Effect of neck posture on cervicothoracic loads in overhead crane operators

Abstract

Awkward neck postures are commonly documented to be associated with an increased risk of neck disorders. This study intended to continuously monitor and evaluate neck postures and to estimate the cervicothoracic loads among overhead crane operators during work time. Neck postures were measured among 40 randomly selected operators by an inclinometer during 2 h of work time. To determine the tasks and adapt the posture recordings to each of their corresponding tasks, direct observation was conducted concurrently. The median neck flexion and lateral bend angles were 28.23° and 11.30°, respectively. The mean compression and shear loads on the neck ranged from 75.22 to 113.14 N and from 9.50 to 41.11 N, respectively. The results indicated substantial levels of exposure to awkward and extreme neck postures among the operators. The nature of the operators’ work and the visual requirements of some tasks will increase the mechanical loads on the neck.

Keywords:

• cervicothoracic loads
• musculoskeletal disorders
• overhead crane operator
• neck posture

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants for their kind contributions. This study was part of thesis work for a PhD degree.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Davood Afshari http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3323-6266

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services.