Creating a climate for ergonomic changes in the construction industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boatman L ; Chaplan D ; Teran S ; Welch LS
• Description:
  Background: Ergonomic solutions that have gained acceptance in other industries are often considered not applicable to a construction work environment, even though the industry is characterized by high physical work demands. Methods: We conducted 50 key informant interviews with 23 contractor representatives and 27 union staff, plus 4 focus groups with a total of 48 workers. Results: Many workers hold the belief that WMSDs are inevitable as part of the job, and did not consistently believe that changing the nature of the work could prevent that injury or pain. The interviewees reported limited availability and accessibility of tested and effective tools that both reduce physical demand and also get the job done efficiently and effectively. Yet for each major obstacle to implementation of ergonomics in the industry identified, the construction professionals we interviewed offered a variety of solutions. Conclusions: Contractors, unions, and workers need to work together to find actions that work within the parameters of the current economic environment. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Ergonomics Mass Behavior Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Attitude Author Keywords: Construction Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-workers Equipment-design Focus Group Group-dynamics Human-factors-engineering Injury-prevention Intervention Job-analysis MSD Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Musculoskeletal Disorder Physical-stress Professional-workers Qualitative Safety-climate Tools Worker-health

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046395
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2015 Aug; 58(8):858-869
• Contact Point Address:
  Laura S. Welch, MD, CPWR: Center for Construction Research and Training, Medical Director, CPWR, 8484 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910
• Email:
  lwelch@cpwr.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0655e6c7e1c7589d7fc7ec3e6a39b9b7f70e8afa95bec08e075021606f12ef0621ca681283a654b5ff0a83f2c762a85cb2a6b61302b6a0d905a6dcc1381b88e3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201466/cdc_201466_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 138.95 KB ]