Work in progress: Profiling of tricycle drivers as basis for developing an ergonomics program

This study presents the preliminary findings of a participatory action research geared towards developing an ergonomics intervention program for tricycle drivers. In the Philippines, tricycles/motorcycles account for approximately 67.9% of the total for-hire vehicles. The lack of risk exposure assessments for them motivates this study. At this stage, we have administered the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) and the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ). We found that 60% of the participants are nicotine dependent and 93% are categorized in the lower zones of alcohol consumption. The results also showed that perceived stress level was high/very high, covering 70% of the subjects. No significant relationship between stress level, and age and work seniority. Moreover, 100% of the tricycle drivers reported at least one musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) symptom. Topping the list of MSD symptoms are upper back pain (80%), neck pain (75%), hands/wrists pain (75%), lower back pain (70%) and pain on knees (70%). The Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a significant (p value <; 0.03) relationship between the number of body regions with MSD symptoms during the last 12 months and age (r = 0.4693). The findings of this study can enable the creation of an ergonomics intervention program intended for an extension service in the community.