Relationship between construction workers' musculoskeletal disorders and occupational health service activities

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.

Effect of Occupational Health and Safety Training for Chinese Construction Workers Based on the CHAID Decision Tree

“…Moreover, the physical health factors of construction workers are closely related to OHS (20). Effective prevention measures such as infectious diseases in the workplace need to consider occupational risk factors and control occupational exposure, to protect the health of workers (21).…”

System dynamics simulation of occupational health and safety management causal model based on NetLogo

“…Given that the administration of OHS training is progressively being implemented in construction-related matters, it assumes considerable significance for the health and safety of construction workers [ [4] , [5] , [6] ]. Physical diseases and occupational health service activities of construction workers [ 7 ], psychosocial working environment, and mental health of construction workers constitute the most basic factors affecting OHS [ 8 ]. With construction enterprises entering the global competitive arena, the health and safety hazards faced by foreign site workers have escalated markedly [ 9 , 10 ].…”

“…Risk perception varies according to diverse cultural backgrounds and is considerably affected by race, which impacts the working environment of laborers [ 23 ]. Concerning physiological factors, a conspicuous correlation exists between the musculoskeletal ailments of construction workers and occupational health interventions [ 7 ]. Certain scholars have investigated the cases of infectious diseases in the workplace in the United States from 2006 to 2015, revealing that laborers operating in particular settings and tasks face heightened vulnerability to infectious ailments [ 24 , 25 ].…”