assessment of ergonomic risk factors of repetitive tasks among handicraft workers in isfahan, iran, using the assessment of repetitive tasks tool

background : although many studies have been performed on occupational and industrial musculoskeletal disorders in iran, small scale industries have been less studied and evaluated. the purpose of this study was to perform an ergonomic assessment of handicraft workers in isfahan, iran, using the assessment of repetitive tasks (art) tool in 2015. methods: this descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was performed on 100 handicraft workers, who were selected using convenience sampling. the study tools consisted of demographic questionnaire (researcher-made), body map (bm) questionnaire, and the art tool. data were analyzed using t-test, one way anova, and pearson correlation coefficient in spss software. findings: workers’ ages ranged from 18 to 80 years and their mean ± sd work experience was 12.57 ± 14.38 years. the bm questionnaire illustrated that 74% of participants had work-related pain in at least one of their limbs. a significant relation was observed between the number of painful limbs, and age and work experience (p < 0.05). the mean total scores of the art tool were 31.45 ± 11.30 and 24.32 ± 7.24 in the right and left hands, respectively. moreover, 73% of repetitive tasks were at the high risk level. conclusion: handicraft workers, especially with aging, are at a high risk of upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders (ulmsds). therefore, the implementation of interventions to improve workstation designs, hand tools design, and work hours and work-rest regimes, and provide training on correct methods of performing activities are recommended.