Fish processing work: the impact of two sex dependent exposure profiles onmusculoskeletal health

Objectives-To evaluate the impact of work tasks, physical exposure, and psy chosocial factors on the risk of musculoskeletal disorders in men and women , in a defined industrial setting. Methods-116 male and 206 female fish industry workers were compared with 12 9 men and 208 women with more varied work. Physical and psychosocial work l oad as well as musculoskeletal complaints were recorded by a questionnaire. A physical examination was performed and an observation method was used fo r work evaluation. 196 male and 322 female former fish processing workers r eceived a postal questionnaire. Results-The women workers in the fish industry had worse working conditions than the men for repetitiveness, constrained neck postures, and psychosoci al work environment. They also had higher prevalences of complaints of the neck and shoulder (prevalence odds ratio (POR) 1.9; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1 to 3.2), neck and shoulder and elbow and hand complaints (POR 2.9; 95% CI 1.8 to 4.7 and FOR 2.8; 95% CI 1.6 to 4.7, respectively). The women more often than the men left the industry because of neck and upper l imb complaints. Also, women in other work had a higher prevalence of compla ints of the neck and shoulder (POR 2.3; 95% CI 1.1 to 5.1) than the men. Th e men in the fish processing industry had a higher prevalence of complaints of the neck and shoulder than the men in other work (POR 3.6; 95% CI 1.6 t o 8.0). This difference was not shown up by the questionnaire. Conclusions-Despite superficially similar work, there were clear sex differ ences in physical exposure and psychosocial work environment. Work in the f ish processing industry was associated with a high risk of neck and upper l imb disorders in women, which was probably mainly due to their extremely re petitive work tasks; the corresponding men had less repetitive work and les s disorders. Also, a healthy worker effect on neck and upper limb disorders was found. The advantage of a physical examination compared with a questio nnaire is clearly shown.