Abstract
Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a shift from the usual office environment to a “new normal” for call-centre agents who could potentially be exposed to various ergonomic risk factors in work-from-home arrangements.
Objective: The objective of the study was to identify and associate ergonomic risk factors for South African call-centre agents in a work-from-home arrangement during the 2020 – 2022 Covid-19 lockdown.
Setting: The study was conducted among call-centre agents participating in work-from-home arrangements during COVID-19 lockdown.
Methods: With this being a cross-sectional study design, randomly selected 154 participants based in four call-centres in Johannesburg and Pretoria (Gauteng Province, South Africa) took part in the study. Primary data was collected from participants through a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire and a Rapid Office Strain Assessment (ROSA) tool.
Results: The majority of respondents, 54.6%, are within the ROSA score category of room for improvement, with observed mean: 4.34, median = 4.00, and Std of 1.021. The findings revealed that all inherent factors in the tasks had a significant relationship with neck, shoulder, joint pain and backache. Almost none of the factors in the physical environment had a significant relationship with neck pain, shoulder, joint pain and backache as they presented with p values >5.
Conclusions: Call centre agents in WFH arrangements during the COVID-19 lockdown experienced an impact of musculoskeletal symptoms emanating from some ergonomic risk factors.