Musculoskeletal Discomfort and Ergonomic Predictors in VDT Data- Entry Work.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Knutson SJ ; Sauter, Steven L. ; Schleifer LM
• Description:
  A questionnaire survey was carried out to evaluate the musculoskeletal discomfort experienced by 905 visual terminal display (VDT) operators employed in two data entry facilities, and working conditions were assessed by examining the ergonomic parameters related to the characteristics of chairs, configuration of work materials, and angles and distances in operating the VDTs. The results of multiple regression analyses revealed that discomfort was not affected significantly by biodemographic and VDT use parameters. On the contrary, the configuration elements of the work station and anthropometric angles and distances accounted for 17 percent and 38 percent, respectively, of the variance in arm, leg, and back and neck discomfort. Arm discomfort was the only reliable predictor of increasing discomfort with increasing keyboard height, shoulder flexion and ulnar deviation of the hand. Right hand discomfort increased according to the increase in shoulder flexion, while small lateral angles between the forearm and hand were associated with high levels of hand discomfort. The data are concluded to advocate for low keyboard placement in relation to the elbow, which is in agreement with published electromyographic evaluations. The authors conclude that the results are compatible with the prevailing ergonomic beliefs regarding the ergonomic risk factors involved in discomfort of the upper limbs experienced in VDT work. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Ergonomics Health Surveys Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Occupational-health; Human-factors-engineering; Health-survey; Musculoskeletal-system-disorders; Posture; Epidemiology; Work-performance; Keyboard-operators; Anthropometry; Ergonomics
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  175-185
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00175392
• Citation:
  Trends in Ergonomics/Human Factors IV, Proceedings of the Annual International Industrial Ergonomics and Safety Conference, Miami, Florida, 9-12 June, 1987, S. S. Asfour, Ed.; Amsterdam, Netherlands, Elsevier Science Publishers B. V. 1987:175-185
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1987
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Part Number:
  A
• Source Full Name:
  Trends in Ergonomics/Human Factors IV, Proceedings of the Annual International Industrial Ergonomics and Safety Conference, Miami, Florida, 9-12 June, 1987, S. S. Asfour, Ed.; Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Elsevier Science Publishers B. V.
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/242395/cdc_242395_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]