Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Brick Kiln Workers: A Review

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) have become very common condition. Brick kiln workers are a profession which is not spare from MSDs. The workers in such industries have no knowledge of ergonomics and health problems which add on to the existing MSDs. The aim of this study is to present a summary review of the current state of knowledge about musculoskeletal disorders in brick kiln workers.

Methodology: The literatures were searched using various search engines and databases. Search engines were used are Google Scholar, Pub Med, Science Direct and Databases are COCHRANE, CINHAL, MEDLINE, PEDRO etc. The Source of the data has been electronic sources (Databases, Electronic libraries, Electronic Journals, Google Scholar) and print sources (Journals, Textbooks, Hand searching, Follow-up reference).

Result: Articles were tabulated revealing their title, author, year, study design. A total of 150 papers and reports were identified from the database search. These papers underwent title and abstract screening. 57 had full text screening, of which 13 articles did not include information on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in brick kiln workers and were therefore excluded. So, total 44 articles were included for the review.

Conclusion: Brick making is a multitask activities where specific workers are involved in specific processes. Not to forget that all the brick making manufacturing processes requires time and is a heavy manual work load with repetitive movements in awkward posture due to which MSDs are but obvious to occur. Also, the workers in such industries are uneducated with almost no knowledge of ergonomics and health problems which add on to the existing MSDs.