A Cross-sectional Study of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Construction Workers in Bangladesh

Abstract

The construction activities are closely associated with many occupational injuries. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are the most common occupational injuries faced by construction workers. WMSDs refer to a set of painful illnesses of human body muscles, tendons, nerves, ligaments, joints, etc. The construction workers also face injuries from the work site accidents. Most of the accident occurs in the construction site by falling objects on the worker’s body, workers fall from the height, electrocution, etc.. The workers feel pain in different body parts, sometimes become partial or permanent disable due to worksite accidents. There are many factors associated with the occupational injuries. Different researchers from different countries have studied the work-related musculoskeletal disorders of construction workers. As far, I know, no researchers have studied these types of disorders on Bangladeshi construction workers. Keeping this view in mind, the study investigated the work-related musculoskeletal disorders and accidental injuries among the Bangladeshi construction workers. This study also tried to find out the factors associated with Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was conducted through a structured and Modified Nordic Questionnaire. The structured questionnaire contained the socio-demographic characteristics, the physical risk factors, environmental risk factors, and the equipment risk factors. The Modified-Standardized Nordic Questionnaire (MNDQ) is used to identify the musculoskeletal pains on different body parts over the previous year. All the questionnaires were two categories as an open-end and yes/no. In this study, a total of 450 (362 males and 88 females) construction workers aged between 18 to 65 years old were taken from the different construction sites at Jashore, Khulna and Satkhira, Bangladesh. Their main activities were mixing sand and cement, ironwork, lifting and carrying mortar, bricklaying, plastering, concrete laying and tiles fitting. The results found that overall 70.2% of workers reported that they had suffered at least one body part injury over the last 12 months. Among the nine body parts, lower back (49.80%) was the highest suffered body part and a thigh (9.60%) was the lowest suffered part. It is found the occurrences of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) were associated with socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, age, work experiences, working time, and working types. To minimize the work-related musculoskeletal disorders workers suggested to provide safety aid (26.70%), provide proper training and education (19.50%), to design hand tools in ergonomically (24.90%), ensuring good working environment (26.40%), and proper use of the personal protective equipment (21.80%). Most of the workers (32.20%) did not specify how to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

About 60.70% of the participant experienced with accidents during their work in the construction site. Most of the accidents occurred by the falling objects on the worker’s body (19.10%), workers fall from the height (25.30%), electrocution (3.30%) respectively. Based on the data most of the workers (29.80%) injured in different body regions due to the worksite accidents. The workers also identified the causes of accidents such as personal negligence, lack of work experience, improper use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), absence of a good working environment, the overload of work, and lack of safety facilities. Above allcauses, the lack of safety facilities (42.80%) reported as the highest reason behind the accidents. It is found from this study that the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and accidental injuries among the Bangladeshi construction workers are high. Finally, the author had made some recommendations for both workers and management of the construction sites.