Risk factors of sociodemographic and work environment that related to musculoskeletal symptoms among SME workers in Vietnam

According the limited resources and capacity, SMEs are more prine to occupational hazards and risk. This research aimed to determine the socio-demographic and work environment risk factors related to musculoskeletal symptoms among SME workers in Vietnam, especially in the food processing and garment industries. The respondents were 530 SME workers 281 from the garment industry; 249 from the food processing industry). The instruments used were a self-devised questionnaires including lifestyle and work environment factors. The Standardized Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ) used to see the musculo-skeletal symptoms. The results showed 45.1% of respondents had chronic MSDs, and 40.2% had experienced acute MSDs. The socio-demographic factors, such as work status, shifts and trip duration to the workplace, significantly influenced the chronic and acute musculo-skeletal symptoms. The symptoms were also induced by work environment factors, especially noise, lighting, heat and humidity, handling loads more than 20 kg, mostly sitting on the floor or mostly standing while working and slippery floors in the workplace. It is crucial to improve the work environment and comply with the standard even SME industries, as well. Moreover, the work posture and load for manual handling need a correction to reduce musculo-skeletal symptoms.