WMSD among the Construction Industry Workers

This report highlights the issue of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) in the construction industry of Australia. It discusses the causes and prevalence of WMSD among construction workers and provides recommendations for reducing the risks.

Running head: WMSD AMONG THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKERS
WMSD among the Construction Industry Workers
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Executive Summary
In this report the issue of WMSD in the construction industry of Australia is highlighted. . In
the construction industry, the works are related to construction of buildings, alteration that is
demolition of buildings and structures are associated with this industry. Due to involvement
of such type of work, in the construction industry, this industry has higher rate of risks.
Handling of loads on their heads, shoulders also promote the WMSD among the construction
industry workers. Moreover manual material handling by the workers of this industry is
another major reason of development of WMSD among them. Not only in Australia, but in
all over the world, this issue is one of the serious problem. The legislation regarding this issue
in Australia, is strictly maintained for protecting the workers from adverse events.

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Background Information of Construction Industry related WMSD in Australia....................................4
Review of Literature..............................................................................................................................5
Legislation.............................................................................................................................................6
Recommendation...................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The work related Musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD), refers to a wide range of
physical disorder condition in which various parts of the human body can be affected. In such
condition, the joints of the human body like knee joint, shoulder joint, elbow joint,
intervertebral discs, spinal vertebrae can be damaged. Moreover, the injuries related to the
soft tissues, muscles, tendons and connective tissues can also be classified as WMSD. In the
construction industry, the works are related to construction of buildings, alteration that is
demolition of buildings and structures are associated with this industry. Due to involvement
of such type of work, in the construction industry, this industry has higher rate of risks. In
this industry the main reasons of injury are falling from an immense height, slips, trips and
falls issue in the construction sights, extreme stressing of body during performing any work
in the construction sights, accidents due to contact with a hitting objects (Safe Work
Australia, 20-16). Moreover, the workers of this industry have to do various works that
involves prolonged standing, performing any work in awkward posture due to their
profession. Such conditions are promoting factors for the onset of WMSD among the
construction industry work. In addition to this, handling of loads on their heads, shoulders
also promote the WMSD among the construction industry workers. Moreover manual
material handling by the workers of this industry is another major reason of development of
WMSD among them. Not only this, the workers may face problem due to repetitive motion
in their work and working in a open environment can also create problems among them.
Although this is not directly associated with the WMSD. However, this factor can promote
the chances of WMSD as due to immense heat, the workers may face alteration in cognitive
behaviour and due to cognitive failure there is higher chances of errors among the worker
(Safe Work Australia, 2015). Such errors in the construction industry can cause accidents as
well. In this report, the problem of WMSD in the construction industry is discussed along

4WMSD AMONG THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKERS
with relevant literature supports to the fact. In the later part of the report, the legislation for
addressing this issue, standard industry practice for minimizing the risks of health hazards are
discussed in a brief manner.
Background Information of Construction Industry related WMSD in
Australia
In Australia, the number of construction industry workers are increasing day by day.
In last 11 years the number of construction industry workers has increased almost 33%.
Among the total construction industry workers in Australia, 76% are enrolled as employee
and they are covered in the workers’ compensation scheme. Although, in last ten years, the
rate of injuries and fatality rate in this industry have decreased in last 10 years, still it cannot
be said that the industry has lower amount of risks. This facts are supported by the less
amount of compensation claim by the workers of this industry. It is observed that, in the year
of 2011-12time period, the claim of compensation by the workers of this industry is reduced
by 31%. In the year of 2001-02, the compensation claim was almost 27.5 per 1000 employees
and in 2011-12, the compensation claim rate was almost 17.5 per 1000 employees. The rate
was still declining in the year of 2012-13 (17.0 per 1000 employees). In case of the workers
of the construction industry, the issue of body stressing is the most common cause of the
injury in the construction industry in between the time of 2008-09 to 2012-13 (Safe Work
Australia, 2015). It is observed that, almost 37% of claim has been reported for injuries due
to stressing injury in the construction industry. More specifically it is observed that, the
muscular stress is faced by the workers during lifting, carrying and putting down of the heavy
objects in the construction sites in Australia and the percentage is almost 47% of total injury
incidents. 28% of injury is happened due to the slip, trip and fall cases. While analysing
the ;location of the body injury it is observed that, the 10% of the total injury cases are
associated with the shoulder and upper arm injury, 12% of total injury is associated with knee

5WMSD AMONG THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKERS
and upper leg injury, 20% of total injury is associated with back injury specifically in the
lower back region of the construction industry workers, 17% of total injury is associated with
hand, thumb and fingers, 8% of total injury is associated with wrist, forearm and elbow
injury of the workers. Among the total work related injuries 53% is associated with the joint/
ligament injury and muscle / tendon injury and along with this 12% of total workers have
reported about the MSD due to their work. While, age adjustment was considered as one of
the parameter of injury cases in the construction industry it is noted that, the workers aged
more than 55 years have are highly vulnerable to shoulder and back injury (Safe Work
Australia, 2015). On the other hand it was observed that the workers in the age group of 35-
54 years are more prone to back injury in Australia ( 22% of this age group has back injury).
30% of total injuries regarding falls in the construction sites is associated with the fall cases
from the ladder. It is observed that, due to fall cases from the ladder, almost 455 cases are
associated with the WMSD out of 7800 injury cases in between 2008-09 to 2012-13 (Safe
Work Australia, 2015). So, it can be said that, the issue of WMSD in Australia , is one of the
crucial occupational hazards.
Review of Literature
According to the study of Wang et al. (2017), it is observed that, the WMSD in the
construction industry is very common and among all the industry related WMSD,
construction industry has the highest prevalence rate in the construction industry of US. This
study also showed that rate of WMSD prevalence in the construction industry of the country
is highest among the age 55-64 years workers of the country. In this study authors reported
that, the back injuries are contributing almost 40% of the total WMSD in the country. The
study of Afari et al. (2017), used surface EMG technique to measure the muscle activity of
the sedentary people and construction workers. The result of this study revealed that, the
activity of the Lumbar Erector spinae ( LES) was highest among all other muscles involved

6WMSD AMONG THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKERS
in the lifting or forward bending postures of the subjects. The author concluded that the risk
factors in the activities like weight lifting, repetitive movements due to their work and
prolonged elevated postures during the work are promoting the risks of WMSD among the
workers in the construction industry. They also concluded that, the manual handling of the
objects is another promoting factors of the WMSD among the construction workers. The
study of Chen, Qiu and Ahn (2017), also supported that, the awkward postures in the
activities of the construction industry promotes the risks of long-term WMSD and
instantaneous injuries among the workers of this injury. In the study of Aryal, Ghahramani,
and Becerik-Gerber (2017), it is reported that, work related fatigue among the construction
workers are associated with the poor quality of the work, enhanced risks of accidents in the
construction sites. It is observed in various studies that the work related fatigue among the
workers of the construction industry promotes the chances of WMSD among the workers of
the industry ( Fang et al., 2015 ).
Legislation
In Australia, the work place Health and Safety procedures are strongly maintained in
all the work places and industries of Australia. According to the Work Health and Safety
legislation, 2011 of Australia, it is the duty of the local authority to ensure the safety of the
workers under the section 106 (Part 6). Any injuries in the workplace, is covered by the
Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998. Moreover a worker
can claim compensation if the person has any loss during the works. In addition, the authority
must keep records of all adverse incidents in the work places and should take attempt to
reduce it. Otherwise, the authority may face penalty of $5000 in case of individual and
$25000 in case of the whole organization (Work Health and Safety Act, 2011).

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Recommendation
One of the major reason of WMSD in the construction industry is manual handling of
heavy loads. So, avoidance of heavy load handling by using the lifting machineries in the
industry. In Addition to this, using of vibration attenuating tools and seats during the use of
vibrating machines can also reduce the risks of WMSD in the construction industry (Sauni et
al., 2015). Use of personal protective equipment during the works can also be another
measures for reducing risks of WMSD.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that, the WMSD is one of the serious problems of the
construction industry of Australia. The risks associated with WMSD in case of this particular
industry in Australia is very high. Most of the cases injuries are affecting the lower back,
muscles and tendons, knee joints. However, the legislation of the country related to work
place health and safety is very strict and in last few years condition has improved a little. Still
it is the second most incidence of safety alteration in the work place in Australia.

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References
Antwi-Afari, M. F., Li, H., Edwards, D. J., Pärn, E. A., Seo, J., & Wong, A. Y. L. (2017).
Biomechanical analysis of risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders during
repetitive lifting task in construction workers. Automation in construction, 83, 41-47.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2017.07.007
Aryal, A., Ghahramani, A., & Becerik-Gerber, B. (2017). Monitoring fatigue in construction
workers using physiological measurements. Automation in Construction, 82, 154-165.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2017.03.003
Chen, J., Qiu, J., & Ahn, C. (2017). Construction worker's awkward posture recognition
through supervised motion tensor decomposition. Automation in Construction, 77, 67-81.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2017.01.020
Fang, D., Jiang, Z., Zhang, M., & Wang, H. (2015). An experimental method to study the
effect of fatigue on construction workers’ safety performance. Safety science, 73, 80-91.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2014.11.019
Safe Work Australia. (2015). Construction Industry Profile. Safe Work Australia. Retrieved
from- https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/construction-
industry-profile.pdf
Safe Work Australia. (2016). Statistics on Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders. Safe
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related_musculoskeletal_disorders.pdf
Sauni, R., Toivio, P., Esko, T., Pääkkönen, R., & Uitti, J. (2015). Effective information
campaign for management of exposure to hand–arm vibration in the metal and

9WMSD AMONG THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKERS
construction industries. International Journal of Occupational Safety and
Ergonomics, 21(2), 158-165. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2015.1029287
Wang, X., Dong, X. S., Choi, S. D., & Dement, J. (2017). Work-related musculoskeletal
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Work Health and Safety Act (2011). Safe Work Australia.. Retrieved from-
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