Telework during the COVID-19 pandemic: Ergonomic and psychosocial risks among Brazilian labor justice workers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The imposition of telework by the COVID-19 pandemic represented a challenge for companies and workers with regard to the management and organization of the workplace at home. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the ergonomic risks, psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal symptoms as well as the relationships between these variables in employees of a Brazilian labor judiciary unit. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 55 employees who had their workstations evaluated by means of the Rapid Office Strain Assessment (ROSA-Br) and answered a questionnaire of sociodemographic and occupational characterization, the dimensions of workstation and posture of the Upper Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire (MUEQ-Br-revised), the short version of the Job Stress Scale and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). RESULTS: The workstations evaluations by ROSA-Br and MUEQ-Br-revised showed a strong correlation between themselves and to body posture, but they were not related to the occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms. Body posture and demands were correlated to each other and with to occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms. Shoulders, neck and wrists / hands were the most affected body regions. CONCLUSIONS: Companies that adopt teleworking for their employees must be aware of working conditions at home, including the workload, and offer adequate support in order to prevent the occurrence of musculoskeletal problems.

Teletrabalho durante a pandemia de Covid-19 e a saúde de servidores de uma Universidade

“…Apesar das dificuldades, e com esta possiblidade e flexibilidade de horários, alguns servidores optaram por trabalhar a noite. Os teletrabalhadores tiveram uma maior autonomia para decidir sobre as suas pausas, e em como organizar o seu trabalho na tentativa de um conforto (Kadri Filho & Lucca, 2022). São vários os benefícios do teletrabalho, como a economia de tempo e dinheiro (reduzindo gastos com transporte), aumento da flexibilidade e da independência (Zalat & Bolol, 2022).…”

“…Em um estudo, identificou-se condições inadequadas no teletrabalho, especialmente em relação ao posto de trabalho durante a pandemia de Covid-19, com surgimento de sintomas osteomusculares em regiões de ombros, cervical e punho/mãos (Kadri Filho & Lucca, 2022). A falta de mobiliário adequado para as atividades no teletrabalho pode causar um aumento de desordens osteomusculares (Larrea-Araujo et al, 2021).…”

Teleworking and Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review

“…All studies were published during and after 2020, and only one study used data from before the COVID-19 pandemic [ 12 ]. There was a relatively good representation of countries throughout the world, with most of them coming from Asia [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ] and Europe [ 12 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], and some from America and Australia [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Only three studies did not have a cross-sectional design: the first was a before/after study [ 28 ], the second was a prospective cohort [ 37 ], and the last was an interventional study [ 19 ].…”

“…The majority of the populations included in the studies were office workers who had mandatory teleworking caused by lockdowns [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 40 ]. One study focused on participants already suffering from low back pain before implementation of telework [ 30 ], whereas others studies excluded participants with a history of MSK disorders or serious medical conditions [ 19 , 23 , 25 , 28 , 29 , 37 ].…”

“…The number of participants varied, ranging from 40 [ 19 ] to 12,774 [ 20 ]. Validated questionnaires were used in almost half of the studies included [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 38 ], with the most used one being the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. Other outcomes included numerical scales and Likert type scales assessing the intensity and/or the frequency of pain or the evolution of pain before and after implementation of lockdowns (associated with WFH).…”