National occupational research agenda (NORA) future directions in occupational musculoskeletal disorder health research☆
Section snippets
National perspective
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recognizes that addressing the high incidence rate of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) requires coordination and cooperation among its many external partners. This philosophy underpins NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), a collaborative effort between NIOSH and its partners to guide occupational safety and health research into the 21st century. In the first decade of NORA, which began in 1996, 20
Recent studies for identification of risk factors
Review of the literature and economic data by the NORA MSD team indicated that musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) related to the workplace are among the most costly health problems facing society today (N.R.C., 1999, N.R.C., 2001a). Currently, the low back and the upper extremities are the parts of the body most subject to risk associated with work (Andersson, 1997; Bongers, 2001; Dennerlein et al., 1999; Ferguson and Marras, 1997; Katz et al., 2000; Marras et al., 2000a, Marras et al., 2001;
Recent advances
Over the past decade, several significant advances have improved our understanding of MSD causality. First, improved exposure metrics have made it possible to more accurately quantify the physical characteristics of the environment to which workers are exposed and to specify the levels of exposure that significantly increase workplace musculoskeletal risk (Deyo et al., 1998; Fathallah et al., 1998; Ferguson and Marras, 1997; Granata and Marras, 1995; Lavender et al., 1989, Lavender et al., 1999a
Future research directions
Traditionally, high force, highly repetitive loading of the musculoskeletal system has been the hallmark of work. However, the workplace and the nature of the work are changing rapidly. Manufacturing, where employees work on a traditional assembly line is decreasing. However, those that remain employed in these environments are increasingly exposed to more frequent but less forceful motions (Punnett et al., 1991, Punnett et al., 2000). More assembly is occurring in work cells where employees
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the efforts of the NORA Musculoskeletal Disorders Team for their contributions in generating this manuscript. The members were Lida Orta-Anes, Jim Panagis, Barbara Silverstein, Tom Slavin, Larry Fine, Vern Anderson, Stephen Hudock, and Cheryl Estill.
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The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.