40 F is io te ra p ie , J u n ie 1983, d e e l 39, n r 2 AN INVESTIGATION OF ON-DUTY INJURIES IN INDUSTRY AND THEIR RELATION TO THE WORKING SITUATIONf R. W. T W O R E C K * In pr es en t- da y ind ustry, with its co mp le x m ach in ery , an d in certain areas, h a r d physical work , injuries a n d strains are c o m m o n p l a c e a m o n g work ers. T hi s leads t o a loss o f m an - ho ur s, p r o d u c ti o n loss, c o m p e n s a ti o n requests a n d in the long ru n an “ u n h e a l t h y ” w o r k in g climate. T o pr event these injuries a n d stra ins w oul d be beneficial for all concerned. T he f u nc tio n o f a ph y si o t h er a p i st in in du str y e nc om pas se s fo u r areas: pr eventative, cu rative, rehabilitative a n d ed u cat iv e care. C u ri n g on the spot could mean fu rt her re d u ct io n of loss o f m an -h ou r s . Over on e- hal f of all indu strial injuries are directly re lated to p o s t u r e a nd body- mechanics a n d the incidence is still increasing pa rti cu la rly with regard to ba ck injuries (statistical re cords of the N a t io n a l O c c u p a t io n a l Safety Association). T hi s project was a im e d at investigating the incidence a n d types o f sh o r t - t er m , mu sculo-skeletal injuries which were sus tai ned between M a y 1981 a n d M a y 1982 in a specific S o u t h Afri can ind ustry. It was fu r t h e r h o pe d to d e te rm in e w h e th er p hy sio th era pi sts c ou ld fulfill a useful role in the e r go no m ic aspect in this field a n d if so, fu rt h e r research in this area woul d be indicated. A study was c on d u c t e d a t a factory responsible for p a c k a g in g a n d labelling in the C a p e Peninsula. T hi s ind ustry is divided into sections, dif ferent types o f w o rk being d on e in each section. T h e st a f f consisted of 883 w or ke rs o f all race gr oup s. T h e i n f o r m a t io n on work injuries w a s o b t a i n e d from the per son nel files in the surgery. Persons w h o had suffered from sh or t- te r m mu sc ulo-skeletal injuries were interviewed to de te r m i n e the m ech an is m o f injury. At the sa m e time the wor ke rs were ob served for faults in p os t u r a l ha bits and kinetic ha nd lin g. In the table the following are recorded: • the d e p a r t m e n t s with the total n u m b e r o f people work in g there. • the n u m b e r o f injured cases o f the selected g r o u p in each d e p a r t m e n t . • the n u m b e r o f injuries in each d e p ar t m e n t . Th es e statistics d e m o n s t r a t e relatively serious sh or t- ter m musc ulo-s kele tal injuries (i.e. serious e n o u g h t o s e e k medical help) su ff er ed in the cour se of the year. O f the 883 w o rk e rs in the fa cto ry 19,25% were affected. A c c o r d i n g to the ratio be tween the n u m b e r o f injuries a n d n u m b e r o f people in each d e p a r t m e n t , the f o ur d e p a r t m e n t s with the highest a cc ide nt rate were th en selected for closer in vestigation. Thes e d e p a r t m e n t s were: • L it h o g r a p h y • Binding • Sort in g • Breaki ng out. Table 1 D e p a r t m e n t L ith o gr a ph y So rt in g Box C a r to n Stores Ph o t o - l it h o Delivery a n d tr a n s p o r t Gl ue ing A d m i n is tr a t io n Engineers Br eaking o u t Sheeters Binding De sp a tc h Surgery Ot h e rs % ca lc u la te d as follows: No. o f people in dept No. o f individuals in selected gr ou ps % 1 No. o f injuries in dept % 11 143 50 35 93 33,3 99 18 18,2 27 9.7 43 8 18,6 13 4.7 71 4 5.6 6 0,2 21 4 19 8 2.9 33 4 12,1 6 2,2 31 7 22,6 8 2,9 55 14 25.5 21 7.5 131 4 3,1 7 2.5 49 2 4,1 2 0.7 45 13 28,9 17 6,1 16 3 (8,8 3 1.1 98 34 34,7 59 21.1 20 4 20 7 2,5 2 1 50 1 0,4 26 0 0 0 0 No . o f in div id ua ls in selected g r o u p _______________ x 100_______________ No. o f people in d e p a r t m e n t No. o f injuries in d e p a r t m e n t x 100 T o ta l no. o f injuries ■[Abstract o f project c o m p le te d a s cour se r e qu ire me nt . *Final year B.Sc. (P h y s io t h e r ap y ) st u d e n t at the University o f Stellenbsch. Received 30 M a r c h 1983. 1 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. ) P h y s io th e ra p y , J u n e 1983, v o l 39, n o 2 41 Table 2 Di ag nos es L u m b a r back pain S h o u l d e r inju ry H a n d inju ry Ne ck pain T h o r a c ic pain Kn e e injury Muscle injury A n k l e injury Fr e qu e n cy Mean d a y loss T ot a l da- 239 2,4 581' 17 1,5 25 8 0 0 5 3,8 19 5 2 10 2 2,5 5 2 0 0 I 0 0 T h e types o f muscu lo- sk ele ta l injuries which o c cu rr e d in the time spa n o f on e year are listed in T ab le 2. T hey rang ed from low ba ck pain to ank le injuries. T h e highest % o f the tota l n u m b e r o f injuries was low back pa in (LBP), 85,7%. T h e d a t a in T a b l e 2 also sh o w th at this injury h a d a significant to tal loss o f 5 8 1 w o r k i n g day s c o m p a r e d to s h o u l d e r injuries with a total d a y loss o f 25 w o r k i n g days. Me c ha ni sm Back a n d hip be nd ing w ith k n e e s stra ig h t T u r n while co mi ng upright L ea n in g fo rw a rd Lifting, h a m m e ri n g a n d b en din g St a n d in g Pulling Fa lling b a c k w a r d s Be nd ing fo r w a rd s C o n t a c t Push ing Sitting a n d tu rn in g U n k n o w n T o ta l Table 3. No. o f injury 147 25 21 14 5 4 4 4 1 I I ___5 238 % o f total no. o f ba ck injuries 61,8 10.5 5,9 2,1 1.7 1.7 1.7 0.4 0,4 0,4 2,1 T h e m ec ha n ism s o f injury, resulting in LBP were e v al u a t e d (T ab le 3). It is o bv io u s th at most injuries were the result of p o o r kinetic handling. T hi s is by no m ean s a co m pl e te recor d o f all the back pr o b l em s in the factory. Several w o r k e r s ac c ep te d their back pain as a m in o r p r o b l e m a n d n o r m a l occu rren ce, a n d did not t h in k it necessary to seek medical help a n d advice. O f the sh o r t term musc ulo-s kele tal injuries LBP was the most significant, a c c o r d in g t o the n u m b e r o f injuries (293) a nd tota l loss o f w o r k in g days (581). T h is c o u ld be att r i b u te d t o p o o r kinetic habits, which in clu de d w r o n g m et h o ds of bend ing, a n d lifting, sitting a n d s t a n d in g for long u n i n te r r u p t e d pe rio ds o f time. T h e c o m b i n a ti o n o f heavy physical wo rk a n d an increase in w o r k load d u r i n g seasonal peaks sh o w ed a high increase in accident ra te which ad versely affected the w or k l oad to be done. This mea ns that the re m a in i n g wo r k e r s h a d m o r e w o r k to cover. This again c ou ld cause increased stress to the limits o f w o r k e r s ’ c apa cit y, leading to m o r e injuries. T hi s vicious cycle results in decre as ed pro du cti v ity du ri ng peak seasons. App li ca tio n o f e r go n om ic s is justified by the high incidence o f back injuries. T h e p h y s i o t h e r a p i s t ’s kn owle dge c o u ld enab le her to give advice to en gineers a n d work ers. It would be a dvi sa bl e to m ak e m a n a g e m e n t a nd w o rk e rs more aw ar e o f the act ual m a g n i t u d e o f the p r o b le m a n d st imulate fu r th er efforts t o e ns u r e the safety a n d health o f workers. M O B IL ISA T IO N SLIDE-TA PE PRO GR AM M ES Seventeen sli de-tape p r o g r a m m e s on M ob il isa ti on of Jo i n t s by G r e g o r y Gri eve, r eco rd ed on s t a n d a r d a u d io t a p e cassettes a n d illustrated by full-frame 3 5m m trans par en cie s. F o r fu r t h e r details co n ta ct : G r a v e s Me dica l A u di ov is u a l Lib ra ry , Hol ly H o us e, 220 New L o n d o n R o a d , Ch e lm sfo rd , Essex, C M 2 9BJ, UK. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )