ERGONOMIC INTERVENTION RESEARCH FOR IMPROVED MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH -A CRITICAL-REVIEW

This literature review of ergonomic intervention studies aims to ident ify effective ergonomic interventions for improved musculoskeletal hea lth in the workplace and to make recommendations for quality criteria in ergonomic intervention research. To avoid ambiguity in terminology a list of definitions of the ergonomic terms used in this paper is pro vided in an appendix. Models were developed for use in the classificat ion of ergonomic intervention research and to illustrate the problems in interpreting ergonomic intervention data. The relevant literature w as identified by a two-step process. First the relevant literature was identified by inclusion criteria, then, quality criteria were applied to identify studies of good quality for effective intervention. These appear to be firstly ''organizational culture'' and secondly modifier interventions, the former using multiple interventions with high stak eholder commitment to reduce identified risk factors, and the latter e specially focusing workers at risk and using measures which actively i nvolve the individual. A list of recommendations is provided. Relevanc e to industry It is critically important in the planning of practical interventions to know which intervention strategy has the best chance of success.