Affiliations: [a] Human Technology Group, Department of Electromechanical Engineering, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal | [b] Unidade Técnico-Científica de Engenharia e Tecnologia, Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão, Instituto Politécnico da Guarda, Guarda, Portugal
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Denis A. Coelho, Human Technology Group, Department of Electromechanical Engineering, Universidade da Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal. Tel.: +351 275 329 943; Fax: +351 275 240 895; E-mail:denis@ubi.pt;denis.a.coelho@gmail.com
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Office workers are increasingly exposed to physical and
psychosocial risk factors. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between environmental,
physical and organizational working conditions and the physical and
psychosocial well-being of a sample of private sector office workers. METHODS: Musculoskeletal pain was collected from a body map and the
Disabilities of the Arms, Shoulders and Hands questionnaire. The short
version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire enabled collecting
information on six job related satisfaction and dissatisfaction subscales. A
checklist for ergonomics in computer work guided the analysis of ergonomic
factors and measurements were taken to characterize environmental
conditions. Association between exposures and outcomes was calculated using
IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software. RESULTS: Significant moderate positive association was found
between dissatisfaction with job psychological demands and musculoskeletal
pain in the upper body (0.40; p= 0.05), as well as between postural ergonomic
mismatches and dissatisfaction with job insecurity towards the future (0.42;
p= 0.04). A significant moderate negative association (-0,47; p= 0.02) was
found as well between satisfaction with job social support and with
leadership quality and location of the work station in an open-plan office
as opposed to smaller office rooms. CONCLUSIONS: The results show how raising awareness of the risk
factors encountered in contemporary office work is still necessary to
promote widespread improvement of working conditions, from both a physical
and a psychosocial perspective.
