Psychosocial and physical working conditions and associated musculoskeletal symptoms among operators in five plants using Arc welding in robot stations

Abstract

This correlational study investigates the relationship between, on the one hand, the psychosocial and physical work environment and the technical complexity of welding robots, and, on the other hand, self‐reported musculoskeletal symptoms among operators. The study sample included 30 male operators in five plants using arc welding in their robot stations. All operators answered a questionnaire and participated in an interview. It was found that symptoms in the back were associated with both psychosocial factors and physical stressors, whereas symptoms occurring in the neck were associated mainly with physical job stressors.

Changing from batch to flow assembly in the production of emergency lighting devices

“…Indeed, elevated medically certified sick leave rates have been associated with such work intensification (Vahtera et al 1997). Also, monotonous work in the production industry has been associated with more health problems in the upper extremities and elevated sick-leave rates (Parenmark et al 1993, Johansson and Nona˚s 1994, Ó lafsdo´ttir and Rafnsson 1998. The theory behind this is that the long periods of time of monotonous assembling activities without interruption of other kinds of (indirect) activity give body structures insufficient opportunities to recover during the day .…”

Physical risk factors for neck pain

“…Data concerning physical load during leisure time (item J) were collected and analyzed in 11 studies. Of the 40 studies, 15 cross-sectional studies with a total quality score of 3 or less were excluded from the determination of the level of evidence (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38). Consequently, the final number of studies included in the level of evidence synthesis was 25 [ie, 2 prospective cohort studies (22,39), 1 case-referent study (23), and 22 crosssectional studies (2,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)].…”

JCQ scale reliability and responsiveness to changes in manufacturing process

“…Its major strengths are the availability of detailed information on job assignments at the time of each survey and a measure of ergonomic exposure independent of worker self-assessment, albeit limited to a subset of the cohort. The evaluation of the reliability of self-reported psychosocial exposures among workers with relatively constant job content and physical demands was of particular value, as levels of work-related physical and psychosocial exposures tend to be correlated in different working populations [Johansson and Nonas, 1994;Ingelgard et al, 1996;MacDonald et al, 2001].…”