Work based musculoskeletal problems of brass factory workers: an in-depth study

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorder is the leading cause of occupational ill health. An awkward and static posture has been recognized as a risk factor for work-related Musculoskeletal problems. Modern industrial activities particularly in the developing countries involve considerable degree of manual efforts which are associated with body movements. The objective of this study was to study a postural stress and Musculoskeletal problems of the brass factory workers. Multistage purposive random sampling design was used to select the study area and respondents. Moradabad district of Uttar Predesh was purposively seleceted as the place of the study. Out of the various units of brass factories, only one unit, yhat is polishing unit, was selected and out of the total workers working in the polishing unit, only 33 physically fit workers, as found by step test were selected as subjects for the study. For collection of data regarding time spent and posture profile of the respondents, a protocol was developed with the help of suitable sketches of different postures. For development of the protocol, posture adopted by workers while doing work in factory was photographed and the duration of keeping a particular posture was noted the help of a stopwatch. For data analysis the Musculoskeletal problems were categorized on the basis of a five point scale from very mild to very severe indicating the intensity of pain felt by a worker. For postural analysis the percentage deviation of the angle of the back was calculated. Collected data of Musculoskeletal problems was statistically analyzed by finding frequency and percentage. The results showed that the workers are forced to assume bad working posture due to poor design of work place, machines and loads. Severe postural stress produces a series of bodily symptoms initiated by some sort of obscure pain in joints, joints and muscles with a mild degree increasing progressively to a severe degree resulting in various types of Musculoskeletal illness or disorders.