Assessment of musculoskeletal disorders among employees working office workplaces in the manufacturing sector

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kahya, Emin

Affiliations: Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Meselik Campus, Department of Industrial Engineering, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey Tel.: +00 90 222 239 37 50/3627; E-mail: ekahya@ogu.edu.tr. ORCID No: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9763-2714

Abstract: BACKGROUND:The number of studies investigating the relationship between office employees and the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is limited. Only a few focused on assessing workplace ergonomics of office employees. OBJECTIVE:This study aims to investigate the risk of MSDs and associated factors in the office workplaces of a large-size manufacturing company. METHODS:Data were gathered from 208 office employees from a manufacturing company via Rapid Office Strain Assessment (ROSA) and Cornell questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed to examine the relationship between ergonomic risk levels and MSDs reported by the office staff. RESULTS:The mean ROSA final score is 3.52 (std. dev. = 0.71), chair section is 3.30, monitor and telephone section is 2.18, and mouse and keyboard section is 2.69. Thirty-nine of 208 (18.8%) office workplaces are at risk. The most important factor to raise the risk level is found to be the height and depth of the chair. The Cornell questionnaire results highlight that the highest discomfort severity is related to the neck (32.26%), lower back (23.23%) and upper back (22.26%). The discomforts in the neck (r = 0.362), upper back (r = 0.404) and lower back (r = 0.368) are moderately and positively correlated according to the final ROSA score. The results indicate that the highest risked departments are Accounting, Sub Industry, Production Planning, and Manufacturing Management. CONCLUSION:The parameters associated with the chair section should be considered a priority for reducing and eliminating MSDs among office employees.

Keywords: Office employee, musculoskeletal disorder, rapid office strain assessment, cornell questionnaire

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-213539

Journal: Work, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 1103-1113, 2021