Study on Work-related Injury, Fatigue and Physiological Effect for Postal Operators

• Main Authors: Chung-Lin Yang, 楊忠霖
• Other Authors: I-Fang Mao
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2000
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/30876107751333048651

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 公共衛生研究所 === 88 === There are about thirty thousand employees serving for postal industry currently. Postal operators, suffering from work overloading, repeated motion, and outside activities, may encounter work-related health problems or car accidents. The purpose of this study is to understand postal operator work injury, physiological condition, and the situation of workplace. This study recruits 82 mail carriers, 30 sorters of mail and 31 parcel process workers, in total 143 workers, to conduct the measurements. The data were collected by a constructive questionnaire and several measurements of physiological conditions before and after shift. The workplace measurement was undergone during the office hours. Results showed that 25% of postal operators occurred gastrointestinal disease. There were 32% of mail carriers experienced dog bitten for the past three years; 27% of mail carriers experienced car accidents during work. In habitual musculoskeletal pain, there were 40% of postal operators had shoulder pain, and 22% of postal operators complained about carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and 27% of postal operators had low back pain (LBP). The prevalence of “eyes fatigue” in the mail carriers and sorters of mail after work were up to 36% and 80%, respectively, and “waist pain” in parcel process workers were up to 52%. The mail carriers and sorters of mail were classified into general type fatigue, however the parcel process workers were belonged to physical-work-type fatigue. All subjects of the three studied groups increased heart rate in average after shift; on the contrary, their averaged blood pressure decreased after work. Though the measured flicker value and response time showed better reaction after work, the subjects grasp and grip force and back muscle force got worse after work. The recovery from fatigue after two-days rest was better than that after one-day rest. Though the heart rate and blood pressure of the mail carriers in summer decreased, their back force increased. The fatigue prevalence of mail carriers in summer was less than that in winter.