Abstract
In this paper, we identified ergonomic risks of physical load on a group of administrative workers of an Institution of Higher Education, Cartagena, Colombia, through a descriptive study conducted between July and December 2015. A questionnaire usage to collect the information that had into account demographic variables, working conditions and ergonomic risk factors of physical load; results were analyzed with Excel 2.5 tools. Most of the population belong to the female gender (70%) in the age range of between 20 and 29 years; with a type of fixed-term contracts (57%); the most relevant ergonomic aspects were: work in sitting posture more than 8 h (34%), poor postural hygiene (88%) no active breaks (89%) and lumbar muscle discomfort (89%). In conclusion, poor postural hygiene, absence of active breaks and lumbar muscle discomfort were the most important occupational characteristics in this study.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
International Ergonomics Association: Definition and domains of ergonomics. Zurich, Switzerland (quoted 25 Feb 2016) (2000). http://www.iea.cc/whats/index.html
Ministry of Social Protection: Technical guide for the analysis of exposure to occupational risk factors, Bogotá, Colombia (2011)
World Health Organization: Prevention of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace, Berlin, Germany (quoted 20 Dec 2015) (2004). http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/en/pwh5sp.pdf?ua=1
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): Work-related musculoskeletal disorders, USA (1997)
Gómez-Conesa, A., Méndez Carrillo, F.X.: Occupational low back pain. Physiotherapy 24(monograph 1), 43–50 (2002)
Piedrahita, H.: Case-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in developing countries: Colombia case international. Bogota 12(4), 379–386 (2006). (Article in Spanish)
Ministry of Social Protection: Professional disease report in Colombia years 2001–2002, Bogotá, Colombia (2004)
Tafur, F.: Professional disease report in Colombia 2003–2005. Group of Workers’ Health Promotion, Bogota (2005)
Ibero-American Organization of Social Security (OISS): Report of the Secretary General of the OISS on the status of work to December 2011, Madrid, Spain (2011)
Villar, M.: Work Positions: Risk Assessment. National Institute of Health and Hygiene at Work (INSHT), Spain (2011)
Cuesta, A., Enough Ceca, M., Diego Jose, A.: Ergonomic Evaluation of Jobs, 1st edn. Editorial Paraninfo, Madrid (2012)
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Ergonomy, USA (2010)
Artiles Visbal, L., Otero Iglesia, J., Barrios Osuna, I.: Methodology of Research for Health Sciences, Cuba (2008)
Kuorinka, I., Jonsson, B., Kilbom, A., Vinterberg, H., Biering-Sorensen, F., Andersson, G., et al.: Standardized Nordic questionnaires for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms. Appl. Ergon. 18(3), 233–237 (1987). F0inland
National Library of Medicine: Electronic dictionary: body mass index, USA (2012). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007196.htm
Seguí Díaz, M., Gérvas, J.: Lumbar pain. Semergen 28(1), 21–41 (2002)
Pérez Torres, F.: Excerpt from the thesis. Chronic low back pain: evaluation of the diagnostic sequence and configuration of the clinical decision. Socio-labor impact, Valencia, Spain (2000). http://www.ser.es/index.html?VisorPrincipal=/Contenidos_Publicaciones/Revistas/Revista_RER/RER.htm
Rodríguez Cardoso, A., Pardo, H., de Donlebún, M., Barbadillo Mateos, C.: Epidemiology and labor repercussions. J. Phys. Ther. 61(1408), 68–70 (2001)
Battié, M., Bigos, S., Fisher, L., Hannson, T.H., Jones, M.E., Wortley, M.D.: Isometric lifting strength as a predictor of industrial back pain reports. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 14, 851–856 (1989)
Harvey, B.L.: Self-care practises to prevent low back pain. AAOHN J. 36, 211–217 (1988)
Feldstein, A., Valains, B., Vollmer, W., Stevens, N., Overton, C.: The back injury prevention pilot project study. J. Occup. Med. 35, 114–120 (1993)
Heliövaara, M.: Risk factors of low back pain and sciatica. Ann. Med. 21, 257–264 (1989)
Stubbs, D., Buckle, P.: Back and upper limb disorders. Practitioner 236, 34–38 (1992). 19. 89; 14: 851-6. 29. Gates S.J.: On the job back exercises. Am. J. Nurs. May, 656-9
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work: Electronic fact sheets: facts 10 Dorsolumbar disorders of work origin (updated 23 Jan 2014; quoted 20 June 2014) (approx. 2 screens) (2000). https://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/factsheets/10/view
Noriega-Elío, M., Barrón Soto, A., Sierra Martínez, O., Méndez Ramírez, I., Pulido Navarro, M.: The controversy about low back pain and its relation to work: retrospective study on disabled workers. Cad. Public Saúce 21(3), 887–897 (2005)
Svensson, H.O., Anderson, G.B.: In 40 to 47 year old men: work history and work environment factors. Spine 8, 272–276 (1983)
Landinez, N.: Importance of performing the active pauses. Coordinator of the Human Body Laboratory National University of Colombia (2010). http://www.funandi.edu.co/funandi/index.php/saludocupacional/pausas-activa/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Escudero, I. (2018). Ergonomic Risks of Physical Load on Administrative Workers in a Higher Education Institution 2015-Cartagena. In: Goonetilleke, R., Karwowski, W. (eds) Advances in Physical Ergonomics and Human Factors. AHFE 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 602. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60825-9_33
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60825-9_33
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60824-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60825-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)