OHS inspectors and psychosocial risk factors: Evidence from Australia

Legislation giving prominence to psychosocial risk factors at work has changed the role of government occupational health and safety (OHS) inspectors in many countries. Yet little is known about how inspectorates have responded to these changes. Between 2003 and 2007 an Australian study was undertaken on OHS standards, entailing detailed documentary analysis, interviews with 36 inspectorate managers and 89 inspectors, and observations made when researchers accompanied inspectors on 120 typical workplace visits. Our study found that general duty provisions in OHS legislation clearly incorporated psychosocial hazards and inspectorates had introduced guidance material, pursued campaigns and increased interventions in this area. However, the regulatory framework remained narrow (focused on bullying/harassment, occupational violence and work stress) and workplace visits revealed psychosocial hazards as a marginal area of inspectorate activity. These findings were reinforced in interviews. While aware of psychosocial hazards inspectors often saw the issue as problematic due to limited training, resourcing constraints, deficiencies in regulation and fears of victimisation amongst workers. In order to address these problems a number of changes are required that recognize the distinctiveness of psychosocial hazards including their ‘invisibility’. Notable here are revisions to regulation (both general duty provisions and specific codes), the development of comprehensive guidance and assessment tools to be used by inspectors, greater use of procedural enforcement, and enhanced inspectorate resourcing and training. There is also a need to recognize complex inter-linkages between psychosocial hazards and the industrial relations context.     

Postural Loading Assessment in Assembly Workers of an Iranian Telecommunication Manufacturing Company

Background. Changes in industries and work practices have coincided with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of MSDs and to assess postural loading in assembly workers of an Iranian telecommunication manufacturing company. Methods. Data were collected from 193 randomly selected workers in 4 units of the company. The Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire and the UBC ergonomic checklist were used as data collection tools. Loading on the upper body assessment (LUBA) was used to assess postural loading. Results. Lower back symptoms were the most prevalent problems among the workers (67.9%). LUBA showed that most assembly workers (94.3%) had experienced considerable and high postural loading (postural load index, PLI > 5). Regression analyses revealed that lighting, rotation, contact stress, repetition, gender and age were factors associated with symptoms. Conclusion. Work-related MSDs occurred at a high rate among workers. Postural loading requires consideration. Any ergonomic intervention should focus on eliminating ergonomic factors associated with symptoms.     

Ergonomic Risk Factors for Cumulative Trauma Disorders in VDU Operators

The objectives of this study were to investigate the rate of cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) in the upper body and to describe the associations of such disorders with ergonomic parameters in a group of data entry operators. A total of 173 data entry operators volunteered to take part in the study. Questionnaires were used to investigate their medical history. Diagnoses of CTDs were made with clinical tests. A visual posture analysis of the workers and an ergonomic analysis of workstations and workload were used to reveal risk factors. Neck and shoulder pain, extensor tendonitis of the wrists and De Quervain’s disease were common in the study population. An assessment of risk factors showed that leaning wrists on the keyboard, hard keystrokes, extreme wrist joint and thumb positions and working in poor ergonomic design were correlated to pain and development of CTDs.     

Occupational health and safety issues in the informal economic segment of Pakistan: a survey of construction sites

This research covers the current status of occupational health and safety (OHS)-related practices in the informal construction segment of Pakistan. Data were collected, through interviews, from 316 construction sites employing 3577 workers. The results of the study reveal that both employers and workers lack knowledge of OHS laws/standards and no practices of this nature are enacted at these construction sites. Alarmingly, work-related accidents, whenever they happen, are not given due attention and there is no formal injury-report system. The informal construction industry employs a huge portion of the informal workforce, and lack of OHS happens at tremendous human cost. These research findings may thus play their role in strengthening the case for reforms in the sector. This study, if properly utilized, may also enable employers of the sector by increasing their knowledge about OHS practices and, as a result, trying to offer safer environments for their workers.     

Small Business Owners’ Knowledge of Their Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Legislative Responsibilities

This article reports the results of a study investigating the nature and extent of small manufacturing business owners’ knowledge of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) issues. Interviews were conducted with 33 owners of small manufacturing businesses in Sydney, Australia. Results showed that whereas the majority of owners had basic awareness of the existence of OHS legislation, they were often unaware about the extent of their legal OHS responsibilities. Owners were found to have minimal OHS training and practical OHS expertise. Lack of appropriate industry specific OHS information was found to be a major factor that inhibited the owners’ ability to deal with OHS issues effectively.     

Safety Climate and Prediction of Ergonomic Behavior

One of the most important ways to prevent accidents is to consider safety climate or culture. Moreover, some studies suggest that behavior contributes to 86%-96% of all injuries. This cross-sectional study took place in an Iranian petrochemical company in 2010. Vinodkumar and Bhasi’s safety climate questionnaire and an ergonomic behavior sampling checklist were the data collection tools. Cronbach’s a for questionnaire reliability was .928. With reference to the results of a pilot study, a sample of 1755 was determined for behavior sampling. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to derive the coefficient of paths in the path model and the Anderson-Rabin method to calculate factor scores. The results showed that safety climate was an effective predictor of ergonomic behavior (p < .01). They also showed the importance of decreasing the number of workers with negative safety climate. Moreover, it is necessary to promote workers’ ergonomic behaviors in the workplace.     

汽车组装流水线作业工人工效学调查研究

对汽车组装流水线作业工人的作业体位、人机测量、劳动状况和生产环境的调查结果表明，过分低头、向前弯腰、手抬高过肩、手抬高过头、长时间站立、工作时间率较高、工作场所照度不足以及噪声值超标可能是存在的主要工效学问题，是导致慢性肌肉骨骼损伤的重要因素，应根据有关标准和法规，采取相应的劳动保护和工效学改进措施     

基于SWOT和战略地图分析的企业OHS战略制定与描述

职业健康安全（OHS）工作是企业生产与经营管理的重要保障,OHS战略是企业运营战略的一个重要组成部分。为促进OHS战略管理,运用SWOT分析法和战略地图法制定和描述企业OHS战略。采用SWOT分析方法,从优势、劣势、机会和威胁等方面分析企业OHS工作的发展态势,实现策略定位。基于战略管理理论,结合策略分析结论,提出企业的OHS战略。为促进战略执行,采用战略地图分析方法,从财务、客户、内部业务流程、学习与成长等维度进一步描述OHS战略规划。研究结果表明,结合SWOT分析法和战略地图分析法的优点,可对企业OHS发展态势进行客观预测以利于提出合理的OHS战略目标,并可对OHS战略进行详细分解以促进战略执行。以Z公司为实例详细阐述企业OHS战略制定的流程与思路,有助于企业OHS战略实施。     

Major Health Risk Factors in Iranian Hand-Woven Carpet Industry

This paper reviews the role and importance of small-scale industries together with the issue of occupational health problems and their causes in Iranian hand-woven carpet industry as a typical informal small-scale industry in an industrially developing country. The objective ofthis paper is to review health risk factors and related occupational health and ergonomic problems in the carpet industry. Since the overwhelming majority of weavers’ health problems originate from ergonomic risk factors, it is concluded that any improvement program in this industry should focus on ergonomic aspects. To assess ergonomic conditions in weaving workshops, a checklist has been developed and an ergonomics index indicating the ergonomic conditions of the workshop has been proposed. To test and verify the checklist, 50 weaving workshops were visited and their ergonomic conditions were assessed. Based on the results some modifications were made and the checklist was shown to be an effective tool.     

Health Risk Assessment of Occupational Exposure to a Magnetic Field From Magnetic Resonance Imaging Devices

Health care staff who operate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices are exposed to a static magnetic field of significant spatial heterogenity always produced by MRI magnets during the whole shift. They can also be exposed to pulses of a time-varying magnetic field (gradient field) present only during patients’ examinations. The level of the workers’ exposure depends both on the type of the magnet and on the ergonomic design of each MRI device.

The paper presents methods used for measuring and assessing workers’ exposure. It also discusses the results of inspection measurements carried out next to approximately 20 MRI devices of approximately 0.2–2.0 T. The presented characteristic and overview of the variability of workers’ exposure to a variety of MRI devices supports the need for data on monitoring occupational exposure to MRI. International exposure assessment standards and guidelines (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection [ICNIRP], Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers [IEEE], American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists [ACGIH], European Commission directive), and those established in Poland are also compared.     

The effect of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal, psychosocial and visual strain of VDT entry work: organization and methodology of the international study.

This special issue of the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) reports the results from an extensive multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation of the impacts on visual display terminal (VDT) work of musculoskeletal, visual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. For brevity, this effort has been referred to as the MEPS project (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress). This paper lays out the basic methodological structure of the study. The study was conducted in 4 countries utilizing VDT data entry workers as the primary subject population. A battery of objective and subject assessment measures, including muscle load, visual function, physical and visual strain, postural, ergonomic and psychosocial factors, were assessed at 3 different points in time. A pre-test was given prior to an ergonomic intervention. Two post-tests were given 1 month and 1 year after the ergonomic intervention.     

机械行业工效学调查研究

对机械行业工人的慢性肌肉骨骼损伤进行了工效学分析。结果表明，目前我国机械行业工人主要存在的工效学问题是：坐椅高度和坐位工作台高度较高，正常作业范围过大，同一动作持续工作时间过长、劳动时间率偏高、工中休息时间偏少。建议根据有关法规和标准，采取工效学改进措施     

Ergonomic analysis of working postures using OWAS in semi-trailer assembly,applying an individual sampling strategy

In semi-trailer assembly, workers are exposed to several physical risk factors. Awkward working postures have not yet been investigated in semi-trailer assembly, although they are known to be a major risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders. We therefore conducted a comprehensive ergonomic analysis of working postures using the Ovako working posture analysing system (OWAS), with an individual sampling strategy. The postural load in semi-trailer assembly was assessed on the basis of 20,601 observations of 63 workers executing a representative set of nine work tasks. According to the OWAS, the postural load of various working postures and body part positions may have a harmful effect on the musculoskeletal system. We therefore give examples of corrective measures that could improve awkward working postures. Applying an individual sampling strategy was revealed to have advantages over a collective strategy, so this is recommended for future ergonomic analyses.     

Psychosocial and ergonomic survey of office and field jobs in a utility company

Introduction. The effect of different kinds of work on the psychosocial assessment of workers under the same management and organizational environment is investigated. Methods. A voluntary assessment in a utility company was carried out using the short version of the Copenhagen psychosocial questionnaire (CoPsoQ) on two occasions, 1.5 years apart. Initially, 25 office workers (11 men and 14 women) participated, while 14 of those workers (8 women and 6 men) participated in the second assessment together with 32 field workers. The sewage, water treatment and maintenance workers, totaling 32 men, also participated in a field ergonomics assessment using the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries field work ergonomic checklist. Results. The longitudinal outlook was fairly stable, with sustained severe scores in many CoPsoQ subscales and intensification of severity of workers’ control over work and esteem for men. A significantly higher esteem score resulted for field rather than office workers. Workers subjected to foul odors showed similar severity of psychosocial factors. Discussion. For most psychosocial dimensions, the organizational design and management system in place, as well as the overall cultural environment in which it operates, create a much stronger and more decisive impact than job-specific factors.     

The Effect of an Ergonomic Intervention on Musculoskeletal,Psychosocial and Visual Strain of VDT Entry Work: Organization and Methodology of the International Study

This special issue of the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) reports the results from an extensive multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation of the impacts on visual display terminal (VDT) work of musculoskeletal, visual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. For brevity, this effort has been referred to as the MEPS project (musculoskeletal—eyestrain—psychosocial—stress). This paper lays out the basic methodological structure of the study. The study was conducted in 4 countries utilizing VDT data entry workers as the primary subject population. A battery of objective and subject assessment measures, including muscle load, visual function, physical and visual strain, postural, ergonomic and psychosocial factors, were assessed at 3 different points in time. A pre-test was given prior to an ergonomic intervention. Two post-tests were given 1 month and 1 year after the ergonomic intervention.     

Identification of OHS-related factors and interactions among those and OHS performance in SMEs

An enterprise can modify several factors that impact on the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance. Within the implementation of the E-merging project (financed by INAIL, the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Occupational Accidents) – to improve safety in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) – development context, a thorough literature review, supported by later practitioners’ suggestions, has been performed in order to identify the factors which can be related to the OHS issue. Then, the mutual interactions among the identified OHS-related factors and the interactions among the OHS-related factors and the OHS performance have been identified for SMEs and tested on the basis of two existing data sources, i.e. the INAIL most recent dataset and a survey carried out among SMEs in the metalworking industry. This allows to understand the root causes of some evidences, which enables entrepreneurs and managers to plan interventions for the improvement of the OHS performance.     

Worker influence on voluntary OHS management systems – A review of its ends and means

Voluntary management systems (MS) might improve occupational health and safety (OHS). MSs, as with any OHS management, requires worker influence (and management commitment) to reduce risks at work. Influence through union backed safety representatives (or similar) achieves the best OHS results. However, a MS guarantees neither effective OHS management nor strong worker influence. Systematic violations of legal requirements have repeatedly caused accidents at workplaces with certified MSs. Why employers introduce MS’s can affect their implementation and outcomes. Internal objectives, of productivity and/or work-related health, require upstream prevention and a genuine influence by workers and their safety representatives. However, managers with external objectives for a MS, such as brand images or low reported accident figures, may pursue such objectives through downstream control of safe behaviour – sometimes suppressing accident reporting – and with little attention to more serious long-term diseases. Worker consultation may then be a limited means of enhancing safety, or to one-way communication on safety rules. Such consultation may even be used for union busting. Many trade unions welcome MSs as possible improvement instruments, but they are also wary of what MSs employers are actually trying to implement. Unions try to support their safety representatives’ influence in a MS by enhancing their rights and their competences. If the motives for MSs are mainly external and the opportunities for influence too limited, it may be better for unions not to cooperate with management in a MS that may lead more to manipulation than to safe and sound work.     

Protection of workers’ mental health in Québec: Do general duty clauses allow labour inspectors to do their job?

Given that no specific provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act explicitly deal with psychosocial risk factors, in Québec, occupational health and safety inspectors employed by the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) address psychosocial hazards under the Act’s general duty clause. This general duty clause and related provisions require that all employers eliminate hazards at source and protect the health of workers. More specifically, they are required to ensure that the organisation of work does not adversely affect the safety or health of the worker. Since 2004, Québec minimum standards legislation has also provided for the right of workers to an environment that is free from psychological harassment.Written from both a legal and public health perspective, this paper has two primary objectives: first, to better understand the potential and limits of the current legislative framework for the protection of the mental health of workers and second, to describe how scientific knowledge related to high risk situations for the mental health of workers might inform interventions by inspectors for the protection of workers’ mental health.     

Ergonomic interventions for prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in a small manufacturing assembly line

This study involves performing improvements in workstation specification using a three-dimensional human modeling tool and proposing well-balanced work scheduling (WBWS) to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in a small manufacturing plant. To analyze risk factors of WMSDs, various tasks at 10 different types of workstation were evaluated with detailed motion analysis using a customized checklist. Questionnaires were administered to 27 workers to evaluate symptoms related to WMSDs. Revised workstation specifications were suggested based on anthropometric characteristics of workers using before–after analyses as an engineering control. Additionally, WBWS was proposed as an administrative control to avoid continuous physical stress on specific body parts in repetitive tasks. A software tool for WBWS was developed for convenient and easy application. The results of the study may aid managers in applying ergonomic interventions with time and cost savings, and enhance worker satisfaction and motivation due to improvements in working conditions to prevent WMSDs.