Development and Evaluation of a Questionnaire to Document Worker Exposures to Mechanical Loading at a Workplace Level

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS Despite many biomechanical risk factors being clearly linked to the development of musculoskeletal disorders, little measurement of the prevalence of physical loads in workplaces is being conducted. Through a collaborative partnership with unions, a health and safety organization, and researchers, this project developed and tested a questionnaire to document exposures to physical workloads in workplaces. Surveys were first completed independently by two members of each organization's joint health and safety committee. The same survey was later completed collectively to arrive at a consensus between the two members. Results of the surveys were then compared to findings from a walk-through conducted by an ergonomist. Substantial to excellent agreement was found between the identification and assessment of exposure levels to 26 types of physical loading by the ergonomist and workplace. Such a survey could be an efficient technique to characterize the loads to which workers are expos...