Elements of Ergonomics Programs A Primer Based on Workplace Evaluations of Musculoskeletal Disorders

At the request of a State labor department, NIOSH determined the prevalence of WMSDs of the neck and upper extremities in workers employed at two poultry processing plants. OSHA reports and symptom data obtained via questionnaires and physical exams found workers in jobs requiring highly repetitive, forceful motions and awkward postures to have significantly more hand and wrist disorders than those employed in less physically demanding work. In the course of this study, NIOSH also assessed the medical management practices in the two plants with regard to injured workers and the company's WMSD prevention program. Based largely on the questionnaire data and other sources of information, the following areas were suggested as needing improvement or change:

• Increased nurse access: From 23% to 29% of employees in one plant who met the various case definitions of upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms indicated that their foreman or supervisor refused to allow them to leave their workstation to see the plant nurse at some point during the course of the year.

• More efficient job rotation schemes: Nearly 30% of the workers in the high exposure jobs in one plant and almost 27% in the second were involved in a job rotation plan. Both plant groups reported spending at least 2 days a week in jobs other than their base jobs. The rotation, however, did not necessarily place them in less ergonomically stressful tasks. Rather, the jobs they temporarily filled were often vacancies on the production line in the same high exposure area.

• Questionable use of vitamins and anti-inflammatory drugs: The policy of one plant required all new hires to take ibuprofen tablets and Vitamins E and C several times a day during their probationary periods. Although use of these substances has been advocated as a way to prevent WMSDs, valid, scientific evidence to establish their effectiveness is not available. More importantly, this approach does not substitute for effective engineering or administrative controls. Also, consumption of therapeutic amounts of these drugs (e.g., ibuprofen) can pose a risk of other adverse health effects [HETA 89-307–2009].