Effect of Education on Reducing Ergonomic Risk in Traditional ‎Carpet Weavers Working in Workshops in Golestan Province, ‎Iran; an Interventional Study

Aims: In developing countries such as our country, most of the activities such as carpentry is performed manually and make workers exposure to inappropriate postures, which will increase the prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). One way to reduce these disorders is educational ergonomics interventions. The present study aimed at determining the effect of education on reducing ergonomic risk in traditional carpet weavers working in workshops in Golestan province, Iran. Materials Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 employees in 54 traditional workshops in Golestan province of Iran in 2016. The studied population consisted of horsewomen carpet weavers who had at least one-year work experience and were selected based on simple random sampling method. The QEC method was used to assess the risk of musculoskeletal disorders and Nordic standard questionnaire was used to determine the frequency of symptoms of these disorders. The data were analyzed by SPSS 19, using paired sample t-test and Wilcoxon. Findings: In the pre-interventional stage, the greatest risk was related to the neck (71.0%) at high-risk level. This intervention was significantly reduced from interventional, and only 5.0% of subjects were at this level (p 0.001). The waist circumference was 97.0% of the subjects before the training at the level of intermediate exposure. After intervention, this amount decreased and most of the subjects (64%) were exposed to low levels of exposure. Conclusion: Education can reduce ergonomic risk in traditional carpet weavers working in workshops.