Office Administration, Office Support and Other Business Support Activities

Several research studies were conducted on the risks of MSD for office workers. One of these focused on computer staff. The workers were divided into two groups, one of which contained workers already suffering from discomfort. The ROSA (Rapid Office Strain Assessment), RULA and Maastricht questionnaire methods were used. RULA indicated worse scores for workers suffering discomfort [165]. Two similar studies were performed (one of which was determined with RULA) showing that more than half the workers suffered from musculoskeletal disorders and that the most injured areas of the body were the back and upper limbs. The other study proposed corrective actions for the work carried out [169,174]. Administrative workers were ergonomically studied in the same way. In addition to using RULA, measurements were taken of the workers and the office furniture. The study concluded that the subjects were developing MSD. Corrective actions were necessary over the short term [170].

Two further studies were carried out with RULA using an intervention group and a control group. In one of them, two groups were created containing 100 workers, and lighting data and information were collected. It was determined that the use of adjustable lights improved both the ergonomics and vision while the tasks were carried out [167]. In the other study, the intervention group used a particular keyboard, mouse and touchscreen. RULA showed a decrease in harmful upper limb postures although this worsened for the hands [168].

Several works were also carried out, the objective of which was to assess ergonomic programmes. One of them was performed in Iran on office workers in a petrochemical business. A questionnaire and the RULA method were used for the assessment. Improvements were made to the postures affecting the neck, shoulders, upper back and lumbar area thanks to the ergonomic programme [163]. With the same purpose in mind, Taieb-Maimon et al. [173] assessed three groups of workers who used computers in offices, one the control group and two that had received different types of training. Workers were assessed with RULA before, during and after the training. It was observed that the two groups with training improved their postures in a short period of time. Dalkilinc and Kayihan [171] also demonstrated that ergonomic training improved the postures adopted by office workers; they used RULA and surveys. In this case, it was web training.

Finally, in this field of knowledge, Cavalini et al. [164] verified an upper extremity assessment questionnaire called the Upper Extremity Work Demand (UEWD-R). The assessment was carried out using RULA with the help of office workers who used computers. The results indicated that the questionnaire was valid for assessing postural load on upper extremities.

3.1.13. Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security

Table 15 presents the research developed in this field.

**Table 15.** Public administration and defence; compulsory social security.


Nam et al. [175] assessed the postural load on soldiers when cleaning cannons in two different ways: manually and with an automated tool. OWAS, RULA and REBA were applied. They concluded that there was a lower risk (Level 2) when using the tool than with manual cleaning (Level 4). Another assessment of this type was developed for firefighters and emergency physicians. RULA, REBA and the NIOSH equation were used. The results showed high risks, indicating the need for corrective action [176].
