Track: Human Factors and Ergonomics

Abstract

Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) work-related represent one of the most common occupational diseases that affect large numbers of industrial workers. The aim of the study is to identify relevant risk factors associated with the existence of musculoskeletal discomfort or pain, according to the affected body part. A transverse field study was conducted, on a sample of 174 workers of three Venezuelan meat-processing industries. The standardized Nordic questionnaire was used for the identification of MSDs and the data mining methods CfsSubsetEval y ConsistencySubsetEval were used for the selection of the relevant factors, which are available in Weka. A MSDs prevalence of 77% was found; excels the shoulders (49.4%) and back (47.1%) as the body parts that affect most workers. The factors that presented the greatest correspondence with the discomforts of the shoulders are postural overload, repeatability, psychosocial demands and time working in the same task. In the case of the discomforts of back, the factors selected are postural overload, lifting of loads, pushing or pulling loads, low social support and the medical history. The multifactorial etiology of MSDs was confirmed.