Investigation Of Risk Factors Of Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Building Construction Workers, Windhoek Namibia.

ABSTRACT Musculoskeletal disorders are the most cause of injuries and disabilities among construction industries around the globe. The purpose of this study was to investigating risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among building construction workers in Windhoek. This will help companies to develop ergonomic analysis tools to prevent pain and injuries among workers. The study was conducted through assessments, whereby a researcher assesses participants through questionnaires. This was an observational epidemiological study, whereby the researcher used a cross-sectional analytic study design. The study population of this study was 1836 workers who were working for 125 construction companies registered to operate in Windhoek and were operational during data collection. The sample size of the study was 408, calculated using Epi Info™ version 7 statistic software. Data were analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and Microsoft excel. The statistical significance analysis was carried using a Chi-square test set at Alpha level of 0.05. The Prevalence Ratio (PR) was also determined on the 95% confidence interval (CI). Furthermore, conclusions and recommendations based on the findings were made. The study findings indicated the high prevalence of MSDs among building workers, which stand at 91%. The high prevalence shows that there are no measures in place and urgent interventions are required. The 91% MSDs prevalence found among building workers, 56% were female and 44% were male. Building construction workers in Windhoek were found to be more exposed to MSDs risk factors such as extreme temperature (chi-square=1.7265, P-value=0.0000 and PR=1.72; 95%CI=1.4442, 2.0639), vibration (chi-square=5.1538, P-value=0.00007 and PR=2.01; 95%CI=1.6220, 2.4945) as per the statistical analysis. It was concluded that MSDs prevalence among building workers in Windhoek is high than MSDs prevalence of other countries, base on the literature findings. As a result, it was recommended that the construction companies should implements ergonomic measures which can prevent pain and injuries among workers.