Assessment of the relationship of the risk of subjective work load to musculoskeletal disorders in bank staff in Kurdistan Province

Subjective workload (SWL) is a general concept in ergonomics literature. SWL is defined as the costs to the operator's health to achieve a certain level of performance. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of SWL for musculoskeletal disorders in bank employees in Kurdistan Province. This analytical - descriptive study included 200 employees from the banks of Kurdistan Province. NASA-TLX software and general Nordic questionnaire were used for the assessment of subjective work load and the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders respectively. Statistical analysis was performed by means of SPSS19. 78% of the subjects were male and 22% were female. The mean age and mean work background of the subjects were 36.28 and 14.2 years, respectively. On the whole, 48% of the staff had experienced pain at least once during the past year with highest frequency in the neck (48%), lower back (44%), and upper back (36%). The NASA Index showed that the bank staffs have scored the effort scale and efficiency scale with respective mean values and SD of 72.8±25.3 and 36.0±22.6, as the maximum and minimum values among the various aspects of workload. Data analysis revealed that mean subjective workload had statistically significant relationships with matrimony, work background, and also with prevalence and experience of pain (P=0.0001). The rate of subjective workload and musculoskeletal disorders in bank staff are high to the same degree and it seems that subjective workload scales not only add to the subjective workload but also act as a risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders.