Focus and detail

Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of
the interactions among human and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies
theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall
system performance (International Ergonomics Association Executive Council, August 2000).
Ergonomics, also called human factors engineering, is the study of the behavior and activities of
individuals in relation to the working environment and the mechanical and electronic equipment
operated by the worker. Industrial Organizations today are facing multiple challenges to maintain
the health and performance of employees while attempting to integrate new technologies and
support a wide range of work styles. It is therefore needed to better understand the employees
demands related to their ergonomic in occupation and then to evaluate their work areas and make
the changes required maintaining a healthy workforce. This is further driven by the need to
prevent injuries, improve productivity, retain employees, or comply with local, state, regulatory
systems requirements (Davis, K. Kotowski, S., Sharma, B and Herrmann, D (2009).

Musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of disability among people in their working years
(Kelsey, Pastides & Bisbee, 1978). In 1972 the total economic cost attributed to musculoskeletal
disorders was estimated to be $20 billion per year, second only to circulatory diseases (Kelsey, et
aI., 1978).

disorder of musculoskeletal system represents a main cause for absence for occupational work.
musculoskeletal disorder lead to considerable cost for the public health system. Specific
disorders of the musculoskeletal system may relate to different body regions occupational work.
For example, disorder in the lower back are often correlated to lifting any carrying of loads or to
the application of vibration.

upper-limb disorders (at fingers, hands, wrists, arms, elbows, shoulders, neck) may result from
repetitive or long-lasting statistic force exertion or may be intensified by such activities. this
severity of these disorder may vary between occasional aches or pain to exactly diagnosed
specific diseases.
The last United States National Health Survey NCHS, 1976 revealed that the most common
impairments (over 20 million) involved the musculoskeletal system. About one fifth of these
were classified as "synovitis, bursitis, or tenosynovitis" - disorders frequently associated with job
tasks which impose cumulative "micro" traumas to the musculoskeletal system. In 1981, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over 23,000 cases of repetitive trauma disorders, with an
estimated 270,000 lost work days (Personal communication with Bureau of Labor, 1981). One
way to prevent work-related disorders of the musculoskeletal system is through the application
of the principles of ergonomics. This article about the application of ergonomics principles to
eliminate or reduce the Occupational Muscular - Skeletal Disorders and the solution on
ergonomic issues to the industries.

Organization

Occupational Musculoskeletal disorders (OMSDs) are a common health problem throughout the
world and a major cause of disability among the work force. Assessment of ergonomics
principles to OMSD risk factors can be an appropriate base for planning and implementing
interventional ergonomic programs in the workplace. Musculoskeletal disorders affect the
muscles, nerves, blood vessels, ligaments and tendons. Workers in many different industries and
occupations can be exposed to risk factors at work, such as lifting heavy items, bending, reaching
overhead, pushing and pulling heavy loads, working in awkward body postures and performing
the same or similar tasks repetitively. Exposure to these known risk factors for MSDs increases a
worker's risk of injury (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2009).

Nowadays, ergonomic program is considered as one of the effective plans taken into account by
many employers to bring safety and health factors for the work environment to maximize work
performances. Indeed, ergonomic has enormous benefits and can increase efficiency of the
organization. It is a significant principle, since the overall system can be influenced by existing
stress on the workers and/or employee body due to inappropriate posture, extremely high or low
temperature. Poorly design working environment can cause the injurious outcome on three
various systems on humans’ body such as musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system and
mental system. The International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) is the primary body
responsible for standardisation globally. ISO and the European Committee for Standardisation
(CEN) are the main organizations involved when considering standards related to human factors
and ergonomics. So, a remedial program is essential to mitigate damages caused by poor
designed industrial works. Safety and health of all workers should be a top priority to prevent
extra time and cost of injuries and leads to smooth running of the projects.

Ergonomics program should emphasize on removing barriers to quality, productivity and safe
human performance by fitting products, tasks, and environments to people instead of forcing the
person to adapt to the work [5]. It can evaluate the adjustment between a person and his/her work
by considering the worker, the workplace and the job design.

Risk is a usual term used in ergonomics concept. There may be a misunderstanding between
hazard, risk and danger. Hazard is anything or activity which may cause injury or harm to the
health of person, for instance unguarded machinery or flammable materials. Ergonomic related
circumstances such as prolonged similar task, lifting, pulling, pushing, twisting, sitting posture,
eye strains, etc. are identified as the kind of hazard in safety concept. Risk is referred to the
chance or probability (big or small) of harm actually being done, while danger is relative
exposure to a hazard as a hazard may be present but there may be little danger because of the
control precautions taken. Risk factors are defined as actions or circumstances that enhance the
probability of injury to the musculoskeletal system. Ergonomics Risk Factors (ERF) is situations
that exist or created intentionally or unintentionally that could or might contribute to results
contravene or against the principles or philosophy of ergonomics that could or might harmful to
the health and well-being of workers or users at work or after work [11]. Applied ergonomics
literature identifies a small set of common physical risk factors across many occupations and
work settings.
Since the prolonged, repeated or extreme exposure to multiple OMSD risk factors can lead to
damage to a worker’s body, these factors, their causes and implementing remedial programs
against them should be taken into consideration seriously. Risk management process can be so
effective in identifying, eliminating or reducing these OMSD risk factors. The process consists
of hazard identification, risk assessment, risk control and reviewing risk control in such
circumstances where there are changes in the work environment, new technology is introduced,
or standards are changed. At the initial stage, the meaning of OMSD risk factors, their causes
and parts of human’s body in which they have harmfully affect are better to be identified and
then some remedies should be designed and recommended to eliminate or reduce the
consequences.

Ergonomics risk factors can be divided into seven categories as follows:

 Forceful strains

 Awkward and static postures

 Vibration

 Repetition

 Duration

 Excessive pressure on nerve or soft tissue

 Extreme temperature

In this part each ergonomic risk factor, problems associated with them and the factors caused to those
problems are indicated through figures to show them clearer and in detail.

Forceful Strains

Force is the amount of exertion needed by a person to carry out a task or maintain control of
tools or equipment’s [13]. It is so crucial to know how to apply this effort to complete our
activity. Humans such as workers at construction site need to be educated and informed the way
they should do during applying force in their activity. Lack of information regarding it can lead
to damages to workers such as stress on the muscles, tendons and joints. For instance, in the
activities need to be done by grip, more force is produced on the tendons in the wrist by applying
a pinch grip compared to a grip with the whole hand. It is obviously clear that in pinch grip, all
forces are focused on the wrist while in the grip with the whole hand, applied force is distributed
in all parts of the hand, so the pressure in particular area can be reduced. Table 1 indicates how
forceful strains lead to harmful effects on various parts of the body such as muscles, tendons,
ligaments, joint, and disks.

Awkward and Static Postures

Posture is the position of a part of the body relative to an adjacent part as measured by the angle
of the joint connecting them. It is considered as one of the most frequently cited occupational
risk factors [14]. Awkward postures refer to a situation where the body is under uncomfortable
and away from neutral position. Neutral considered as the safest and most efficient position in
which to work is the optimal position of each joint that provides the most strength and control.
Awkward or unsupported postures can be caused by stretching or shortening of the connective
and nervous tissues. So due to that, it can lead to diminishing the functional capacity of muscles
and imposing a greater risk of injury. It is just harmful whenever they are carried out in the long
time. Regarding static postures, it can be considered as the situations where the entire body is
kept for a long time e.g. staying in a same position for a long period of time without movement.
It can cause to fatigue muscles due to the restriction of blood flow led to reducing blood supply
in some parts of the body and increase the injury risk. Figure 1 indicates several causes lead to
awkward and static postures.

Vibration
Vibrations occur when an object oscillates or rapidly moves back and forth about its stationary point,
like a swinging pendulum. Vibrations are defined by the frequency (how fast the object is moving) and
the magnitude or amplitude (the distance of the movement). Frequency is measured in cycles per
second or hertz (Hz) [15]. There are two kinds of vibration lead to musculoskeletal injuries which the
construction workers may be exposed to it. These types are as follows:

 Hand vibration: Caused by the vibration produced from power tools such as road breakers, rock
drills vibratory rammers, grinders, demolition hammers and etc. which can place stress on the
tissues of the fingers, hand and arms.

 Whole body vibration: Caused by the vibration produced from driving the machineries such as
wheel loader, grader, scraper, excavator, dozer, compactor single drum and etc. which can
impose stress on the spinal tissues.

Table 4 indicates the causes and tools lead to different types of vibration and the impacts they have on
human’s body

Table 4: Types of vibration, their causes and impacts

Repetition

Repetition means doing the same operation or being in the same type of movement over and over. The
period of repetition can be short (less than 30 seconds) conducted for more than one hour [16] which
can cause damages to the body due to using the same muscles and soft tissues constantly which makes
them fatigue. For instance, using an input device such as keyword in a steady manner for more than 4
hours in a work day causes the danger of repetition risk factor to human which can irritate tendons and
increase pressure on nerves.

Duration

Duration factor is considered when the task is repeated without any break. The longer duration of the
task, the greater the cumulative load on the tissues [17]. Without considering any break for extended
period, the functional potential of those affected tissue is reduced and the likelihood of injury is
increased. Some remedies such as changing footrest, rest breaks and etc. can be effective in mitigating
damages caused by this kind of ergonomic risk factor.
Excessive pressure on nerve or soft tissue (Contact stress)

Contact stress occurs when an object presses on soft tissue. The force imposed by excessive pressure on
small areas reduces blood flow and nerve transition and can damage the soft tissue. It can occur from
pressing against hard edges or sharp surfaces, supporting excessive weight and gripping tools.

Extreme Temperature.

Temperature is also considered as an ergonomic risk factor. Working in extreme surroundings, makes
workers to be fatigue much faster due to increasing the aerobic demand. Both extreme cold and hot
temperature can impose injuries to the workers. Cold temperatures diminish blood flow caused to
decreasing sensation, muscle strength and agility. Gripping action is harder in cold temperature and as
much more muscles need to be applied in this situation, thus the likelihood of injury will be increased.
Persisting on working in the situation of hot temperature can bring fatigue and a variety of heat related
illnesses to workers. Using PPE may increase the possibility of risk of suffering heat related illnesses [18].
Table 5 and 6 indicates the diseases caused by extreme cold and hot work environment, their injuries,
and some remedial actions against them.

Table 5: Various diseases, injuries and some remedies for extreme cold temperature risk factor

Table 6: Various diseases, injuries and some remedies for extreme hot temperature risk factor

TYPES OF ERGONOMICS INJURY

Types of ergonomics injury are referred to physical and psychological [19]. Those factors such
as body size and shape, fitness and strength, posture, the senses , stresses and strains on muscles,
joint and nerves are considered as the most significant ones related to physical ergonomic
injuries, while the aspects such as mental abilities, personality, knowledge and experience should
be taken into account in psychological ergonomics injury. As mentioned before, the most
common type of ergonomic injuries and illnesses is known as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
relating to physical injury [1]. MSD’s have been associated with those work-related tasks
including reaching, awkward postures, lifting heavy objects, using continuous force, working
with vibrating equipment, and performing repetitive motions. Table 7 demonstrates some
injuries, their causes and consequences caused by MSDs.

Table 7: Various injuries caused by MSDs

Application of ergonomics principles to eliminate or reduce the Occupational Muscular - Skeletal

In fact, preventing the ergonomics injuries at the site is the most preeminent way to control and
minimize those non- compensable consequences. Engineering control which may include some
modification to tools, machinery and equipment for workers at the work site can be also used as a fairly
effective method. One the most fundamental action which should be done is designing job in an
effective and standard way. Implementing job design needs to be based on some criteria and aspects.
Furthermore, safety and healthy work practices at the site can be also impressive which should be
considered in application ergonomics program. Meanwhile, considering some preventable actions may
mitigate the probability of imposing MSDs injuries on workers and/or employees at the site. As can be
seen, appropriate work practice and job design can be considered as the fundamental solutions for
impeding MSDs. Table 8 demonstrates some application of ergonomics principles to eliminate or reduce
the Occupational Muscular - Skeletal Disorders (OMSD)