing and sitting electronics workers in Malaysia. Surface electromyography was used to evaluate the muscular activities in 11 electronics assembly workers, made up of six males and five females, continuously for one hour. Two measures, mean power frequency and average electromyography were used to identify the difference. Both measures indicated significant difference between the upper back muscles of standing and sitting workers, and more muscular activities were observed among sitting workers than the standing workers. However, the reduction in frequency was not significant enough to show fatigue among both standing and sitting workers. Hence, organisations should provide short breaks after every hour to reduce WMSD, and improve general wellbeing of the workers

Musculoskeletal disorders in body regions and its associated risk factors among electronic workers in Malaysia

Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) among workers is a major cause of lost workdays in industries and also accounted for the highest rate of disability among workers. (WHO 2003, Gallagher and Heberger 2012). It has led to loss of productivity and has become a high financial burden on national health systems (Chiasson et al. 2012, Gallagher and Heberger 2012). These negative effects needs to be prevented, as much as possible, especially in developing countries whose industries are just developing, and such effects can constitute serious obstacle to their drive for industrialization . This serves as justification for this study, which investigated MSD among Malaysian workers, and also developed a model highlighting the direct and indirect effect of physical and psychosocial factors on workers satisfaction

Musculoskeletal disorders in body regions and its associated risk factors among electronics workers in Malaysia

Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) among workers is a major cause of lost workdays in industries and also accounted for the highest rate of disability among workers. (WHO 2003, Gallagher and Heberger 2012). It has led to loss of productivity and has become a high financial burden on national health systems (Chiasson et al. 2012, Gallagher and Heberger 2012). These negative effects needs to be prevented, as much as possible, especially in developing countries whose industries are just developing, and such effects can constitute serious obstacle to their drive for industrialization. This serves as justification for this study, which investigated MSD among Malaysian workers, and also developed a model highlighting the direct and indirect effect of physical and psychosocial factors on workers satisfaction