The Relation Between Safety Climate and Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Employees in Manufacturing Companies in Urmia

Employee health is one of the important factors in organizational success, and the lack of coordinated use of ergonomic principles and the safety climate in designing suitable work systems in organizations can increase the risk of occupational and work-related injuries. This study aimed to investigate the relation between safety climate and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among employees in manufacturing companies in Urmia County.

The participants were 359 employees working in manufacturing companies. The data were collected using the Safety Climate Scale and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and the chi-square test.

In the present study, the most and least frequent MSDs were reported by the participants in the neck and elbow, respectively. Safety management methods obtained the highest score (3.88±0.71) and employee participation and training obtained the lowest score (3.42±0.81). The findings also showed that the participants who gained a higher safety climate score reported a lower prevalence of MSDs in the neck, hand, wrist, upper and lower back areas, and one or both thighs.

Safety climate is one of the important factors affecting the prevalence of MSDs. Thus, managers of manufacturing companies should constantly try to improve the safety climate in the workplace to contribute to reducing occupational injuries, especially MSDs.