Identifying musculoskeletal issues and associated risk factors among clay brick kiln workers

Abstract

The present study is aimed to investigate the musculoskeletal issues and association of risk-factors with these problems among manual brick kiln workers. A modified Nordic Questionnaire was administered among 376 traditional brick kiln workers to collect data. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between musculoskeletal problems and risk-factors. Majority of workers (76.19%) involved in mould evacuating task reported wrist issues whereas lower back issues were reported by 62.35% of spading task workers. Age was a factor associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in the majority of the body regions. Gender was significantly associated with lower back (OR=3.71, CI: 1.51–9.11) MSDs. Spading task was associated with the wrist (OR=2.42, CI: 51.03–5.66), and lower back (OR=3.97, CI: 1.75–8.98) problems. Mould filling was a contributing factor for the wrist (OR=4.27, CI: 1.81–10.09) and knee (OR=6.88, CI: 2.40–19.70) issues. MSDs in wrist (OR=12.22, CI: 4.82–30.98) and fingers (OR=3.57, CI: 1.23–10.36) were significant in mould evacuating workers. Workers having less than 5 yr of experience were less prone to the neck (OR= 0.03, CI: 0.00–0.72) and upper back (OR=0.08, CI: 0.01–0.76) MSDs. For prevention of problems, ergonomic interventions such as workers’ training, use of protecting aids, modification in hand tools and work practices are needed.

Biochemical and reproductive biomarker analysis to study the consequences of heavy metal burden on health profile of male brick kiln workers

“…This is a novel report, combining a unique set of techniques and approaches to characterize a brick kiln community, specifically males. Our results showed that 84% of the kiln workers were illiterate; this is supported by recent study conducted in India where illiteracy rate found at brick kiln sites was 56% 47 . Some of the individuals who participated in the present study were also addicted to various drugs such as smoking (22%).…”

Systematic Comparison of OWAS, RULA, and REBA Based on a Literature Review

“…Kulkarni and Devalkar [ 42 ] claimed that while the RULA evaluated five activities such as granite cutting, brickwork, shuttering, plastering, and material transportation in construction as action level 3 or 4, the REBA evaluated them as action level 4. Sain and Meena [ 43 ] indicated that while the RULA rated 154 postures sampled from four tasks including spading, mold filling, mold evacuating, and brick carrying in clay brick kiln work as action level 3 on average, the REBA evaluated the postures for spading and mold filling as action level 3, and for mold evacuating and brick carrying as action level 4.…”

Musculoskeletal Disorders Symptoms among Taiwanese Bakery Workers

“…In addition to a general descriptive statistical analysis, a logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the possible risk factors for the symptom or discomfort at each site [23]. The following data were collected using the questionnaire: (a) personal details (including age, weight, height, dominant hand, work experience, exercise, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and health and medical backgrounds) and (b) job demands (including number of working days per week, number of working hours per day, number of times the worker needs to perform the task of removing pastries out of the oven per day, and frequencies of rolling pin use, dough kneading task, dough rounding task, and object lifting).…”