Quantification of ergonomic hazards for ironworkers performing concrete reinforcement tasks during heavy highway construction

Details

• Personal Author:
  Buchholz B ; Forde M ; Paquet V ; Wellman H
• Description:
  A study was conducted to assess the ergonomic hazards of ironwork job tasks associated with concrete reinforcement work at a large highway construction site. PATH (posture, activity, tools, and handling) analysis, a work-sampling method, was used to provide task-based estimates of the percentage of time ironworkers spent in specified postures of the trunk, arms, and legs; performed activities; used tools; and handled loads. A total of 2128 PATH observations were made of 17 ironworkers performing 5 job tasks: (1) ground-level reinforcement bar (rebar) construction, (2) wall rebar construction, (3) ventilation rebar construction, (4) preparation work, and (5) supervising. Nonneutral trunk postures were observed frequently (exceeding 30%) and manual material handling (MMH) was the most commonly observed activity (exceeding 20%) for all job tasks except supervising. The percentage of time workers spent in specific postures, activities performed, tool use, and MMH activities differed significantly between the five main job tasks, even when supervising was excluded from the analysis. It was concluded that ironworkers are exposed to significant ergonomic hazards when performing concrete reinforcing tasks, and that opportunities exist for the implementation of ergonomic interventions. Further, the results of this study can be used to target specific hazardous tasks for ergonomic interventions and confirms the need to use a task-based exposure assessment strategy to properly assess ergonomic risk profiles for nonstructured jobs such as construction. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Construction Materials Ergonomics Ferrous Compounds Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Metal Workers Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Concrete Reinforcement Body-regions Concretes Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Highway Construction Iron-industry Iron-workers Iron-working-industry Ironwork Job-analysis Machine-tools Manual-materials-handling Materials-handling Physical-stress Posture Road-construction Task-performance Tools Work-performance Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  0002-8894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  243-250
• Volume:
  64
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040159
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 2003 Mar/Apr; 64(2):243-250
• Contact Point Address:
  Bryan Buchholz, Construction Occupational Health Project, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854
• Email:
  Bryan_Buchholz@uml.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities
• Performing Organization:
  Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19920930
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• End Date:
  19950929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c233ba1d5498c09d4135221cdc2a91ed296d7eb9e21cb4b57da349c38d285bb00e3c0e018e545ca2cc8d94f73aca85a90e0f0ef1bd9130a98a7d45ae067f64f7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193114/cdc_193114_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 189.61 KB ]