Reducing risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders through optimizing workplace design

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Work related musculoskeletal disorders continue to be a source of economic and social burden in industry. This is balanced against the continual need for productivity and quality gains. These need not be competing interests. With increased understanding of the interaction of the biomechanical and physiological loads on the worker and the properties of the job, optimizations are possible that will benefit both interests, allowing for a safer and more productive workplace, reduced economic costs associated with compensation, both direct and indirect (e.g. training, lost productivity etc.) and increasing ability to design out injuries before they happen. The objective of this research program is to reduce the burden of work related musculoskeletal disorders through improved understanding of the relationship between engineering measures of task (e.g. cycle times, duty cycle, forces required, workstation layout) and the internal loads on the body. Repetitive or continuous stimulation of the same muscle fibres may result in muscle injury due to localized muscle fatigue. Studies have found reduced prevalence of musculoskeletal pain with adequate muscle rest. Continuing research in our laboratory has shown that only a portion of available rest in a repetitive manual task is utilized by muscle and other task factors such as force, posture, accuracy and direction of joint movement affect the utilization. Current workplace risk assessment techniques do not capture this complex interaction and no proactive techniques are available for incorporation into the workstation design process. Of unique interest we have found evidence of differential muscle fatigue in different forearm postures (pronation/supination). Forearm rotation requires a complex change in the lines of action of the forearm musculature as it passes through the wrist. While it is known that "wrist twist" is a risk factor for Work-Related Musculoskeletal disorders, a more objective approach is required to capture the complex effects of forearm rotation and incorporate them into the design process. A better understanding of how these risk factors interact will allow us to create tools to optimize work design, decreasing the risk of injury while optimizing the productivity.