Hamidreza Mokarami; Haji Omid Kalteh; Ali Tajpoor
Volume 5, Issue 3 , July 2017, , Pages 100-106
Abstract
Background: Due to the high cost of advanced tractors in developing countries, their use with lower cost and technology has been further considered. Consequently, many of these machines in terms of ergonomics are in poor condition and cause musculoskeletal problems in the drivers. This study aimed to ...
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Background: Due to the high cost of advanced tractors in developing countries, their use with lower cost and technology has been further considered. Consequently, many of these machines in terms of ergonomics are in poor condition and cause musculoskeletal problems in the drivers. This study aimed to identify harmful postures causing musculoskeletal disorders in the tractor drivers in Iran.Methods: The study was conducted in March 2018 among farmers in Golestan province. The tasks of tractor drivers are divided into three stages consisting of getting on, steering tractor, and getting off. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method was used to assess the body postures. In REBA, different postures of the body regions such as the neck, wrist, hands and legs were assessed and finally the level of risk was determined. Then, the levels of ergonomic interventions were suggested based on the risk level. Results: Based on the REBA analysis, most of the tasks performed by the tractor drivers had medium risk and they need prompt investigation and change. For the task of getting on and getting off the tractor, the highest scores were assigned to the arms, legs and trunk. For the task of steering tractor, the highest postural scores were related to the wrists, trunk and legs.Conclusion: Ergonomic and posture conditions of Iranian tractors are not suitable. Therefore, it is necessary to implement ergonomic interventions to reduce the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders.
alireza besharati; Ali Ghanbari; Alireza Choobineh; Seyed Hamidreza Tabatabaee; Hadi Daneshmandi
Volume 3, Issue 3 , July 2015, , Pages 101-106
Abstract
Background: Proper training on how to correctly handle loads is one key point for prevention of low back disorders. This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing manual material lifting activities and comparing two methods of training intervention in a porcelain company. Methods: In this ...
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Background: Proper training on how to correctly handle loads is one key point for prevention of low back disorders. This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing manual material lifting activities and comparing two methods of training intervention in a porcelain company. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial which was conducted in a porcelain company, all male employees with lifting activities (n=204) participated. The data were collected using Nordic Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire and Lift/ Lower Force Risk Assessment software for assessing manual material lifting. Intervention methods included booklet and oral training. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U and Chisquare tests using SPSS software (Version 17.0). Results: The most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders symptoms were reported in the knee (52.5%), feet (45.1%), and lower back (43.6%). Risk assessment before intervention showed that in 62.7% of the workers studied, the level of exposure to musculoskeletal risks was in Action Level (AL) 1, 31.9% in AL 2 and 5.4% in AL 3. The risk assessment after intervention showed that in 77.5% of the workers studied, the level of exposure to musculoskeletal risks was in Action Level (AL) 1, 20.6% in AL 2 and 2% in AL 3 (P<0.001). Also, statistical analysis revealed that oral training (24.5%) was more effective than the booklet training (11.8%) (P=0.018). Conclusion: This study showed that training intervention could be effective in correction of methods of manual material lifting of workers. It seems oral training for workers of porcelain industry is more effective than the booklet training. Trial registration number: IRCT2015050322071N1.
