Iran Occupational Health

Background and aims: Hospital personnel are exposed to various occupational hazards because of their job circumstances. The aim of this study is to investigate the ergonomic problems of hospital from the perspective of human-system interface technology and to recommend the strategies for improvement.

Methods: In this qualitative study, the conceptual framework of hospital ergonomic problems was extracted through the literature review from the perspective of human-system interface technology. Eighteen staffs and experts were participated in the semi-structured interview and focus group discussion according to the conceptual framework. Theme analysis was used to extract the ergonomic problems and their corresponding solutions.

Results: In total, 14 ergonomic problems were categorized based on a human-system interface framework. Their corresponding solutions were extracted based on the hierarchy of controls, including elimination and substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and PPE.

Conclusion: Some of the ergonomic problems related to working posture, shift work, workload, job satisfaction and personal relationships are more important problems. The control framework extracted from this study can be used to reduce the ergonomic problems and to recommend the strategies for improvement.