Leila Gheibi, Mohammad Ranjbarian, Hossein Hatami, Soheila Khodakarim,
Volume 3, Issue 2 (9-2015)
Introduction: Unsuitable and
nonstandard tools, insufficient lighting and the lack of adequate rest in
carpet weavers leads to an increased prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in
this group of workers that needs to be reduced through the better supervision
of carpet weaving workshops.
Materials and Methods: The present
descriptive cross-sectional analysis was conducted in rural carpet weaving
workshops of Takab, Iran. A total of 86 carpet weaving workshops were selected
through cluster sampling, which employed 222 carpet weavers overall. The
general and local lighting was measured in the workshops by a photometer (LX-13
model) and the workers' musculoskeletal disorders were assessed using the
Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire.
Findings: The results of the
study reveal back disorders to have been the most (61.3%) and elbow disorder
the least (7.2%) frequent among carpet weavers. The majority of the workshops
had a general lighting (82.4% of the workshops) and local lighting (91.9% of
the workshops) below the recommended limits.
Conclusion: The extended
involvement of the upper limbs in carpet-weaving increases the prevalence of
disorders in these organs. The results indicate that the majority of carpet
weavers worked in workshops with non-standard lighting. The variables that were
most effective in the development of neck and back disorders were the workers'
years of work experience and the general lighting at their workplace while the
variable that was most effective in the development of wrist and shoulder
disorders was the workers' years of work experience only.
