Prevalence of low back pain and associated occupational factors among Chinese coal miners

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Very few studies have evaluated the association between occupational factors and low back pain (LBP) among miners. The epidemiological data on LBP in Chinese miners are limited. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of low back pain in Chinese coal miners and to investigate the role of occupational factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine 1573 coal miners in northern China. The prevalence of LBP over a 12-month period was assessed using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Odds ratios were calculated to examine the association between the prevalence of LBP over a 12-month period and occupational factors using logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among the coal miners, 64.9% self-reported LBP in a 12-month period. Occupational factors associated with LBP were identified, including tasks with a high degree of repetitiveness (OR 1.3, 95%CI 1.0-1.6), tasks characterized by a high level of physical demand (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.8), posture requiring extreme bending (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-1.7) and insufficient recovery time (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0-1.8).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low back pain is common among Chinese miners. There were strong associations with occupational factors.</p

Use of a Computerized Decision Support System for Primary and Secondary Prevention of Work-Related MSD Disability

The present study evaluates the effectiveness of a decision support system used to evaluate and control physical job stresses and prevent re-injury of workers who have experienced or are concerned about work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The software program is a database that stores detailed job information such as standardized work data, videos, and upper-extremity physical stress ratings for over 400 jobs in the plant. Additionally, the database users were able to record comments about the jobs and related control issues. The researchers investigated the utility and effectiveness of the software by analyzing its use over a 20-month period. Of the 197 comments entered by the users, 25% pertained to primary prevention, 75% pertained to secondary prevention, and 94 comments (47.7%) described ergonomic interventions. Use of the software tool improved primary and secondary prevention by improving the quality and efficiency of the ergonomic job analysis process.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45017/1/10926_2005_Article_5939.pd

Condições de trabalho e automação: o caso do soprador da indústria vidreira Work conditions and automation: the case of glassblower

OBJETIVO: Investigar como o controle de tarefas e o uso de diferentes tecnologias e de estrutura organizacional determinam o processo de saúde-doença. MÉTODOS: O estudo foi desenvolvido em duas indústrias vidreiras -- automática e manual --, no Município de São Paulo, Brasil, entre 1996 e 1997. A metodologia utilizada teve como base a análise ergonômica do trabalho. A pesquisa foi realizada utilizando-se estudo de caso e comparações entre dois grupos de trabalhadores, incluindo observação direta dos postos de trabalho, entrevistas e um questionário respondido por 41 trabalhadores: 14 da sopragem manual de vidro e 27 da operação da máquina automática. O questionário estruturado versava sobre queixas de saúde e características do trabalho e do posto. RESULTADOS: A comparação entre os dois grupos de trabalhadores apontou diferenças estatisticamente significativas em relação às respostas sobre o nível de ruído, as ferramentas de trabalho, a variação de postura no posto de trabalho e as queixas de dores nos braços. Foram detectados fatores de risco, tais como repetição dos movimentos para os trabalhadores da indústria manual e fatores da organização do trabalho nas duas indústrias, tais como ritmo, participação em decisões importantes e treinamento. CONCLUSÕES: O uso da metodologia ergonômica mostrou-se adequada. O estudo confirmou a exposição dos trabalhadores a intensidades elevadas de ruído e a altas temperaturas. Na indústria manual, o trabalhador parece desempenhar um papel que o faz se sentir mais importante, pois ele realiza uma parte significativa do trabalho total, diferentemente do trabalhador da indústria automática que está "vigiando" um processo em que a máquina é a produtora.<br>OBJECTIVE: To investigate how the use of different technologies, organizational structures, and task control determine the health-disease process in workers.. METHODS: The study was developed in two glass industries, one automated and the other manual, in the city of S. Paulo, Brazil, between 1996 and 1997. Ergonomics methods were used as main principles underlying the techniques of data collection. The techniques applied were case study and group comparisons, including a direct observation of the work condition, interviews and a questionnaire answered by all 41 workers of the workplaces studied: operators of automated machines (27 workers) and manual glass blow operators (14 workers). The questions were about their jobs and workplace characteristics and health complaints. The data were analyzed using Epi Info 6. RESULTS: The comparison between the two group of workers showed statistically significant differences in relation to workers' perceptions about excessive noise, work tools, posture while performing their work and complaints of pain in the arms. There were also identified differences in risk factors: movement repetition seen in the manual industry and those related to work organization in both industries, such as work rhythm, employees' participation in important decisions and training. CONCLUSIONS: The use an ergonomics methodology was perfectly adequate. Manual industry workers seem to play a role that makes them feel they have an important participation in the work process, as they performed a significant part of the total work, contrasting with automatic industry workers, which task is only of supervising the process, where the machine is the actual producer

Postural assessment in pen-and-paper-based observational methods and their associated health effects: a review

Introduction: This review describes standardized ergonomics assessment based on pen-and-paper observational methods for assessing ergonomics risk factors.Objective: The three main objectives are to analyze published pen-and-paper observational methods, to extract and understand the risk levels of each method and to identify their associated health effects. Methodology: The authors searched scientific databases and the Internet for materials from 1970 to 2013 using the following keywords: ergo, posture, method, observational, postural angle, health effects, pain and diseases. Postural assessments of upper arms, lower arms, wrists, neck, back and legs in six pen-and-paper-based observational methods are highlighted, extracted in groups and linked with associated adverse health effects.Results:The literature reviewed showed strengths and limitations of published pen-and-paper-based observational methods in determining the work activities, risk levels and related postural angles to adverse health effects. This provided a better understanding of unsafe work postures and how to improve these postures.Conclusion: Many pen-and-paper-based observational methods have been developed. However, there are still many limitations of these methods. There is, therefore, a need to develop a new pen-and-paper-based observational method for assessing postural problems

A Significant Outcome of Work Life: Occupational Accidents in a Developing Country, Turkey

A Significant Outcome of Work Life: Occupational Accidents in a Developing Country, Turkey: O. Alp ERGOR, et al. Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey-Occupational accident rates are high in the developing world and they are among the crucial indicators of work life. The data on serious occupational accidents in three years from the Aegean Region of Turkey were analyzed in order to define the working life situation. The data for 1995-97 were obtained from The Social Insurance Institution. Variables were defined for workers, work environment and working conditions for descriptive analysis. The relationships between these variables and outcomes of the occupational accidents were analyzed. The fatality risk was 2.6 times higher for mining and construction than for the production sector (p<0.001), and 1.6 times higher for evening and night shifts than for day shifts (p<0.01). Mortality from being struck by something, falls, motor vehicle accidents and electrocutions were significantly higher than being cut or in, under or between objects (OR 3.5, 8.7, 23.1, 26.1 respectively and p<0.01). As a conclusion, it was suggested that within the globalization picture, occupational health problems in the developing world should be explored intensively in order to establish effective prevention programs