Risk of health complaints and disabilities among Dutch firefighters

2019

Background: Firefighters experience high rates of injury – both physically and to their mental health. Firefighting is a unique context to study the interaction of these factors due to the cyclical nature of the work and interaction of physiological, biomechanical and mental health demands. Measuring these constructs over multiple time-points will provide insights into the cumulative demands associated with firefighting. Thesis Objectives: To quantify the biomechanical, physiological, and psychological loads during two simulated firefighting tasks, at three time-points over one year and assess variability in these factors over a one-year period, among Thunder Bay Fire Rescue firefighters. The overarching goal of this thesis is to identify prevalent multifactorial firefighting injury risk factors for the development of effective injury prevention strategies. Methods: Biomechanical load was inferred from measurement of musculoskeletal (MSK) injury risk using the Ovako Working posture ...

International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE, 2014

The present study sought to identify firefighters' rated physical demands for the most frequently occurring work tasks and to determine if the ratings differed between full-time and part-time firefighters to help create a basis for the development of physical employment tests for firefighters. An extensive questionnaire was completed by 125 and 68 firefighters in 2000 and 2010, respectively. The data were analysed with the Mann-Whitney U test and binominal test and ranked on the basis of the responses in each category. Significant differences were seen between the full- and part-time firefighters. The work tasks rated as the most physically strenuous in terms of aerobic fitness, muscle strength, work posture and body control by most respondents were smoke diving upstairs (carrying a hose), victim rescue in different ways, carrying a stretcher over terrain and pulling a hose. Physically strenuous work tasks should be included in the end-point performance variables used to select ...

Ergonomics, 2004

American journal of epidemiology, 1993

In a prospective study of first-time low back pain among New York City fire fighters, a total of 115 cases and 109 randomly selected controls were interviewed by telephone between December 1988 and July 1989 to examine the role of recent work activities in the onset of first-time low back pain. After adjusting for known risk factors and off-duty activities, statistically significant high-risk work activities included operating a charged hose inside a building (odds ratio (OR) = 3.26), climbing ladders (OR = 3.18), breaking windows (OR = 4.45), cutting structures (OR = 6.47), looking for hidden fires (OR = 4.32), and lifting objects > or = 18 kg (OR = 3.07). Low-risk activities included connecting hydrants to pumpers (OR = 0.36), pulling booster hose (OR = 0.19), and participating in drills (OR = 0.09) or physical training (OR = 0.16). When further adjusted for exposure to smoke (OR = 13.59), a surrogate for severity of alarms, the ORs associated with high-risk activities were no ...

International journal of physiotherapy and research, 2019

PREVALENCE OF WORK RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS IN FIRE FIGHTERS Sheetal Aurangabadkar *1, Medha Deo 2, Shruti Kadam 3. *1 (MPTh Community Medical sciences.) Asst. professor. Terna College of Physiotherapy, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. 2 (MPT. Musculoskeletal Sciences) Principal & Professor, Terna College of Physiotherapy, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. 3 BPTh, Terna College of Physiotherapy, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Scandinavian journal of …, 2003

Objectives This study attempted to identify work and leisure-time conditions and life-style factors associated with excess metabolic levels (metabolic demands exceeding one-third of a person's aerobic capacity) at work among men and women.

L'Anticapitaliste. Revue mensuelle du NPA, n° 148, juillet-août 2023, 2023

À une échelle large, le marxisme reste encore aujourd'hui conçu comme un historicisme, autrement dit comme une conception déterministe de l'histoire, un ensemble de lois d'airain qui déterminerait l'inéluctable marche de l'humanité vers les horizons radieux du socialisme. Une telle vision du « matérialisme historique » - une terminologie qui provient d'Engels et non de Marx - s'est développée, dès la fin du XIX e siècle, dans les différents courants qui se réclamaient du marxisme. Il a toutefois trouvé une expression particulièrement caricaturale dans le petit traité que Staline publia en 1936 sous le titre Matérialisme dialectique et matérialisme historique.