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Best Practices for Reducing Physical Injuries Among Masonry Workers: Overcoming Barriers and Expanding the Use of Ergonomic Solutions on Jobsites



Details

  • Corporate Authors:
    CPWR--The Center for Construction Research and Training
  • Description:
    The Challenge: In the construction industry, bricklayers have the highest rate of back injuries resulting in time away from work and mason tenders have the highest rate of overexertion injuries. The work is physically demanding due to repetitive bending, lifting and twisting, the weight of the materials handled, and the height of the work. Among working bricklayers, for example, roughly 70 percent report ongoing back pain. The resulting injuries and lost workdays are costly for contractors and workers and too often shorten careers. Safer equipment, materials, and work practices are available but have not been widely adopted by contractors or accepted by workers. The Response: Dr. Laura Welch, CPWR's Medical Director, assembled a research team from Eastern Washington University, the University of Oregon, and the University of Iowa to identify the most effective ergonomic solutions for the masonry industry and potential barriers to their use. The team brought together 43 masonry stake-holders to find out what they considered the best tools, work practices, and materials to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and the factors that limit their use. This initial discussion prompted the research team to conduct ergonomic evaluations for those solutions identified as needing additional research and led to a more in-depth telephone survey of stakeholders. More than 180 masonry contractors, representing 16 states in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West Coast, were surveyed to gain a better understanding of contractors' use of selected ergonomic solutions, their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of each, and where they are used. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Series:
    CPWR - Center for Construction Research and Training Publications
  • Publisher:
    CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Cooperative Agreement
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    2 pdf pages
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20054726
  • Citation:
    CPWR IMPACT. Silver Spring, MD: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 2012 Jun; :1-2
  • Contact Point Address:
    CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2012
  • NORA Priority Area:
    Construction
  • Performing Organization:
    CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Start Date:
    20090901
  • Source Full Name:
    CPWR IMPACT
  • End Date:
    20240831
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:506670099a39b6765d7248e3e8fce41c226c9a0302b09fb5abce3dd7ec572b37b39df81dd376eb72d307efa6ab0dfacdff5a01625d9241da9f247c57d7c9a1b0
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 2.29 MB ]
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