Theoretical impact of workplace-based primary prevention of lumbar disc surgery in a French region A pilot study

International audienceBACKGROUND Lumbar disc-related disorders are a main cause of work-related osteo-articular morbidity. Lumbar disc surgery (LDS) has been chosen as sentinel event for the epidemiological surveillance of these disorders since LDS can be identified in the medical databases from public and private hospitals. OBJECTIVE To assess the theoretical impact of workplace-based primary interventions designed to reduce exposure to personal and/or work-related risk factors for LDS. METHODS Cases of LDS were assessed using hospital discharge records for persons aged 20-64 in 2007-8 in the French Pays de la Loire region. We estimated the number of work-related cases of LDS (WR-LDS) in high-risk industry sectors. Three theoretical scenarios of workplace-based primary prevention have been simulated a mono-component work-centered intervention reducing the incidence of WR-LDS by 10%, and two multicomponent global interventions reducing the incidence of all cases of LDS by 5% and 10% by targeting personal and occupational risk factors. RESULTS Four high-risk sectors were identified, amounting to 277 [216-352] cases, of which 98 [37-175] were WR-LDS construction and information and communication for men; wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food service activities for women. AFE was limited for each industry sector, 30%, 50%, 33% and 55%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Prevention scenarios combining actions on personal and occupational risk factors would be the most effective, compared to prevention focused only on occupational risk factors. Implementing actions of promotion of health at work would be necessary in addition of actions on occupational risks

An Empirical Approach to Workload and Human Capability Assessment in a Manufacturing Plant

The Human Factors contribution in the scope of the industrial process optimization presented in this case study had to deal with considerations regarding the physical and mental workload requirements of different workstations and the capabilities of the operators assigned to them. The scope was to provide the industrial management with a better way to allocate human resources to tasks requiring different operational skills. The model developed and customised showed promises results for the case study in which it was applied but offers also a generalizable feature that can extend to other contexts and situations. The assessment performed can contribute to consider necessary areas of improvement in terms of technical measures, procedure optimizations and improved work organization, to reduce defects and waste generation. The paper presents a brief description of the theoretical and empirical approach used to assess the workload of complex tasks in assembly lines and the matching operators’ skillsets; furthermore, it also discusses some of the preliminary results of its application