Short and long-term effects of a training programme on work postures in rehabilitees: A pilot study of loggers suffering from back troubles

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Abstract

Work stress caused by motor-manual logging and leading to health hazards is linked with strenuous work postures. Thus 40% of forestry workers' disability pensions granted in Finland in 1986 were due to diseases of the musculo-skeletal system and 18% of accidental injuries were caused by physical exertion. Examinations are made here of work postures immediately before and after two rehabilitation courses to teach better work postures, together with a follow-up assessment four years later. The participants were male loggers aged under 40 years who had a low back pain episode within the previous three years. Classification of postures using the OWAS system showed that the rehabilitation participants had learned the new work techniques and used them both immediately after the course and four years later. OWAS is quantitative and is easy to use at real work sites, e.g., when evaluating the effects of instruction.

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