A health impact assessment of a preventive measure to reduce the risk of work-related low back pain, lumbosacral radiculopathy and knee osteoarthritis among construction workers in the Netherlands

Introduction:Worldwide the construction industry is characterized
by high physical work demands and prevalent work-related
musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The two body regions with the
highest one-year prevalence are the low back (51%, 95%CI 41-61)
and the knee (37%, 95%CI 22-52). A job were workers are exposed
to high physical work demands that are established risk factors for these complaints are floor layers. To prevent these complaints, a
manual moved machine (MMM) was introduced to reduce the
exposure to kneeling and bending of the back for floor layers in the
Netherlands. The aim of this paper is to estimate the potential
health gain of the MMM in preventing low back pain (LBP),
lumbosacral radicular syndrome (LRS) and knee osteoarthritis
(KOA) compared to the traditional working technique.
Materials and Methods: The potential health gain was assessed
using the Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) and the Potential
Impact Fraction (PIF). For LBP and LRS, the exposure limit was set at
working 30 minutes per day with the back>40 degrees flexed with a
corresponding OR=1.7 and 2.4, respectively. For KOA this was
kneeling 60 minutes per day with an OR=1.7. The percentage of
workers exceeding these thresholds was based on worksite observations
among 18 floor layers.
Results: For LBP, 9/10 workers were at risk using the traditional
working technique with PAF=38%, and for MMM this was 6/10 with
a PIF=13%. For LRS, these data were 9/10 with PAF=55% and 6/10
with PIF=18% and for KOA, 8/10 with PAF=35% and 2/10 with
PIF=26%.
Conclusions: A MMM might have a significant impact on the prevention
of LBP, LRS and KOA among floor layers.