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Ergonomic workplace assessment in orthotic and prosthetic workshops.

BACKGROUND
In Iranian orthotic and prosthetic workshops, the majority of activities are carried out by manpower and the tasks are labor-intensive. In these workshops, ergonomic aspects of working conditions are seldom considered.


OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted in orthotic and prosthetic workshops with the objectives of determination of prevalence rate of MSDs among employees and assessment of ergonomics working conditions.


METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, all employees (n = 42; 29 males and 13 females) in 11 active orthotic and prosthetic production centers of Shiraz city participated. Data were collected using Nordic Musculoskeletal disorders Questionnaire (NMQ) and observational technique by an ergonomics checklist for assessment of working conditions.


RESULTS
The means (SD) of age and job tenure (years) in the study individuals were 37.26 (10.21) and 12.8 (9.39), respectively. The most prevalent MSD symptoms in the past 12 months were reported in the lower back (42.9%), shoulders (40.5%) and knees (40.5%). Working conditions assessment showed that the main ergonomic problems in the workshops studied originated from awkward working posture, improper workstation design, poorly designed hand tools and incorrect manual material handling.


CONCLUSION
Any interventional program for working conditions improvement should, therefore, focus on these areas.