Job Rotation: Considerations for Preventing Musculoskeletal Disorders
Presented by: Mark C. Schall, Jr., PhD, CPE; Alexander Vinel, PhD; and The Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety
Webinar Details: https://www.coeh.berkeley.edu/23ew0419
Description:
Job rotation is an administrative control strategy that involves alternating work tasks between employees. It is often associated with various benefits, including improved cross-training, reduced monotony, and increased exposure variability that may reduce the risk of overloading musculoskeletal tissues. However, research examining job rotation as a preventative measure for musculoskeletal disorders have had mixed results. In this webinar, Drs. Schall and Vinel will describe a novel optimization framework evaluating the effectiveness of job rotation when considering the fatigue failure model of musculoskeletal disorder development. The results, based on two datasets of industrial work, indicate that the effect of job rotation is highly dependent on the composition of the job pool. Implications of their results for job rotation scheduling and worker health and well-being will be discussed.