• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.298-307
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the recent trends in patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders in South Korea and to check the major results by reviewing the literature on the risk factors and prevalence of musculoskeletal diseases related to work. Methods: Industrial disaster data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor from 2012 to 2021 were used, and the literature was reviewed regarding risk factors for musculoskeletal diseases related to work using PubMed and RISS. Results: The trend of patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders has increased overall since 2017 after declining until 2016, with a particularly notable increase in the average annual number of patients with physical burden work. The average annual rate per ten thousand people for patients with body burden work, non-accidental lower back pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome among work-related diseases was high in the mining industry. The average annual rate per ten thousand people for patients with accidental lower back pain was the highest in the fishing industry. Within the manufacturing field, it was the highest in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. As a result of the literature review, the search rate for work-related musculoskeletal disease papers in unstructured work was high. In addition, physical stress factors were high among risk factors, and pain areas showed a high rate for the waist. Conclusion: Even after the institutional implementation of a hazard investigation system related to musculoskeletal diseases is implemented, the number of patients with occupational musculoskeletal disorders continues to increase. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct regular surveys and implement effective improvement activities for vulnerable industries or occupations.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.65-71
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• 2008

This study conducted two surveys to establish an educational system to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The first survey investigates the factors influencing the recognition of job specifications for risk factor analysts of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The respondents of the first survey were selected from 173 different small-sized manufacturing enterprises having less than 300 workers and had experienced the inspection of risk factors. The results of the first survey shows that better recognition of job specifications are followed by the increase of education time, but regardless of the positions and periods of job experience. Among the respondents with a high level recognition, the second survey was conducted. According to the results, it is presented that 2, 8, 16 hours are the most suitable for educating workers, superintendents, and risk factors analysts. Based on the results of the second survey, educational contents have also been suggested. This research will provide the basic information when forming education systems to prevent musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.144-150
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• 2012

A survey was carried out to understand and analyze the characteristics of the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders among farmers of pears, grapes, cucumbers, eggplants and various vegetables. One hundred and forty farmers participated in the study. It was found that task characteristics differ according to crops and the gender of the farmers. The fruits farmers mainly assume arm-elevated postures while vegetables farmers mostly take bent-back or squatting postures. The symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders are mostly reported in the low back, shoulder, and knee. Though the rates of symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders were not much different among the crops, the fruits farmers showed relatively higher rate of symptoms in the shoulder and neck than those of other crops. The rate of symptoms of female farmers was higher than that of male farmers, which is the similar results of other studies. The relatively low correlationship between the task characteristics and the rate of symptomes might be caused by the fact that most farmers are involved in various agricultural tasks that are not much different among different crops.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.156-169
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• 2009

In this study, the authors introduced DASH (Disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand), which had been developed for evaluating the functional impairment in the movement of upper extremities in regular daily activities, work ability and sports/performing arts ability. It is an ergonomic risk assessment tool used for industrial workers and also a disability measurement tool for upper extremity disorders arising from musculoskeletal disorders and symptom. This study intended to examine the applicability of DASH in occupational health field. Firstly, DASH development process and composition were reviewed through The DASH outcome measure user's manual and early articles. Secondly, reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the DASH in various languages at the application stage as well as its reliability and validity at the early stage of development were investigated. Thirdly, focusing on the application of DASH to clinical cases, workers with musculoskeletal symptoms, healthy workers, workers with other diseases, and general population were discussed besides workers with major musculoskeletal disorders. Lastly, DASH questionnaire was examined for its potential as a reference for assessing the functional impairment in the movement of upper extremities of workers with musculoskeletal symptoms in industrial workers in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess excavator drivers in order to determine the proportion showing subjective symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders and to evaluate the association between the symptoms and characteristics of the subjects. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the information on participants' age, average working hours per day, duration of career (years), work-related musculoskeletal symptoms, and more. The final dataset included 141 excavator drivers. Frequency and percentage were summarized and then the associations between the characteristics of the subjects and symptoms were evaluated as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Seventy-six percent of the currently reported musculoskeletal symptoms. Those who have musculoskeletal symptoms attributed their symptoms to unstable posture at work, mental stress or vibrations. There was a significant association between symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders and career of excavator drivers (P for trend=0.04). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders may be high among excavator drivers and warrants well-designed studies on work-related disorders among excavator drivers.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.125-133
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• 2016

Objective: The aim of this study is to figure out the level of Functional Movement Screen (FMS) of 122 automobile manufacturing workers and to set the FMS score for predicting risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Background: Although today's industrial sites have been becoming automated rapidly, the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have been on the rise. In the case of WMSDs, it is important to control WMSDs at the early stage. Early detection of WMSDs is very important for the successful treatment. However, the medical examination puts a great financial burden on most workers. To reduce their burden, there is one test to check the musculoskeletal functional condition and to predict the risk of injury, which is called FMS. Method: This research tested the FMS score of 122 workers at a motor company, and also conducted a questionnaire survey of individual characteristics and job characteristics. Results: For the 122 subjects, the average score of FMS is $14.63{\pm}2.27$. There is a negative correlation between FMS and their ages and BMI (p <0.05). FMS is higher when exercising regularly (p <0.05). The FMS scores of musculoskeletal disorder patients are lower than those of normal workers (p <0.05). While it is more likely to become a musculoskeletal disorder patient when FMS score is less than 14, it is more likely to become a normal worker when FMS score is more than or equal to 14. Conclusion: According to the result of FMS test, there is a score difference between individuals with musculoskeletal disorders and normal ones. FMS scores can also predict and identify workers with risk of the musculoskeletal disorders. Application: According to this study, FMS can be expected to have a positive effect on the prevention of WMSDs in worksites.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.63-72
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomic risk factors for workers of printing business. A self-reporting survey and task analysis using video camera were performed to identify ergonomic risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders. We used the OWAS, RULA, and REBA methods to quantify the risk factors, and the results show that the printing business have high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2020

Recently, the increase in the elderly population due to an aging society has led to a relative increase in senile diseases such as vascular dementia or Alzheimer's disease, and the social burden for rehabilitation has increased. In addition, studies have been conducted for the risk assessment and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this study is to suggest a system that can be used to help with dementia prevention training by tracking the movement of motion and virtual reality contents for the risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders of the elderly. We propose a training method for preventing dementia through musculoskeletal motion analysis algorithm and virtual reality content. Through motion recognition algorithm based on motion region design, we will track and analyze the moving radius of the target joint. The purpose of this study is to calculate and evaluate scores based on the time to accomplish the goals on virtual reality contents for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and the support of dementia prevention training, and the degree of difficulty, and to analyze the correlation between the results of performing K-MMSE and VR contents.

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2009.04a
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• pp.69-78
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• 2009

The goal of this study is to propose the effective method of investigating the injurious factors and making improved plans that prevents the workers against musculoskeletal disorders at an autoparts company and the same business field with similar working conditions and process. A questionnaire were adopted to analyze the symptoms of workers' musculoskeletal disorders, and an ergonomic assessment method such as RULA, OWAS were performed to find out harmful factors of workplace and working posture. Based on the result of the evaluation, to enhance the working environment, improvement of worktable, working space, tools, and outfit was suggested, and induction of mechanical system was also suggested. It can be concluded that the method and process described in this paper could be helpful for diagnosing the musculoskeletal disorders and making improvement plans to the autopart company and the same business field with similar working conditions and process.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.131-138
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in requirement and activity related to workers' health promotion according to business type and enterprise size. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data extracted from a survey on the Enterprise Health Promotion Index. For the present analysis, 7,784 companies were selected. Results: Requirements for lifestyle management and activities to prevent musculoskeletal disorders were the highest. The requirement and activity of musculoskeletal disorders and cerebrovascular disease were high in the manufacturing industry. Meanwhile, in the non-manufacturing industry, the requirement and activity of job stress management were high. Small-sized companies had a high requirement to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and cerebrovascular disease. Conclusion: Government support should be strengthened in workers' lifestyle management. Additionally, workers' health promotion in small-sized companies needs to focus on preventing musculoskeletal disorders and cerebrovascular disease.