Orthopaedic diseases among transport workers

Abstract

Material handling tasks result in high load on the skeletal system. Long-term employment in transportation jobs may therefore cause a high frequency of orthopaedic diseases, particularly in the spinal region. An epidemiological study was performed on employees from a large company in order to test this hypothesis. The medical history of 249 male transport workers was examined by means of statistical analysis of the orthopaedic diseases documented in the record file of their company's health service. For purposes of comparison, the same data evaluation was performed for an age-matched reference group consisting of 267 persons chosen randomly from among the male employees in the same company. The proportion of persons with orthopaedic diseases amounts to 77.1% among the transport workers and 62.9% among the reference persons. It is consequently 1.22 times higher for the transport workers than for the reference persons ("rate ratio RR" = 1.22). The greatest part of all orthopaedic diseases affects the spine. Within the spine, the lumbar region is the most frequently damaged. Both for the totality of all spinal sections as well as for diseases of particular spinal sections (cervical, thoracic, lumbar spine), the proportion of the transport workers with diseases is higher than that of the reference persons (RR between 1.20 and 1.36). The proportion of persons with spinal diseases increases with age in both groups. There is no observable difference between the groups with regard to the frequency of persons with degenerative diseases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dynamic Properties of the Biomechanical Model of the Human Body-Influence of Posture and Direction of Vibration Stress

“…Mechanical vibrations can be caused by a wide variety of processes and machinery. Vibrations transmitted via the buttocks and the back of the seated person or via the feet of the standing person are a body stress factor which is widespread in daily life inclined can also contribute to low back pain and disorders (Andensson 1981;Luttmann et al 1988). Obviously a relation exists between the health risk and the enhanced forces transmitted in the spine (Jäger and Luttmann 1992).…”

Spine Disorders of Earth-Moving Machine Operators – Risk Assessment by Means of Simulated Spine Forces

“…also a health risk results from occupational activities which are combined with frequent lifting or carrying loads (Chaffin and Park 1973, Luttmann et al 1988, Jager and Luttmann 1992. For these activities a relation is discussed between the forces transmitted in the spine, the strength of the spine, and low back disorders and injuries.…”