Shoulder and neck movement evaluation in electricians during occupational activities

Abstract

Electricians and line workers are exposed to postural workload during their occupational activities. Despite that, there is no study quantifying posture exposure in the available literature by direct measurements at the workplace for this population. For this purpose, three main studies are proposed: to assess musculoskeletal symptoms and the main line worker activities (Study 1); to quantify line workers (Study 2) and construction electricians (Study 3) exposure to biomechanics risk factors for neck and upper arms using inclinometers during occupational activities. Methods: Study 1: thirty line workers from an electrical energy distribution company will be evaluated regarding the presence of musculoskeletal symptoms. Also, the main occupational risks presented at the line workers activities will be identified by systematic observations and video recordings. In the Study 2 and 3, 12 line workers and 12 electricians, respectively, will participate. The postures and movements of these workers will be registered by inclinometers at the workplace. For safety reasons the activities of the line workers (Study 2) will be performed at a technological center, in which the line workers occupational environment is reproduced without energized power lines. The construction electricians movements (Study 3) will be recorded during all day of regular work. Four inclinometers will be calibrated and fixed at the head, upper back, right and left upper arms for movement recordings (frequency of 20 Hz). Data analyses: The line worker symptoms and risks (Study 1) will be analyzed descriptively. Posture and movement exposures (Studies 2 and 3) will be also analyzed descriptively by distribution percentiles of postures (0) and movements (0/sec) for neck flexion/extension and right and left upper arms elevations. Fraction of time spent in angular ranges during the occupational activities will also be presented. Appropriated statistical tests will be defined latter on to assess the data. Two scientific collaborations give support for this project: a national partnership of mutual co-operation was signed between the Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz (CPFL-Energia) and the UFSCar- Laboratory of Preventative Physical Therapy and Ergonomic of the Physical Therapy Department of UFSCar; and an international collaboration with Lund University, Sweden, through Dr.Gert-Åke Hansson. Dr. Hansson has been working on movement recordings in occupational field, and has also evaluated construction electricians using the same methods we describe here in Sweden and Norwegian. Thus, hopefully the results from this project will contribute to the knowledge about risk factors present at electricians work, that revealed to have high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms. On the other way, this project will also contribute for the human resource training and will provide an input in the physical resources for the Laboratory of Preventative Physical Therapy and Ergonomics of UFSCar.This project has been submitted to Fapesp for a PhD scholarship and for financial suport, simultaneously. (AU)