Study of the working postures of nurses and laboratory technicians by REBA method at a hospital in Tabriz

The work conditions of nurses and laboratory technicians can lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of the present study was to study the working conditions of nurses in internal and surgical wards and laboratory technicians in a hospital. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study which was conducted in a hospital in Tabriz in 2016. Thirty-two nurses and 20 laboratory technicians were participated in the study. The Nordic questionnaire and REBA method with a new scoring algorithm were used for ergonomic evaluation. For each occupation, the scores of upper body, upper quadrant, lower body, and the percentage of work-time spent with high-strain postures were calculated. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. The musculoskeletal disorders in neck(63.5%) and waist(55.8%) were prevalent. The mean scores of upper body, upper quadrant, and lower body were 8.16, 11.01, and 9.59, respectively. Only the score of lower body was statistically different among three occupational groups due to the difference in the score of the lower body of technicians with nurses. Internal nurses in 11% of and laboratory technicians in 8% of their work shift worked with high-strain postures of upper and lower body, respectively. The REBA method was easily accomplished in the workplace of nurses and laboratory technicians. The internal nurses experience more biomechanical stress than general surgery nurses, especially in upper body. To reduce the high strain postures, the implementation of ergonomic interventions are recommended to improve the postures of upper body of nurses and lower body of laboratory technicians.