Background: Attention to the workstations of the employees and their quality of work life has become increasingly important due to the increased competition in the organizations. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the ergonomic situation of the workstations and musculoskeletal disorders with the quality of work life and demographic variables in the administrative staff of the Tehran Municipality.
Methods: The present study was a descriptive and analytical one. The statistical population included a total of 600 persons, working in one of the regions in the Tehran Municipality. Of the 600 staff, a total of 255 were selected as the available sample group. The instruments consisted of the questionnaires, including the individual and occupational information, the Nordic questionnaire, the Walton Quality of work life, and the checklist of the ergonomic indices of the working environment for the administrative staff. In order to analyze the data, Student’s t-test and multiple regression analysis were used.
Results: In this study, the majority of the samples were females (56.9%) with a mean age of 33 years. A significant positive relationship was observed between all the ergonomic indices and the quality of work life. Significant correlations among the parameters such as age, education, sleeping at night, psychological conditions, musculoskeletal disorders of the neck, shoulder, and foot were observed simultaneously with the quality of work life. The quality of work life of an employee could be predicted through the musculoskeletal disorders and demographic variables but could not be predicted by the ergonomic indicators.
Conclusion: In this study, a relationship existed between the ergonomic condition of the workstations and musculoskeletal disorders with the quality of work life and demographic variables. Therefore, the physical condition and the quality of the work life of the employees would be positively affected by the improvement of the ergonomic condition of the workstations.