An Analysis of Grip Strength of Heavy Industry Workers

Objective: The purpose of this research is to identify various variables affecting grip strength targeting 327 workers at Heavy Industries and is to find out the impacts of grip strength on WMSDs. Background: The WMSDs are known to occur more in upper extremity than lower extremity, and such a ratio is increasing each year. The motions or repeated work requiring excessive strength beyond worker’s maximum grip strength were known as a major cause of the WMSDs in upper extremity. To prevent the WMSDs in upper extremity, research on the grip strength characteristics analysis of field workers that can be used as basic data for work design and manual tool design is needed. Method: This research measured the grip strength of 327 field workers at Heavy Industries, and also conducted a questionnaire survey on individual characteristics and job characteristics. Results: As a result of analyzing grip strength, the grip strength was statistically significant (P<0.1), according to the body surface area (BSA) of the research subjects. The differences between percentile groups of grip strength were statistically significant (P<0.1) according to pain levels of hand/wrist/finger and arm/elbow. The comparison results between the average grip strength of Korean adult males and the average grip strength of the survey-targeted heavy industry workers show that the average grip strength of the heavy industry workers was higher by 9.75kg. Conclusion: This research analyzed relationship between grip strength and the pain levels of hand/wrist/finger and arm/elbow, and compared the findings in this study with those of existing preceding studies. Also, this research comparatively analyzed the grip strength of Korean adult males and survey-targeted heavy industry workers. Application: The findings of this research can be used as useful data for ergonomic work design and manual tool design to prevent WMSDs at industrial worksites, given that almost no data on the grip strength of workers in the industrial sites are found in Korea.