The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of heat stress on the health and productivity of forestry workers. The study included a method of assessment involving the use of ...standardized measuring equipment on several types of forestry works in mangrove forests. In this study, the thermal conditions and physical workload of workers were measured under various conditions, i.e., logging site, charcoal kiln, and nursery. A structure of the work-rest cycle could be designed properly using the standards of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Result of the study showed that the mangrove forestry works in the logging site and charcoal kiln could be carried out continuously with 25% of working efficiency on achieving maximum productivity and 75% of the rest needed, while at the mangrove's nursery site it could be carried out continuously with 75% of working on achieving productivity and 25% of the rest needed. The adjustment of working productivity is therefore established between WBGT and the work-rest cycle in the design of work. Thus, it can be concluded that consideration in modifying the work-rest cycle will result in better management of heat stress rate on productivity and health being of the workers. Besides, this study recommends that more shaded areas for forestry workers to take rest to prevent heat illness and enhance working efficiency.
The aim of this review was to provide an overview of assistive exoskeletons that have specifically been developed for industrial purposes and to assess the potential effect of these exoskeletons on ...reduction of physical loading on the body. The search resulted in 40 papers describing 26 different industrial exoskeletons, of which 19 were active (actuated) and 7 were passive (non-actuated). For 13 exoskeletons, the effect on physical loading has been evaluated, mainly in terms of muscle activity. All passive exoskeletons retrieved were aimed to support the low back. Ten-forty per cent reductions in back muscle activity during dynamic lifting and static holding have been reported. Both lower body, trunk and upper body regions could benefit from active exoskeletons. Muscle activity reductions up to 80% have been reported as an effect of active exoskeletons. Exoskeletons have the potential to considerably reduce the underlying factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal injury.
Practitioner Summary:
Worldwide, a significant interest in industrial exoskeletons does exist, but a lack of specific safety standards and several technical issues hinder mainstay practical use of exoskeletons in industry. Specific issues include discomfort (for passive and active exoskeletons), weight of device, alignment with human anatomy and kinematics, and detection of human intention to enable smooth movement (for active exoskeletons).
Objective This study investigates the impact of physical workload factors and occupational class on working life expectancy (WLE) and working years lost (WYL) in a sample of older Finnish workers. ...Methods A 70% random sample of Finns in 2004 was linked to a job exposure matrix for physical workload factors and register information on occupational class and labor market status until 2014. Transitions between being at work, time-restricted work disability, unemployment, economic inactivity, disability retirement, retirement and death were estimated. A multistate Cox regression model with transition-specific covariates was used to estimate the WLE and WYL at age 50 up to 63 years for each occupational class and physical workload factor for men and women (N=415 105). Results At age 50, male and female manual workers had a WLE of 10.13 and 10.14 years, respectively. Among both genders, manual workers had one year shorter WLE at age 50 than upper non-manual employees. This difference was largely attributable to unemployment (men: 0.60, women: 0.66 years) and disability retirement (men: 0.28, women: 0.29 years). Self-employed persons had the highest WLE (11.08 years). Men and women exposed to four or five physical workload factors had about one year lower WLE than non-exposed workers. The difference was primarily attributable to ill-health-related reasons, including disability retirement (men: 0.45 years, women: 0.53 years) and time-restricted work disability (men: 0.23, women: 0.33 years). Conclusions Manual workers and those exposed to physical workload factors had the lowest WLE. The differences in WYL between exposure groups can primarily be explained by ill-health-based exit routes.
IntroductionAssociations between social class and alcohol-related morbidity are well established, but less is known about the explanatory mechanisms. This study aims to investigate the role of ...working conditions in explaining associations between education and alcohol-related harm.Material and MethodsThis register-based cohort includes around three million individuals aged 30–60 years registered in Sweden in 2005. Highest attained education (in five categories ranging from compulsory to at least three years of tertiary education) and diagnosed alcohol-related morbidity between 2006 and 2016 were obtained from national registers. Physical workload and job control were measured using job exposure matrices, where mean levels of these exposures were linked to index persons through their registered occupation in 2005. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to measure associations between education and alcohol-related morbidity among men and women separately. Models were adjusted for early life factors, followed by job control and physical workload. The percent of attenuation in the hazard ratios were calculated using the formula ((HRcrude-HRadjusted)/HRcrude-1)*100). This research was approved by the Regional Ethics Review Board in Stockholm (dnr 2017/1224–31 and 2018/1675–32).Results and ConclusionsHaving lower education was associated with an increased risk of alcohol-related morbidity. Associations were similar among men and women and showed a dose-response pattern (HR 2.43 95%CI 2.33–2.51 and HR 2.48 95% CI 2.36–2.61 for men and women respectively when comparing the highest and lowest level of education). Models were relatively unchanged when adjusting for birth year, birth country, childhood socioeconomic position, and own and parents’ previous psychiatric diagnoses. Job control attenuated estimates by about 11% for men and women, while physical workload explained around 30% of the association for men and around 19% for women. These results indicate that low job control, and especially heavy physical workload are important factors in explaining associations between lower education and alcohol-related morbidity.
This study aims to investigate the extent to which low job control and heavy physical workload in middle age explain educational differences in all-cause and ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality ...while accounting for important confounding factors.
The study is based on a register-linked cohort of men who were conscripted into the Swedish military at around the age of 18 in 1969/1970 and were alive and registered in Sweden in 2005 (N=46 565). Cox proportional hazards regression models were built to estimate educational differences in all-cause and IHD mortality and the extent to which this was explained by physical workload and job control around age 55 by calculating the reduction in hazard ratio (HR) after adjustments. Indicators of health, health behavior, and other factors measured during conscription were accounted for.
We found a clear educational gradient for all-cause and IHD mortality (HR 2.07 and 2.47, respectively, for the lowest compared to the highest education level). A substantial part was explained by the differential distribution of the confounding factors. However, work-related factors, especially high physical workload, also played important explanatory roles.
Even after accounting for earlier life factors, low job control and especially high physical workload seem to be important mechanistic factors in explaining educational inequalities in all-cause and IHD mortality. It is therefore important to find ways to reduce physical workload and increase job control in order to decrease inequalities in mortality.
The physical workload is one of the factors that could trigger excessive work fatigue. This study aimed to analyze the correlation between physical workload and work fatigue among Gapoktan farmers in ...Demangan Village Ponorogo. The type of research is an analytical quantitative with a cross-sectional approach. The population is 150 farmers with a sample of 60 respondents using the accidental sampling technique. The instruments used are an oximeter to measure physical workload and IFRC Questionnaire to measure work fatigue. This study shows a correlation between physical workload and work fatigue among Gapoktan farmers in Demangan Village Ponorogo with a p-value = 0.025 (< 0.05) with the value of the correlation shown by the number 0.289, which means it has a low correlation strength. The conclusion of this study is that there is a significant correlation between physical workload and work fatigue on Gapoktan Farmers in Demangan Village Ponorogo. The advice given to the farmers community is to regulate working hours and rest hours so that they do not have excessive physical workloads or work fatigue. Another way to avoid excessive workload and work fatigue is to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Data: An increasing number of studies suggest that exposure to physically demanding work during pregnancy could be associated with increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, but the results ...remain conflicted and inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of occupational activities during pregnancy on maternal and fetal health outcomes.
Studies of all designs (except case studies and reviews) that contained information on the relevant population (women who engaged in paid work during pregnancy), occupational exposures (heavy lifting, prolonged standing, prolonged walking, prolonged bending, and heavy physical workload), comparator (no exposure to the listed physical work demands), and outcomes (preterm birth, low birthweight, small for gestational age, miscarriage, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, stillbirth, and intrauterine growth restriction) were included.
Five electronic databases and 3 gray literature sources were searched up to March 15, 2019.
Eighty observational studies (N=853,149) were included. Low-to-very low certainty evidence revealed that lifting objects ≥11 kg was associated with an increased odds ratio of miscarriage (odds ratio, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–1.58; I2=79%), and preeclampsia (odds ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–1.71; I2=0%). Lifting objects for a combined weight of ≥100 kg per day was associated with an increased odds of preterm delivery (odds ratio, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.11–1.56; I2=0%) and having a low birthweight neonate (odds ratio, 2.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–4.11; I2=73%). Prolonged standing was associated with increased odds of preterm delivery (odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–1.22; I2=30%) and having a small-for-gestational-age neonate (odds ratio, 1.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.35; I2=41%). A heavy physical workload was associated with increased odds of preterm delivery (odds ratio, 1.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–1.41; I2=32%) and having a low birthweight neonate (odds ratio, 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.11–2.87; I2=87%). All other associations were not statistically significant. Dose-response analysis showed women stand for >2.5 hours per day (vs no standing) had a 10% increase in the odds of having a preterm delivery.
Physically demanding work during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
IntroductionJob exposure matrices (JEM) for physical workload, developed in several European countries, have been utilized to examine associations between physical work demands and ill-health. ...However, it is unclear whether the exposure measures in these JEMs could be internationally generalizable. The aim was to construct a European JEM (EuroJEM) for physical workload to be used in epidemiological studies based on large European cohorts.Materials and MethodsLiterature search identified 14 European physical JEMs. As a starting point, three national gender-specific JEMs from Sweden, Norway and Finland, showing similarities regarding exposures, exposure definitions and assessments, and occupational classification systems, were selected. All were based on self-reported exposures and used national variants of ISCO-88(COM). Three exposures were harmonised: fast breathing due to physical workload, forward bent posture, and heavy lifting. In the harmonised EuroJEM, exposure was defined as being exposed at least ¼ of the time (fast breathing and forward bent posture) or daily (lifting > 20 kg) and expressed in five categories of proportion of exposed workers within each occupation: 0–5%, 6–24%, 25–49%, 50–74% and 75–100%. The harmonisation was conducted by checking for agreement between the national JEMs regarding exposure category for each occupation and gender. If full agreement, this exposure category was assigned to the EuroJEM. For occupations with disagreement or missing information from JEMs, an expert panel, with knowledge of work tasks and conditions within occupations, discussed the exposure level until consensus was reached.ResultsA first version of a gender-specific EuroJEM for three physical exposures has been constructed, providing levels of proportion exposed for 375 occupations coded with ISCO-88(COM).ConclusionsThe constructed EuroJEM for assessment of exposures to physical workload can be used to study exposure-disease associations, including interactions with other exposures, in large European cohort studies. JEMs from other countries will be included using similar methodology.
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