Ergonomic Evaluation of the Risk Factors of Musculoskeletal Disorders Using Quick Exposure Check (QEC) Method among Staff of a Oil Refinery in Iran

Musculoskeletal Disorders occur due to either an immediate and acute trauma to the musculoskeletal system or frequent trauma over time. This study has been conducted to evaluate work-related musculoskeletal disorders by Quick Exposure Check (QEC) and identification of its risk factors in staffs of one of Tehran refineries in 2013.

In this analytical and descriptive cross-sectional study, nine units in the central workshop and repair (maintenance) workshop of the selected refinery were selected and all 86 staffs of those units were included. The general Nordic questionnaire and QEC method was used.

Mean age, job experience and body mass index of participants were respectively 36.31± 9.2 years, 8.86±7.5 years and 25.92± 3.5kg/m2. Among all, 69.8% reported at least one work-related musculoskeletal disorder in the last 12 months. The most common disorder was in the lumbar area (47.7%). Moreover, 44.1% of job groups were in the 3rd and 4th level of priority for corrective interventions, based on the QEC method. There was a significant relation between total QEC score and type of job (P value= 0.001).

The results of this study showed the high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in more than half of the workers. The highest incidence of disorders was in the lumbar area.