Salāmat-i kār-i Īrān (Oct 2006)
Survey of Correlation between Two Evaluation Method of Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Risk Factors REBA& RULA
Abstract
Background and aims Musculoskeletal disorder is one of the biggest occupational health problems in workplaces of industries. According to the national statistics, the proportion of musculoskeletal diseases of all occupation diseases in the United States is 44% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1996). On the basis of report of National Institute Occupational Safety and Health of USA(NIOSH), WMSDs is in the second place between the work-related diseases. Poor working postures constitute one of the main risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. Recognition, evaluation and control action for prevention of occur disorders is important to protect and promotion of workers health. For evaluation of WMSDs risk factor, various methods have been presented. Two practical methods for analyzing and controlling poor working postures in workplaces are REBA and RULA. Methods This research is a cross-sectional study that was conducted in order to survey of correlation between two evaluation methods of WMSDs risk factors REBA& RULAin one of the ophthalmic lens manufacture factory.At first, jobs were surveyed and all subtasks of jobs recognized and 40 jobs out of 77 were selected. Then REBA& RULAmethods were carried out for this jobs. Also, The final scores and action levels were determined. Results The result revealed that: there was a significant correlation between final score of two methods (r = 0.781) and action levels of two methods (r=0.821). Compare to action levels, two methods in all jobs showed that There was no significant difference between action levels at jobs (p = 0.16) also between action levels of two methods in any of workplaces separately. Result of REBA& RULAmethods revealed that risk level of lower arm, upper arm and wrist was higher than trunk, neck, and legs because of awkward posture of the mentioned parts. Result of RULAand REBAtechnique indicated that, action levels of all jobs were not acceptable. Conclusion On the basis of mentioned result above, this study indicated that, there was no significant correlation between two methods and methods have a strong correlation in identifying critical work site and determining critical limb. Therefore, both methods are recommended for evaluation of work-related musculoskeletal disorders risk factors in industries
