ergonomics-human-factors-2018-scientifictracks

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Ergonomics & Human factors 2018 Archives of Medicine
ISSN: 1989-5216 Page 25
July 26-27, 2018
Rome, Italy
1 st Edition of International Conference on
Ergonomics &
Human Factors
Construction tasks are diverse, containing many weight
handling duties. Bricklayer-assistant’s work is one of the
most demanding jobs in this respect. This job has a poor
record of occupational health, in particular with regard to
WMSDs (Valero, 2016). At the work site, the most demanding
tasks for the assistant, in terms of physical work are: manual
lifting, transportation and carrying of materials and pushing/
pulling wheelbarrows for more than four hours every working
day (van der Molen et al., 2017). Construction workers are
exposed to a wide variety of health hazards at work (Alazab,
2004). Working in the construction industry typically requires
awkward postures, heavy lifting, and considerable exertion.
Many workers performing such tasks complain of discomfort
in their upper extremities and lower back over the course of a
workday (Buchholz et al., 1996; Jeong, 1998; Hoozemans et al.,
2001; Davis et al., 2010). Several studies identified that there is
a relationship between awkward postures and pain symptoms
and injuries in the musculoskeletal system (Grandjean and
Hunting, 1977; Corlett and Manenica, 1980; Westgaard and
Aar, 1984; Haslegrave, 1994). WMSDs represent major health
issues for construction workers yet risk factors associated
with repetitive lifting tasks remain unexplored (Antwi, 2017).
This job is more labor-intensive compared to other industries.
Over long periods of time, this sustained physical labor causes
bodily injuries to the workers which in turn, conveys huge
losses to the industry in terms of money, time, and productivity.
Various safety and health organizations have established rules
and regulations that limit the amount and intensity of workers’
physical movements to mitigate work-related bodily injuries
(Nath, 2017). Awkward postures in construction activities pose
substantial hazards in both instantaneous injuries and long-
term WMSDs (Chen, 2017). According to official figures, the
declared workforce in the building and construction sector in
Algeria counts for 19.9% of the total active workforce in 2013
(ONS, 2013). But these figures should be taken with some
reserve, they might be much higher, as undeclared workforce
(informal employment) is a widespread practice in this sector of
activity (Mebarki, et al., 2015). According to the Algerian Office
of Statistics (ONS, 2012, p.11), 3.9 million Algerians out of 9.7
million of the employed population are working in the informal,
37.4 % of them are in the building and construction industry.
The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of
weight lifting during mortar’s preparation tasks in bricklayer’s
assistants’ job. Through the determination of lifting index (LI),
and physical workload imposed by mortar preparation tasks.
The data were collected from a sample of seventy-three (73)
assistant-bricklayers, their demographic characteristics were
as follows: average age of 35.8 (± 9.2) years, mean weight of
72.7 (± 4.3kg), mean height of 171.4 (± 4.0cm), and a seniority
in the profession ranging from 02 to 26 years With an average
of 7.4 (± 5.0 years). To assess the variables of the study
the following tools were used: (1) direct observation, video
recording, (2), the method of National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Ergo-Fellow software to
assess the maximum permissible weight lift, beside (3) the
scales of Borg RPE and CR10. Assessment of the physical
workload of tasks showed that the steps involving the cement
mortar preparation involved a physical load for the sample
studied. The results of the assessment of the difficulty of
work (The painfulness) by the Borg scales during the morning
and evening work periods showed no statistically significant
differences between the two work periods in the different
regions of the body. However, maximal values were observed
for all workers in the lower back during the two periods of the
day, with a 50% equivalent effort, and 48.8% in the evening
to the maximum voluntary force (FMV). The results of the
NIOSH method gives a lifting value LI = 11.11, exceeding the
value allowed for lifting by nearly 4 times. In order to alleviate
occupational hazards and reduce physical workload imposed
by improper task/job design, appropriate recommendations
are put forward.
Bricklayer-assistants work analysis: weight lifting risks
in mortar’s preparation tasks
Argoub Mohammed1 and Mebarki Bouhafs2
1IBN Khaldoune University & University of Oran 2, Algeria
2University of Oran, Algeria
Argoub Mohammed et al., Arch Med 2018, Volume 10
DOI: 10.21767/1989-5216-C1-002