Musculoskeletal disorders are an important cause of incapacity to work and lenghty absenteeism. These ailments can often be attributed to work-related physical load. An example of work involving significant physical load is ship maintenance.

An ergonomic workplace survey carried out with The Observer, was performed to answer the following questions: how does the physical load of workers relate to other jobs, how do various tasks contribute to the average physical load and how can the ergonomy of the workplace be improved in order to reduce physical load?  

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