Relationship of Psychophysical Ratings of Ergonomic Exposures with In-Plant Medical Visit Rates for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Automibile Manufacturing

This study was conducted to examine the relationship of ergonomic exposure to medical visits for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) at the job level. Ergonomic exposure index score was constructed at the job level based on individual workers' psychophysical ratings of multiple ergonomic exposures (1992) and medical visit rates (1989–1993) were calculated. A positive association was found between the two. As well as physical ergonomic exposure, level of psychosocial job control seemed to play an important role, possibly due to its determination of workers' accessibility to the medical department.