Prevalence of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Pain among Timber Workers in Enugu Metropolis; Nigeria

Objective: Work related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) is an occupational problem which timber workers are prone to because of the nature of their job. This study sought to determine the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal pain (WRMS pain) among timber workers in Enugu metropolis; Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the survey instrument. Four hundred and sixteen questionnaires were duly completed and all the respondents were males. Descriptive statistics of frequency and percentages and inferential statistics of chi-square were used as appropriate for data analysis. Results: The results showed that 90.8of the timber workers have had WRMS pain once or more in their occupational lives. The twelve-month prevalence of WRMS pain was 90.1. The low back was the commonly affected body area reported by timber workers for complaints in the last twelve months. Performing the same tasks over and over (73.8); continuing to work while injured or hurt (37.8) and lifting and transferring heavy objects (31.2) were the job factors most problematic to the timber workers. Conclusion: There is an increased prevalence of WRMS pain among timber workers in Enugu metropolis with the low back being the commonly affected body area. It is therefore recommended that the conditions of working should be improved by the organization of seminars; education programmes and ergonomic intervention so as to ensure that the timber workers remain healthy and to reduce the occurrence of WRMS pain

The prevalence of occupational asthma and rhinitis among woodworkers in south-eastern Nigeria

Wood dusts are known to cause respiratory disorders like rhinitis and asthma. This study was therefore done to determine the magnitude of the problem among woodworkers in south-eastern Nigeria exposed to high level of wood dust.Five hundred and ninety one woodworkers were selected using a stratified random sampling. The prevalence of woodworkrelated rhinitis and asthma were then observed in the study population. Also the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) of each woodworker was obtained. The prevalence of occupational rhinitis was 78%, while that of asthma was 6.5%. As period of woodwork increased the prevalence of rhinitis and asthma increased (rhinitis: χ2 trend = 53.015, df = 1, P = 0.000). For asthma, χ2 trend =19.721, df = 1, P = 0.000). Also the PEFR significantly became low with increasing years of exposure to woodwork (χ2 trend = 75.965, df = 1, P= 0.000). In conclusion the prevalence of rhinitis and asthma in woodworkers was high and significantly increased with years of working as a woodworker

A review of the effects of wood dust and vapours at work

There are 350 carpenters in the Seychelles. Most of them do not wear dust masks or safety glasses or overalls. Nor is the dust locally extracted at the machine itself. Three of these carpenters in the single year were suspected having lung cancer. Ultimately two of the diagnoses were confirmed whilst; the third was found to be a pneumoconiasis. The use of modern machinery; which produces very fine dust particles; without the use of the protective apparel which is compulsory in the developed world; is likely to have been an important contributory factor to these 3 mens' respiratory diseases