Assessment of risk factors related to sick leave among assembly workers in car manufacturing

Work related musculo-skeletal disorders are major problems in most of industries which can affect production rate and impose direct and indirect costs. The aim of the present study was to assess risk factors causing sick leave in a car manufacturing. In this cross sectional study, a total of 234 assembly workers were included. Data were recorded using the ergonomics risk assessment checklists and personal information questionnaires. Statistical analsyis was performed using SPSS ver.16 software and chi-square, Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used. The reults showed that the Mean (±SD) of worker’s sick leave in one year prior to the study was 7.5 (±9.5) days. Low back pain was the most prevalent cause of workers’s seak leave. No significant association was found between sick leave and some factors including body posture, manual material handling tasks, and force and power grip. Among the personal factors, age and smoking habits were singnicantly associated with sick leave (p<0.05). This study emphasized that more attention should be paid on ergonomic proplems among assembley workers and ergonomic interventions such as work stations redesign should be considered.