An Assessment of Vibration Exposure and its Health Effects on Stone Workers in Taiwan and China

Abstract

Background: Stone workers were in high risk of vibration exposure that might lead to health problem. Studies and previous research have shown that there are correlations between whole body vibration, hand/arm vibration and several musculoskeletal disorders, neurological diseases, and different cumulative trauma disorders such as hearing loss and carpel tunnel syndrome. In order to study the health effects among stone workers, there were seven stone companies selected from Taiwan and China participated in this study. Aim: The goal of this project was to study and assess the correlations between several exposure variables such as vibration and noise exposure and outcome variables such as white finger disorder and different musculoskeletal disorders by conducting variety of statistical analysis; also compare the safety practice differences between Taiwanese and Chinese workers. Methodology: total of 92 participants from seven stone cutting companies. Self-estimate questionnaire was used to evaluate their exposure level, health conditions, health history and training experiences. Data was analyzed by using chi-square, odds ratio and logistic regression in SPSS and SAS. Results: The result show that pain occurrence has correlated to vibration exposure, PPE and training in both severity and frequency. Seniority has positive correlation with both pain severity and frequency. Workers also reported hearing problem during or after work and the correlation between hearing problem and noise exposure was significant. Training style showed difference in nationality, although Chinese workers have younger ages, unitary working style might still related to pain occurrence.