A Human-Centered Approach to Hazard Evaluation Checklists for the Risk of Back Pain in Manual Handling Tasks

Author(s):  
Ceyda Dündar

Low back pain is one the most common medical problems in the U.S. In workplaces, manual handling tasks show strong evidence for low back pain. Hazard Evaluation Checklists are commonly used as a rapid ergonomic assessment to evaluate the risk of back pain in manual handling tasks. However, this tool focuses on only job-specific tasks instead of aiming to detect the possibility of having back pain in individuals. It was proposed that a human-centered checklist that assesses workers’ welfare in addition to the analysis of the worksite might predict low back pain risk in workers more accurately. In the current study, a case study was conducted to show the importance of focusing on workers’ welfare. In the ergonomic assessment of a coffee shop, it was found that the tasks of baristas were more likely to cause low back pain and wrist pain. The barista who was working in housekeeping, mopping floors, reported that she suffers from low back pain more than wrist pain. However, the barista who was playing guitar professionally reported wrist pain. These case study findings supported the claim that the risk of occurrence of low back pain might increase with the combination of work-related tasks and contributory factors. Thus, a human-centered checklist proposed including four sub-categories: the main manual handling tasks, a second job, non-work related activities, and personal risk factors. It was proposed that efforts to limit low back pain in society might be more successful with this human-centered approach.

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Byrns ◽  
B. Curbow ◽  
J. Agnew

Author(s):  
Dr. Suresh N. Hakkandi ◽  
Dr. Manjunath Akki ◽  
Dr. Bhavana KS

Vata Vyadhi is one of the most prevailing health problems in our day today clinical practice, Gridhrasi is one among them. Gridhrasi is Shoola Pradhana Nanatmaja Vatavyadhi, affecting the locomotor system and disable from daily routine activity. Gridhrasi the name itself indicates the way of gait shown by the patient due to extreme pain i.e. like Gridhra or Vulture. Gridhrasi is a condition characterized by Ruk, Toda, Stambha, Spandana in Sphik Pradesha and radiates downwards to Kati, Prusta, Uru, Janu, Jangha and Pada. Gridhrasi can be compared with Sciatica. Pain is the chief cause of person to visit a doctor. Although low back pain is a common condition that affects as many as 80 to 90 percent of people during their lifetime. Gridhrasi can be cured by the help of Vaitarana Basti. Hence in the case study of male patient of age 30 yrs presenting with cardinal clinical sign and symptoms of Gridhrasi are Ruka, Toda and Muhu Spandana in the Sphika, Kati, Uru, Janu, Jangha and Pada in order and Sakthikshepanigraha that is restricted lifting of the leg.


2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 346-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye-Jin Kim ◽  
Jina Choo

Little evidence links emotional labor to either psychological or physical health. This study determined whether the two types of emotional labor (i.e., surface vs. deep acting) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms and work-related musculoskeletal disorders in call center workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 274 workers recruited from a call center in Seoul, South Korea. In adjusted regression models, levels of surface, but not deep, acting were significantly and positively associated with depressive symptoms. Higher surface acting levels were significantly and positively associated with low back pain; higher deep acting levels were significantly and inversely associated with low back pain. Study findings could inform occupational health nurses as they delineate differentiated strategies, according to the nature of surface and deep acting, to promote psychological and physical health in call center workers.


1979 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-214
Author(s):  
Paul H. Rockey ◽  
Jane Fantel ◽  
Gilbert S. Omenn

AbstractIn screening the majority of job applicants, most of this nation's railroads administer a low-back X-ray examination in an attempt to ascertain the likelihood that the applicant will sustain future work-related low-back pain or injury. Many applicants are rejected for employment on the basis of the X-ray findings. The railroads apparently perceive this screening program as a cost-effective means (1) of decreasing the incidence of compensation claims for work-related injuries, brought against the rail-roads under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), (2) of reducing the number of lost workdays resulting from low-back pain or injury, and (3) of protecting particularly susceptible workers from job-related hazards.The authors of this Article submit that low-back X-ray examinations are poor predictors of future low-back pain or injury. They assert that the railroads' use of such examinations misclassifies a substantial number of job applicants as being at increased risk for such pain or injury, and, in consequence, unfairly denies them employment. Furthermore, the authors claim, the screening program has other negative consequences. For example, applicants rejected for railroad employment on the basis of X-ray findings may as a result have difficulty finding jobs in other industries. In addition, they state, there is a potential radiation hazard to examinees. Moreover, both the railroads and those applicants accepted for employment may inappropriately be reassured by normal findings.On balance, the authors conclude, the screening program has a negative social value. The authors suggest that the program, in effect, erroneously labels many applicants as handicapped, and then denies them employment. Such persons might have legal recourse under federal and state statutes prohibiting employment discrimination against the handicapped.


2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Barnes ◽  
J. Birch ◽  
M. M. Cloete ◽  
L. Joubert ◽  
A. C. Usher ◽  
...  

Physiotherapy practice involves the performance of strenuous physical activities related to the delivery of patient rehabilitation.  No evidence of studies relating to physiotherapy work-related low back pain (WRLBP) in South Africa could be found.  The aims of this study were to retrospectively investigate the incidence of work related low back pain among currently practicing physiotherapists in Bloemfontein, to determine the contributing risk factors, and to determine the responses of the physiotherapists to injury. Eighty four physiotherapists participated in this descriptive study. The results indicated that 67% of respondents had experienced work related low back pain and the 95% confidence interval for the incidence of WRLBP among physiotherapists in Bloemfontein is [56.8%; 76.6%].  Therapists performing cardio-thoracic related tasks had the most significant confidence interval of WRLBP [2.2%; 35.1%]. Fifty eight percent of respondents who had WRLBP reported that their symptoms were exacerbated by clinical practice.  The results of the study suggest that it is the nature of the job design which predisposes physiotherapists to injury and not a lack of kinetic handling knowledge. Further research is needed to develop methods to reduce the risks of WRLBP which are inherently part of physio-therapy practice.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 639-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren M. Roffey ◽  
Eugene K. Wai ◽  
Paul Bishop ◽  
Brian K. Kwon ◽  
Simon Dagenais

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