The Estimated National Burden of Physical Ergonomic Hazards Among US Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Calvert, Geoffrey M. ; Tak S
• Description:
  Purpose: To estimate the national burden of physical ergonomic hazards among working adults in the US. Methods: We estimated the population prevalence of and the total number of workers who are exposed to physical ergonomic hazards, such as vibration, working in cramped space, kneeling, body bending or twisting, climbing, and repetitive motions using Occupational Information Network (O*NET) data and the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stratified by occupation title. Results: Repetitive motion was the most prevalent of all ergonomic hazards (27% of US workers are estimated to be exposed continually). Bending or twisting of the body more than half their time at work was also common, involving over 32 million US workers (25% of US workforce). Kneeling, crouching, stooping, or crawling was another ergonomic hazard that 14 million US workers perform more than half their time at work. Almost 4 million workers climb ladders, scaffolds, poles, etc. for more than half their time at work. We estimate that over 13 million workers (10% of US workforce) were exposed to cramped workspace that requires getting into awkward positions every day. Finally, about 3.5 million workers (2.7% of US workforce) were estimated to be exposed to whole body vibration every day. Conclusion: A large portion of the US work force is exposed to ergonomic hazards known to be associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The occupations with the highest prevalence of each ergonomic hazard may be deserving of prompt efforts toward prevention of MSDs. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Construction Industry Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Vibration Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Analytical-processes Author Keywords: O*NET Biological-effects Biological-function Biological-systems Biomechanics Construction Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Hand-injuries Injury-prevention Mathematical-models Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Musculoskeletal Disorders Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards OES Physiological-effects Physiological-factors Posture Quantitative-analysis Questionnaires Repetitive-work Risk-analysis Risk-factors Safety-research Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs Vibration-disease Vibration-effects Vibration-exposure Work-environment Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  395-404
• Volume:
  54
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037431
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2011 May; 54(5):395-404
• Contact Point Address:
  SangWooTak, CDC, NIOSH, DSHEFS, 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS R-17, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  sluckhaupt@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:045e84ed16106dc7ed684c86d2082267c576c519ca0cf87039365ebc32fba8441a72279683c7b6cf5a61d825312a3a7775f27bc8b3e717876dff8880f8a75714
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188528/cdc_188528_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 747.29 KB ]