Exposure to ergonomic stressors in the garment industry: application and critique of job-site work analysis methods

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Abstract
Recently developed work analysis techniques permit the quantitative description of job demands such as force and non-neutral postures on a continuous basis. Such characterization of workplace exposures facilitates the identification of highly stressful work elements. It is also a necessary tool for the epidemiologic study of occupational musculoskeletal disorders and their risk factors. The methods were applied to the analysis of 14 garment assembly jobs, employing 151 women, among whom an elevated prevalence of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders had previously been found. The goals of the job analyses were to document the biomechanical features of the jobs and to evaluate the work analysis methods for the characterization of ergonomic exposures in an epidemiologic study. The cycle lengths of the 14 jobs ranged from 9·5 seconds to 3·4 minutes. Wrist and hand postures that were used frequently included finger pinches, wrist extension and ulnar deviation. The methods were extremely time and labour-intensive; the development of more efficient work analysis techniques will facilitate their wider use in epidemiologic research on the health effects of ergonomic stressors.