Occupational concerns associated with regular use of microscope

Abstract

Objectives: Microscope work can be strenuous both to the visual system and the musculoskeletal system. Lack of awareness or indifference towards health issues may result in microscope users becoming victim to many occupational hazards. Our objective was to understand the occupational problems associated with regular use of microscope, awareness regarding the hazards, attitude and practice of microscope users towards the problems and preventive strategies. Material and Methods: a questionnaire based survey done on 50 professionals and technicians who used microscope regularly in pathology, microbiology, hematology and cytology laboratories. Results: Sixty two percent of subjects declared that they were suffering from musculoskeletal problems, most common locations being neck and back. Maximum prevalence of musculoskeletal problems was noted in those using microscope for 11-15 years and for more than 30 h/week. Sixty two percent of subjects were aware of workplace ergonomics. Fifty six percent of microscope users took regular short breaks for stretching exercises and 58% took visual breaks every 15-30 min in between microscope use sessions. As many as 94% subjects reported some form of visual problem. Fourty four percent of microscope users felt stressed with long working hours on microscope. Conclusions:The most common occupational concerns of microscope users were musculoskeletal problems of neck and back regions, eye fatigue, aggravation of ametropia, headache, stress due to long working hours and anxiety during or after microscope use. There is an immediate need for increasing awareness about the various occupational hazards and their irreversible effects to prevent them.

Ergonomic Microscope: Need of the Hour

“…Out of the total 132, 80 were males and 52 were females [ [8]. Jain G and Shetty P observed that 62% of the participants were affected by MSDs [9]. In our study we found that General Pathologists and Microbiologists had similar results.…”

Interventions commonly used to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders among healthcare workers

“…Additionally, physical therapists and allied health professions who work in laboratories work with prolonged use of medical devices such as microscopes and sonographs. WMSDs among physical therapists were mainly in the lower back (46.5 percent), shoulder (45.2 percent) and neck (44.9 percent) [20], while the overall WMSDs among other allied health professions such as microscope workers, pathologists and radiologic technologists were 62, 76 and 88.9 percent, respectively [21][22][23]. Among nurses, the overall prevalence of WMSDs was about 55.6-91.7 percent.…”

Mi̇krobi̇yoloji̇ Laboratuvarlarinda Ergonomi̇

“…%44'ü mikroskopta uzun süre çalışmaktan sonra kendilerini stres altında hissettiklerini belirtmişlerdir. Mikroskopla çalışanlarda en çok görülen iş kaynaklı rahatsızlıklar boyun ve sırtta oluşan kas-iskelet problemleri, göz yorgunluğu, ametropinin şiddetlenmesi, baş ağrısı, çalışma anında veya sonrasındaki anksiyete olarak sıralanmaktadır (Jain and Shetty, 2014 Mikrobiyoloji laboratuvarlarında farklı işlemler için biyogüvenlik kabini kullanılmaktadır (Şekil 4).Laboratuvar çalışanı,biyogüvenlik kabini ile çalışırken yanlış çalışma pozisyonu, ayak ve bilek destek elemanlarının bulunmayışı, kabin içinde gereksiz istifleme yapılması, ayak ve bacaklar için boşluk bulunmaması, uygunsuz sandalye kullanımı, çalışma yüzeyine temas eden kol ve bilek, kabinde yapılan uzun süreli çalışma kas-iskelet sistemi problemlerinin ortaya çıkmasına neden olmaktadır. Çalışan özellikle boyun, omuz, sırt, ayak, bacak, bilek ve kollarda ağrıların oluşması gibi olumsuz birçok etkene maruz kalmaktadır.…”