No abstract

Construction work consists of numerous factors that influence workers' occupational health and that load the musculoskeletal system in particular. Musculoskeletal disorders are responsible for over a third of all sick leaves lasting over nine days in the construction industry. Occupational health services (OHS) were organized for 85% of the construction workers in our study. The proportion of construction workers who had suffered from chronic or repetitive neck and shoulder, shoulder or arm, or low-back disorders was 55.6%, 44.8% and 42.1%, respectively. Those who felt that they had received enough information, advice or guidance from OHS concerning work posture, work performance or work tools were more often those who had not suffered from shoulder or arm disorders (60.9% vs. 39.1%, p=.024, respectively) or low-back disorders (63.6% vs. 36.4%, p=.034, respectively) during the last month than those who had. Those who had received enough support from OHS concerning maintenance of work ability were more often workers who had not suffered from low-back disorders during the last month than those who had (63.3% vs. 36.7%, p=.004, respectively). OHS should focus more on workers who would really benefit from their activities at a particular time and in a particular situation (primary, secondary or tertiary prevention) and who are themselves devoted to improving their health.

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of using a forearm or wrist support on muscular load in the forearm and neck-shoulder region during work with a computer mouse. Fourteen 35-to 50-year-old healthy women who worked with a video display unit for at least 4 hr a day in an office and who also used a computer mouse for at least 2 hr a day participated in this experimental study. In the laboratory, computer mouse use with the forearm supported was compared with computer mouse use with the wrist supported. The participants edited a text table by moving symbols from one square to another in a fixed order. Each trial was a set of 64 movements. The trials were repeated 10 times in random order, 5 trials with each method of support. The dependent variable was electromyographic activity measured from The authors thank the volunteers who made the tests possible. Financial support was provided by the Finnish Work Environment Fund.Requests for reprints should be sent to Jarmo Sillanpää, Tampere Regional Institute of Occupational Health, P. O. Box 486, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland. E-mail: jarmo.sillanpaa@occuphealth.fi muscles in the preferred lower arm and in the neck-shoulder region. Normalization to the individual mean of each participant was found to be more effective in reducing the interindividual variation than normalization to the maximal electrical activity (MEMG) obtained during isometric maximal voluntary contraction using the variation coefficient. The amplitudes normalized to the individual mean of each participant were used to evaluate the statistical significance of the difference between the methods of support. To interpret the magnitude and the practical meaning of the statistically significant differences, the corresponding mean percentages of the MEMG were used. The results of the study indicate that changing the position and support of the upper extremity affects muscular activity in the forearm and neck-shoulder region. The load on the trapezius muscle is significantly lower when the forearm is supported, and therefore such support may offer one means of preventing common disorders in the neck-shoulder region in office work. The load on the infraspinatus muscle and on forearm flexor muscles was, on the contrary, higher when the forearm was supported. The result may indicate the difficulty that workers have in adopting new hand and upper arm movements when using a computer mouse.

Delivery truck drivers’ work contains various physically and psychosocially demanding work situations. Fifteen drivers’ and 8 other stakeholders’ identifications of such work situations were examined by video analyses in this study. The identifications were analyzed in‐depth by the researchers and compared with statistics on 3,507 accidents in the Finnish trucking industry. The aim was to determine what kind of identifications were made and to what degree the identifications coincided among the participants and with the accident statistics. The drivers’ identifications differed from the statistics data. The statistics showed a significantly higher relative frequency of movement‐related situations. However, the identifications also included risks for future workload‐related musculoskeletal disorders. Most commonly, these were emphasized during manual materials handling. The participation of different interest groups seems to increase the amount of relevant information obtained. Nonetheless, the age of the evaluator seems not to affect the analyses.

The objective of this study was to determine whether the 4 pieces of equipment for cutting moulding, cutting reinforcement rods, carrying carpet rolls, and fitting drain pipes can lighten the work load of construction work. The results indicate that the effect of using the new ergonomically designed equipment was positive. The cutter for reinforcement rods proved to be useful, bent back postures decreased by 11%. The carrying of carpet rolls became less loading on the lower and upper extremities. According to the men the work load was lower in fitting drain pipes, especially on the lower extremities and in the neck and shoulder region. The conclusion was reached that work load can be decreased with well-planned equipment, but more attention should be given to personal work methods and habits.