Comparison of ergonomist, supervisor, and worker assessments of work-related musculoskeletal risk factors

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniell WE ; Kaufman JD ; Spielholz PO ; Winnemuller LL
• Description:
  In primary prevention efforts to reduce the incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disease (MSD), many employers will use supervisor or worker assessments for initial evaluation of MSD risk factors. This cross-sectional study examined the ability of supervisors and workers to accurately assess the presence of MSD risk factors at four work sites in four different industries, examining five jobs that represented six primary categories of risk factors: posture, force, repetition, impact, lifting, and vibration. Thirty-seven supervisors and 55 workers assessed the jobs they oversee or perform through the use of a 14-item questionnaire. Their assessments were compared with detailed ergonomist job analyses to determine their accuracy in identifying the presence or absence of MSD risk factors. In assessing the absence or presence of all risk factors, agreement with the ergonomist was found 81% of the time for supervisors and 77% of the time for workers. Overall, supervisors and workers overestimated the presence of risk in assessing the jobs. Supervisors and worker assessments appear promising in recognizing risk in initial ergonomic assessments. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Vibration

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Employer Assessment Employee-exposure Exposure-assessment Force Health-surveys Job-analysis Manual-lifting Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Posture Questionnaires Regulation Repetitive-work Risk-analysis Risk-factors Risk Factors Supervisory-personnel Work-analysis Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  414-422
• Volume:
  1
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040987
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2004 Jun; 1(6):414-422
• Contact Point Address:
  Joel Kaufman, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195-7234
• Email:
  joelk@u.washington.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19940701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• End Date:
  20060630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8f8305d2261b731fb34f637f6734e08111394f03444cb7f0e8067479a4bed00893f3b22b050e9c1df9c9b4a6d277198bf2887a72d425b6e45430f1f28699f3ca
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193667/cdc_193667_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 276.73 KB ]