OBJECTIVE To evaluate the participatory ergonomic method on the development of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and disability in office employees. METHODS This study is a randomized controlled intervention study. It comprised 116 office workers using computers. Those in the intervention group were taught office ergonomics and the risk assessment method. Cox proportional hazards mode...

BACKGROUND Women working in the public human service sector in 'overstrained' situations run the risk of musculoskeletal symptoms and long-term sick leave. In order to maintain the level of health and work ability and strengthen the potential resources for health, it is important that employees gain greater control over decisions and actions affecting their health--a process associated with the...

A group of routine data entry operators (female) was included in the Polish MEPS (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress) study. Before the intervention, ergonomic assessment revealed improper working conditions such as inadequate lighting, uncomfortable chairs, and lack of forearm and wrist support while medical examination revealed that trapezius muscle load along with upper arm, he...

OBJECTIVE The literature on psychosocial job factors and musculoskeletal pain is inconclusive in part due to insufficient control for confounding by biomechanical factors. The aim of this study was to investigate prospectively the independent effects of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) at work on regional musculoskeletal pain of the neck and upper extremities of call center operators after control...

Despite a growing number of published articles describing studies of ergonomic interventions, little is known about the barriers potential adopters face when deciding whether or not to adopt such innovations. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers identified by potential adopters of ergonomic innovations and compare barriers identified by individuals not interested in...

AIMS To evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive educational and low-tech ergonomic intervention programme aimed at reducing low back pain (LBP) among home care nurses and nurses' aids. METHODS In 1999, 345 home care nurses and nurses' aids in four Danish municipalities were studied. Participants in two municipalities constituted the intervention group and participants in the other two serv...

PROBLEM Few methods exist for comprehensively examining the costs and benefits of ergonomic interventions applicable to a variety of economic sectors and settings. METHODS An instrument for data collection and data analysis at the facility level is presented. In this net-cost model intervention costs are defined by equipment and labor costs for the interventions as well as the avoided costs o...

The analysis of Mans’ interaction with the elements of a system has a fundamental purpose in the ergonomic analysis of work situations, as well as, in the design of new tasks and products. This analysis involves the collection of Human activitys’ information, in specific conditions, in a usable format to be used in the following stages, particularly in ergonomic intervention. In this work a sys...