Affiliations: Département des relations industrielles,
GIROST, Université Laval, Québec, Canada | Department of Public Health Sciences, Social Medicine,
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden | Département de médecine sociale et
préventive, Groupe de recherche en épidémiologie, GIROST,
Université Laval, Québec, Canada | CNRS – Laboratoire G. Friedman; CNAM –
Laboratoire d'ergonomie, Paris, France
Abstract: Objective: The goal of this article is to better understand how
preventive measures are undertaken after training. It examines how certain
variables, such as musculoskeletal pain, participant age and workstation and
work content characteristics influence the reduction of postural constraints
after office employees working with a computer have received ergonomics
training. Methods: A pre-test/post-test design was used. The 207 female
office workers were given 6 hours of ergonomics training. The variables were
determined using a self-administered questionnaire and an observation grid
filled out 2 weeks before and 6 months after the training session. The FAC and
HAC were used in the data processing. Results: The presence or absence of musculoskeletal pain had
no statistically significant influence on whether or not postural constraints
were eliminated. The age of the participants and the possibility of adjusting
the workstation characteristics and work content produced differentiated
results with regard to postural constraint reduction. We concluded that trained
people succeed in taking relevant and effective measures to reduce the postural
constraints found in VDUs. However other measures than work station adjustments
lead to this prevention and such training must be strongly supported by the
various hierarchical levels of an enterprise or an institution.
