Low back injury risks during construction with prefabricated (panelised) walls: effects of task and design factors

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jia B ; Kim S ; Nussbaum MA
• Description:
  New technology designed to increase productivity in residential construction may exacerbate the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among residential construction workers. Of interest here are panelised (prefabricated) wall systems (or panels) and facilitating an ongoing effort to provide proactive control of ergonomic exposures and risks among workers using panels. This study, which included 24 participants, estimated WMSD risks using five methods during common panel erection tasks and the influences of panel mass (sheathed vs. unsheathed) and size (wall length). WMSD risks were fairly high overall; e.g. 34% and 77% of trials exceeded the 'action limits' for spinal compressive and shear forces, respectively. Heavier (sheathed) panels significantly increased risks, although the magnitude of this effect differed with panel size and between tasks. Higher levels of risk were found in tasks originating from ground vs. knuckle height. Several practical recommendations based on the results are discussed. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Panelised wall systems have the potential to increase productivity in residential construction, but may result in increased worker injury risks. Results from this study can be used to generate future panel design and construction processes that can proactively address WMSD risks. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Construction Industry Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Ergonomics Biodynamics Biomechanics Construction Construction-industry Construction-workers Exposure-assessment Injuries Injury-prevention Muscle-physiology Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Physiological-factors Physiological-stress Posture Prevention Through Design Residential Construction Risk-analysis Risk-factors Risk Assessment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-practices Statistical-analysis Work-environment Work-performance Work-practices Worker-motivation Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0014-0139
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  60-71
• Volume:
  54
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038142
• Citation:
  Ergonomics 2011 Jan; 54(1):60-71
• Contact Point Address:
  Maury A. Nussbaum, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, 250 Durham Hall (0118), Blacksburg, VA 24061
• Email:
  nussbaum@vt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20150131
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2939f58703521759bf593305a216867e3ed9b205baf38484dc8d31cd6d6d12045c16beeaa56118cd03b49f89e96d7ea631436da78ab47af8f87ef7ccbf8de932
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191940/cdc_191940_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 845.18 KB ]