Comparison of static lifting capacity between experienced and novice Taiwanese female workers

Prevalence of occupational accidents and factors associated with deaths and disabilities in the shipbuilding industry: Comparisons of novice and skilled workers

BACKGROUND

The shipbuilding industry has various risks such as slipping, falling, mechanical, chemical, and confined space work.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to compare the characteristics of the occupational accidents between novice and skilled workers in the shipbuilding industry and to analyze factors affecting death and disability accidents.

METHODS

From the national work-related compensation data of South Korea, an experimental design was established to analyze a population of occupational injuries related to workers working in the shipbuilding industry. This study compares accident characteristics of 2,069 injuries registered as work-related accidents. Also, logistic regression analysis is performed to identify the factors affecting death and disability accidents.

RESULTS

The prevalence of occupational accidents caused by novices was high in older workers, female workers, foreign workers, irregular workers, or companies with less than 100 employees. The proportion of source of accident by novices was high in 'manhole,''ladder,' and 'scaffold,' while the prevalence of accident type was high in 'fall,' 'cut/bruise,' and 'struck by.' According to logistic regression analysis, if the face was injured, the possibility of being death or disability was higher than that of other parts of the body. Also, if the rupture caused the injury, the possibility of being death or disability was higher than the different types of injury.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study are expected to be useful as basic data for the prevention of accidents of novice and death/disabilities in the shipbuilding industry.

Development of a device to reduce the risk of injury in handling unstable loads

BACKGROUND

Manual material handling (MMH) task is the most common cause of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Operators carrying unstable loads were recently shown to be at greater risk of back injury compared to workers carrying stable loads.

OBJECTIVE

This study focused on developing a device to minimize trunk muscle activity and cardiovascular demand while handling a 19-liter bottle.

METHOD

After evaluating several designs, one was selected to be developed, manufactured and tested through an experimental study. Healthy participants (n = 42) manually carried a 19-liter bottle. The carrying technique (i.e., carrying a lateral load while holding the load using the dominant hand, pulling the load using the developed device, carrying the load on the back using the developing device) was the independent variable. The muscular activities (e.g., neck extensor, upper trapezius, pectoralis major, deltoid medial, rectus abdominis, and erector spinae muscles of the dominant side), cardiac costs, plantar pressures, walking speeds, and subjective measures were the dependent variables.

RESULTS

Results show that carrying the developed device like a backpack significantly reduced trunk muscle activity, cardiovascular demand, and plantar pressure compared to the usual practice. The present results suggest that carrying a 19-liter water bottle using the developed device is likely to contribute to lower MSDs.

CONCLUSION

Implementation of the develop device recommended to lessen the risk of injury when handling unstable loads such as liquids.