Working postures of employees and its ergonomic implications in a University setting

Abstract

This study assessed the risk of back and neck pain and its ergonomic implications on workers in a University setting in South Africa. The designs for this study were both cross-sectional descriptive survey and observational study. A total of 53 academic and administrative employees participated in this study. The mean age ± SD of participants was 46.45±8.31. The minimum age was 32 and maximum was 64 years old. About 71% of the female participants were at a high risk of sustaining back injuries. There was however no significant association between gender of participant and risk of sustaining back injury (p= 0.87). Administrators recorded the highest level of high risk of sustaining back injury, while lectures reported the highest level of medium risk of sustaining back pain at work. About 53% of respondent fall within the medium level of risk, another 26% were within the high level of risk. Administrators presented within the highest risk level of 41.2% in sustaining back injury. There was also no significant relationship between jobs and risk of sustaining back injuries (p=0.382). More females presented with medium to high risk of sustaining back injuries. Overall, the risk of sustaining back and neck pain amongst university employees was found to be medium to high. Gender was found to have no significant influence on the risk of sustaining back and neck injuries. Low back pain was also found to be common across the jobs, with adminstrators presenting higher risk by disciplines.