Mechanical stress.
This chapter discusses mechanical stressors that are believed to be associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. It starts with an introduction to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (particularly those with high incidences in workplaces, such as disorders of low back, neck/shoulder, hand/wrist, elbow, and knee) in high-risk industries, and those mechanical stressors (such as high forces, awkward postures, high repetitions, excessive contact stress, and harmful human vibrations) in workplaces that are responsible for these disorders. Quantification methods of these mechanical stressors are then discussed. Although various quantification methods such as self-report, observational technique, and direct measurement are discussed, details are focused on many of those well-published observational techniques used by practitioners to assess risk levels of these mechanical stressors in jobs. These methods can quantify job mechanical stressors and provide risk level indications that can be used by practitioners to facilitate their decision making. These methods can also be used to evaluate the improvements of ergonomics interventions by comparing the risk levels quantitatively before and after the interventions.
['Bao|Stephen|S|']
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena D006801:Humans D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases D009784:Occupational Diseases D012307:Risk Factors D013314:Stress, Mechanical
work-related musculoskeletal disorders human vibration biomechanical risk factors hand-intensive jobs job evaluation method manual material handling participatory ergonomics physical exposure quantification physical workload assessment