Journal of Health and Safety at Work

Introduction: Any disorders or injuries to musculoskeletal system due to working procedure or conditons would be considered as work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). The present study aimed to evaluate body postures and main risk factors contributing musculoskeletal disorder in barbers in IRAN, SARDASHT

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Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive – analytical and cross sectional study. Total number of the hairdressers in Sardasht city were one hunderd and ten people. Nordic questionnaire, camcorder and Reba checklist were used to collect required data.

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Results: Based on the demographic data 42.9 % of the studied people were male and 57 .1% were women with the mean age of 18.8±73.31 and 75.6±12.28, respectively. Elbow pain has the highest prevalence (90%) and it was 71, 70, 68, 66, 63, 56, 48, 45 percent respectively, in the neck, wrist . hand, shoulder, hip, thigh, back, foot, ankle, knee, back body regions. According to the posture assessment, 27.6% of the risks were in moderate to high levels of exposure as risk factors for the musculoskeletal disorders.

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Conclusion: High prevalence of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders shows that inappropriate posture,improper use of work tools, and highly repetitive movements for long period in make up task are the main reasons for the er prevalence of upper limb disorders in this occupational group.

Introduction: A high percentage of musculoskeletal disorders in workplaces occur due to awkward posture and non-ergonomic design of the work stations for lifting and carrying of materials. To avoid these injuries, jobs should be designed in a way that ergonomics risk factors are controlled properly. The aim of this study was to utilize ergonomics interventions to minimize ergonomics risk factors in bag packing unit in a mineral processing plant.

Material and Method: This cross sectional study was carried out among 20 workers of bag packing unit. Camera recording of working postures, evaluation of medical records, interview, and REBA technique were used to identify the ergonomic risk factors. Interventions included changing the conveyor belt height and the use of spring pallets (spring table). Data were analyzed using Paired T-Test by SPSS software version 18.

Result: Before implementing ergonomics intervention, a total of 75% of evaluated postures by REBA technique obtained score of 8-10 (very high risk level) and 25% had score of 11-15 (very high risk level) that correspond to the action level 3 and 4, respectively. Following the implementation of ergonomics interventions, a total of 90% of the analyzed postures showed action level 2 (moderate risk level) and the remainder 10 percent of evaluated postures showed high risk level. Comparison of REBA technique scores before and after implementing interventions showed a significant difference (P-value < 0.05).

Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the implementation of ergonomics interventions has remarkably decreased the required action level and it may be able to improve work-related postures.