ERGONOMICS OF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION VEHICLE ON WORK – RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDER AMONG ACADEMIC AND NON- ACADEMIC STAFF OF LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The study is examined the ergonomic of automatic transmission vehicle on work – related musculoskeletal disorder among academic and non- academic staff of Lagos State University. The ergonomic effects of automatic transmission vehicles on employee while driving to and from work. Employees that are frequently exposed to long period of standing position when performing work- related functions such as lecturing, laboratory experiment and the sitting position during research, administrative function and even some laboratory experiment like the academic.  This can then be compared to employees that are mostly exposed to more sitting position within the same system, non-academics for a robust comparative analysis.  The study aimed to examine how the effect of driving automated transmission vehicle on workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders among academic and to investigate the effect of driving automated transmission vehicle on workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders among non-academics in Lagos State University. This study adopted descriptive research design. The population of the study comprise the entire 557 Academic and 1423 non-academic staffs in Ojo campus. Though, the population should be only staffs that drives personally automated transmission vehicles to office, but at the initial stage it was difficult to determine such staffs. It was adequately noted from the questionnaires filled. A sample of 234 and 312 were drawn from the population of academic and non-academic staff respectively using Yamane (1969 as cited by Anokye, 2020). The reliability of the research instrument was assessed using the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient while the validity was assessed using content and face validities. The study found that, there is a weak positive relationship between that driving automated transmission vehicle and workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders among academics in Lagos State University (R = 0.076). This implies that driving automated transmission vehicles do not significantly affect workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders among academics in Lagos State University, that driving automated transmission vehicles explains about (R= 0.032) of workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders among non-academic members of staff of Lagos State University and the more they drive automated transmission vehicles, the more non-academic members of staff of Lagos State University experience workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders, (Beta = 0.178).

This study concluded that a slightly increase in the impact of driving ATV on WMSD among non-academics when compared to the academics, this is not significant enough to show that the external work of driving ATV and, therefore, recommended that the management in academic systems should strategically focus their policy more on the workplace environment to reduce WMSDs.