Current World Environment

Sawmill workers in Bangladesh are increasingly at risk of emerging work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). Their jobs involve awkward manual handling tasks such as lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling. These are identified as risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. The aims of this study are to find out the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and assessing the postural risk level among sawmills workers. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 254 workers from 60 sawmills at the southern part of Bangladesh. The overall 70.1% of sawmills workers were suffering musculoskeletal disorders in at least one body part for the last one year. The average Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) score of four main tasks (Pushing, Pulling, Lifting, and Carrying the timber) was 9.25, which is high risk for MSDs symptoms. The main reasons behind these MSDs are lack of knowledge about workplace safety, working postures and the settings of the workplace. We have recommended to the management to apply the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) lifting and Manual Material handling techniques; arrange OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) ergonomic training to the workers. Also, suggested designing the working table and workplaces in ergonomically to mitigate the musculoskeletal disorders.