Development of a Group-Based Ergonomic Assessment Strategy for Characterizing Physical Workload in Healthcare Workers

Musculoskeletal disorders of the back are a widespread problem in the healthcare sector and have been associated with trunk bending, twisting, and manual handling. The objective of this study was to conduct a group-based exposure assessment of trunk postures, loads, and work activities for use in epidemiology studies of back disorders in healthcare workers. All job titles in 4 healthcare facilities were assigned to a-priori ergonomic exposure groups to guide the sampling protocol. Ergonomic exposures were collected through direct observation of a population subset (n=180), in 94 job titles, at 90-second intervals, using a modification of the PATH method. A total of 23,071 direct observations were collected over 225 observation periods (1–8hrs). Exposures were analyzed by job groups and group exposures were ranked by their location relative to underlying distributions. A final set of 8 similar exposure groups were produced through combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The semi-quantitative group ranks explained postural and load handling exposure profiles in nursing home and hospital workers.