Risk evaluation of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders among cheese processing workers: A comparison of exposure assessment techniques

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of developing upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders among workers employed in Pecorino Romano cheese production. A secondary purpose was to evaluate the agreement between two commonly used exposure assessment techniques in the risk evaluation, the OCRA Checklist and the Strain Index (SI). The most problematic work tasks were identified in the packing and production departments, while the curing operations shown the lowest risks. The two risk assessment methods provided similar results in situations with high risk, especially for tasks involving hand and wrist intensive movements