Teamwork and musculoskeletal health in the context of work organization interventions in office and computer work

Abstract

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) are increasingly becoming more prevalent in the US workforce. The introduction of computer-based technology seems to have been accompanied by an increase in WRMDs. Computer-based technology seems to intensify work so much as to create stressful and unhealthy working conditions. In this paper, the role and impact of various psychosocial work stressors, including teamwork, in work organization interventions aimed at reducing and/or preventing WRMDs among office/computer workers are examined. Both the process and the content of the work organization interventions rely on teamwork. The results show the importance of teamwork in influencing stress and musculoskeletal discomfort. In particular, the psychosocial factors of open group process and group cohesiveness were among the most important predictors of anxiety and musculoskeletal discomfort. The results show that teamwork affects both psychosocial stress outcomes (anxiety) as well as musculoskeletal discomfort.

Keywords:

• Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD)
• Work organization
• Intervention study
• Computer-based technology

Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was provided by CDC/NIOSH Cooperative Agreements U60/CCU512018-01 (PI: P. Carayon) and U60/CCU512983-01 (PI: M.J. Smith, co-PI: P. Carayon).