Exposure to Musculoskeletal Workplace Factors for Railroad Locomotive Shop Workers

Abstract

The physical demands of the North American railroad locomotive shop worker positions have been described, historically, in subjective terms. These descriptions have been based on subject matter experts and railroad employees. Research has demonstrated that subjective accounting of the intensity, frequency, and duration of physical exposures of the work, to be notably less accurate than the actual physical exposures. Additionally, it is important to account for the whole shift of exposure to physical demands. Objectively based data collection and analysis of the locomotive shop worker positions has been conducted through multiple job studies at different railroad shop locations across the country, over several years. Results of this study provide reliable exposure data and suggest that there is generally not an increased relative risk for the development of a variety of musculoskeletal disorders.