Methods based on maximum holding time for evaluation of working postures

Dutch monitor on stress and physical load: Risk factors, consequences, and preventive action

Objectives - Due to recent changes in legislation on occupational health and safety, a national monitor on stress and physical load was developed in The Netherlands to monitor (a) risks and consequences of stress and physical load at work, (b) preventive actions in companies to reduce these risks, and (c) organisational and environmental...

Improving office work: A participatory ergonomic experiment in a naturalistic setting

In a Department of Salary Records where VDU tasks were performed at a high work rate, a participative ergonomic study was undertaken. First, the 'old' workplace was investigated for all 45 employees. Work stations appeared to be of poor ergonomic quality. Second, 12 employees participated in an experiment at the actual workplace. Objective and...

Priorities in occupational health research: A Delphi study in the Netherlands

Objectives - To achieve a coherent programme of topics for research in occupational health and safety, with well founded priorities and to relate them to perceived gaps and needs in The Netherlands. Methods - In the first phase of the study 33 key informants were interviewed. In the second phase questionnaires were sent to 150 Dutch experts ...

Dermal exposure and risk assessment

Preventive effectiveness of pre-employment medical assessments

Objectives and methods - Health gain, prevention of health loss, and avoidance of financial risk all seem to be driving forces for the use of pre-employment medical assessment. An attempt is made to measure the effect of implementing the pre-employment medical assessment on these end points. The anticipated maximum preventive effect (preventive...

Identification of high-risk groups among maintenance workers in a steel company with respect to musculoskeletal symptoms and workload

To determine priorities for ergonomic improvements in five maintenance departments of a steel company, a study was carried out to identify groups with a high prevalence of musculoskeletal problems or a high exposure to unfavourable musculoskeletal workload. All workers were asked to complete a standardized questionnaire on musculoskeletal...

Do you think that your health or safety are at risk because of your work? A large European study on psychological and physical work demands

A secondary analysis was performed on a large scale cross-sectional survey (n = 12,500) by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The analysis investigates (1) 'strain', i.e. whether or not employees in 12 European Union (EU) member states considered their health or safety to be at risk because of their...

RI&E Handleiding TNO Centrum voor Arbeid

In opdracht van het TNO Centrum voor Arbeid is een handleiding ontwikkeld voor het uitvoeren van een risico-inventarisatie en -evaluatie in bedrijven. De handleiding is getoetst in 3 bedrijven en op grond van de resultaten bijgesteld.

Regulations, policies and practices concerning work stress in five European countries

A comparative inventory of regulations, policies and practices in The Netherlands, Sweden, UK, Germany and France with regard to the prevention of work stress was carried out. In each country data were collected by means of interviews with key informants and through exploring relevant documents and literature. It was found that Sweden. The...

Ergonomic guidelines for the prevention of discomfort of static postures based on endurance data

This communication aims to show why guidelines to prevent discomfort of static postures can be based on endurance data, and to give insight in the aim and scope of a recent 'work-rest model for static postures' (WR model). The paper is a response to a recent paper of Mathiassen and Winkel (1992) who questioned the usefulness of discomfort and...

Quality and effectiveness of occupational health services evaluated by the providers

In a debate on the desired occupational health service in The Netherlands all parties involved seemed to be rather unsatisfied with the current practice. Therefore a study was set out on the quality of the service to 51 client organizations as seen by the parties involved. In the first phase the viewpoint of the occupational health teams was...

Experiences in participatory ergonomics: Results of a roundtable session during the 11th IEA congress, Paris, July 1991

In order to review recent experiences of participatory ergonomics, and to identify common themes, a roundtable session was organized, the results of which are presented in this paper. Eighteen ergonomists with experience in participatory ergonomics and who applied the approach mostly in large companies and less frequently in smaller companies or...

Agreement on medical fitness for a job

Five experienced occupational physicians independently reviewed the uniformly structured, concise records of 180 applicants who had applied for a job in one of three categories. All had undergone a pre-employment medical examination by the Governmental Occupational Health and Safety Service. Agreement was assessed by calculating the percentage...

Preemployment medical examinations in a large occupational health service

Several hundreds of thousands of preemployment medical examinations are performed in The Netherlands each year, with the objective of screening for obvious risks for the applicants or others. Neither the efficacy of these examinations nor determinants for rejection are known. Altogether 101,754 preemployment medical examinations of applicants...

De waarde van aanstellingskeuringen (The value of preplacement medical examinations)

In dit artikel wordt een overzicht gegeven van de doelstellingen en de praktijk t.a.v. aanstellingskeurigen in Nederland. Ingegaan wordt op : de situatie in Nederland in de praktijk (300000 à 350000 aanstellingskeuringen per jaar met een afkeuringspercentage van 2) ; medische geschiktheid als selectie - criterium ; en de kwaliteit van de...