A participatory ergonomics intervention to reduce risk factors for low-back disorders in concrete laborers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hecker S ; Hess JA ; Lunger M ; Weinstein M
• Description:
  Construction laborers rank high among occupational groups with work-related musculoskeletal injuries involving time way from work. The goals of this project were to: (1) introduce an ergonomic innovation to decrease the risk of low-back disorder (LBD) group membership, (2) quantitatively assess exposure, and (3) apply a participatory intervention approach in construction. Laborers manually moving a hose delivering concrete to a placement site were evaluated. The hypothesis tested was that skid plates would prevent hose joints from catching on rebar matting, and the hose would slide more easily. This would decrease the need for repetitive bending and use of excessive force. Four laborers were evaluated wearing the Lumbar Motion Monitor (LMM), a tri-axial electrogoniometer that records position, velocity and acceleration. Workers were measured during three comparable concrete pours. Worker perceptions of the innovation utility and exertion were surveyed. During initial use of skid plates, flexion increased significantly (p < 0.001) while velocity, acceleration and moments did not change. After implementing a worker modification, low back velocity, acceleration and moments were significantly reduced (p < 0.05). Reductions in these factors have been associated with decreased risk of belonging to an occupational group with LBDs. Use of secured skid plates during horizontal concrete hose movement may in part decrease the risk of LBD group membership among concrete laborers. Crew participation resulted in skid plates being a more effective intervention. The LMM is a promising tool for quantitative assessment in construction. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Construction Materials Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Acceleration Author Keywords: Ergonomics Back-injuries Concretes Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Control-equipment Control-methods Exposure-assessment Force Human-factors-engineering Injuries Injury-prevention Low-back Disorder Risk Manual-materials-handling Measurement-equipment Monitoring-systems Monitors Motion-studies Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Quantitative-analysis Risk-factors Trunk Kinematics Work-performance Workplace Interventions

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• ISSN:
  0003-6870
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  427-441
• Volume:
  35
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040985
• Citation:
  Appl Ergon 2004 Sep; 35(5):427-441
• Contact Point Address:
  Jennifer A. Hess, Labor Education and Research Center, 1289 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1289, USA
• Email:
  jhessdc@earthlink.net
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  The Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  Applied Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20050630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bf32fa2fcee14fab5c3697a66fd706a50212a214821a5ad734ab5e062f714f8765926a672b7d7886e3c2a767809ee2a310c2596fda1be19cbb169e53ea3434b4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193665/cdc_193665_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 346.74 KB ]