Ergonomics in the Construction Industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Schneider SP
• Description:
  There is substantial evidence that musculoskeletal injuries are a major problem in the construction industry (Schneider, 1997a). The lost-time injury rate for "sprain and strain" injuries in construction is about 50% higher than that in manufacturing and second only to the rate for the transportation industry. In 1995, the construction rate was 158.7 lost workday cases per 10,000 full-time workers, or about 1.6 cases per JOO workers (BLS, 1997). The rate in private industry overall was 107.5 cases per 10,000 workers. While this rate dropped in 1995 by almost 12% from 1994, the rate is still very higher and much higher than other industries. The rates for cumulative trauma disorders, like carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis, on the other hand, tend to be much lower in construction than in manufacturing industries, most likely due to increased awareness in manufacturing and, perhaps, to the less repetitive nature of construction work, in general. In 1995, the rate of lost workday injuries for carpal tunnel was only 2.8 cases per 10,000 full-time workers, compared with 8.0 in manufacturing and 3.9 in all private industry. The 1995 rate for tendonitis was 2.1 for all construction, 5.5 for manufacturing, and 2.7 for all private industry. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Cumulative Trauma Disorders Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Construction Industry CTD CTS Cumulative Trauma Disorders Lost Work Days MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders
• ISBN:
  9780849326417
• Publisher:
  CRC Press
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Florida ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056895
• Citation:
  The occupational ergonomics handbook. Karwowski W, Marras WS eds. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1999 Jan; :1967-1977
• Editor(s):
  Karwowski W; Marras WS
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19950701
• Source Full Name:
  The occupational ergonomics handbook
• End Date:
  20010630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8375cb012a601699d959d28d518f23a0c572c33466e7e841676ddd0ef0e13955ccedbc299ef6a6a534f238743063e5941fc99cd398e24169180257f345da0793
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214391/cdc_214391_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.41 MB ]