Health and working conditions of pregnant women working inside and outside the home in Mexico City

BACKGROUND: To explore differences related to health and working conditions by comparing socio-demographic parameters, reproductive and prenatal care characteristics and working conditions among pregnant women who are employed outside the home (extra-domestic) while still performing a domestic workload versus those who perform exclusively domestic work in the home (intra-domestic). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out at Family Medicine Unit N 31 of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in Mexico City between April and July 2003. Interviews were conducted with 537 pregnant women engaged in either extra-domestic work plus intra-domestic tasks, or those performing strictly intra-domestic work. Information was obtained regarding their demographic status, prenatal care, reproductive, work characteristics, and health during pregnancy. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-six (36.5%) of the interviewed women had paid jobs outside the home in addition to domestic tasks, while three hundred forty-one (63.5 %) engaged in exclusively intra-domestic occupations. Of the women with paid jobs, 78.6% worked as clerks. Among domestic tasks, we found that the greatest workload was associated with washing of clothes, and our micro-ergonomic analysis revealed that women who worked strictly inside the home had a higher domestic workload versus employed women (69.2 vs. 44.9%). When we analyzed the effect of work on health during pregnancy, we observed that women who worked strictly inside the home were at a higher risk for musculoskeletal and genitourinary symptoms than those employed outside the home. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the effect of intra-domestic work should not be ignored when considering women's health during pregnancy, and that greater attention should be paid to women's working conditions during intra and extra-domestic work

Associations between neck musculoskeletal complaints and work related factors among public service computer workers in Kaunas

Objectives:Information technologies have been developing very rapidly, also in the case of occupational activities. Epidemiological studies have shown that employees, who work with computers, are more likely to complain of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). The aim of this study was to evaluate associations between neck MSD and individual and work related factors. Materials and Methods: The investigation which consisted of two parts - a questionnaire study (using Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire and Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire) and a direct observation (to evaluate ergonomic work environment using RULA method) was carried out in three randomly selected public sector companies of Kaunas. The study population consisted of 513 public service office workers. Results: The survey showed that neck MSDs were very common in the investigated population. The prevalence rate amounted to 65.7%. According to our survey neck MSDs were significantly associated with older age, bigger work experience, high quantitative and cognitive job demands, working for longer than 2 h without taking a break as well as with higher ergonomic risk score. The fully adjusted model working for longer than 2 h without taking a break had the strongest associations with neck complaints. Conclusion: It was confirmed, that neck MSDs were significantly associated with individual factors as well as conditions of work, therefore, preventive acions against neck complaints should be oriented at psychosocial and ergonomic work environment as well as at individual factors

Optimization methodology for beam gauges of the bus body for weight reduction

During service, a bus is subjected to various loads that cause stresses, vibrations and noise in the different components of its structure. It requires appropriate strength, stiffness and fatigue properties of the components to be able to stand these loads. Besides, quality and optimum weight of the vehicle, for efficient energy consumption, safety and provision of the comfort to the user are highly desired. The present work proposes a methodology to minimize the bus weight by modifying its beam gauges to optimum thickness. The bus performance is evaluated by multiple iterations on the basis of parameters like frequency, distortion, stress and stiffness. The algorithm performs gauge optimization of the bus by analyzing and satisfying its structural strength through linear static analysis on a laden bus. It also performs structural stiffness analysis and vibration analysis for safety of the bus structure. This work unfolds an integrated methodology to the bus manufacturers to optimize the structural weight for improving the fuel efficiency, static and dynamic safety, and robust design. The work is implemented by creating a finite element model of the bus and optimizing in HyperWorks environment. The results are verified for a full length 11 m, 65 seats bus. The methodology helps in weight reduction along with improvement in performance parameters