Practitioner 's Summary : Currently , there is inconsistent evidence for recommending job rotation as a strategy for preventing musculoskeletal complaints .
The aim of this systematic review was to summarise evidence on the effects of job rotation on musculoskeletal complaints , exposures related to musculoskeletal complaints and sustainable working life parameters .
Job rotation as a factor in reducing physical workload at a refuse collecting department.
The effect of job rotation on the physical workload was investigated for male employees working at a refuse collecting department . Before the introduction of job rotation , an employee worked as a street sweeper , as a refuse collector or as a driver . After the introduction of job rotation , every employee was allowed to alternate between two of the three possible jobs during the day , i.e. refuse collecting/street sweeping , refuse collecting/driving or street sweeping/driving . Two non-rotation groups ( i.e. refuse collectors and street sweepers ) and two rotation groups ( i.e. refuse collectors/street sweepers and street sweepers/drivers ) were mutually compared . The physical workload was determined by measuring the perceived load , energetic load and postural load during a full working day . Job rotation result ed in a significant decrease of the perceived load and energetic load and a slight decrease of the postural load . The results indicate that the total amount of work performed by means of job rotation result ed in an overall reduced physical workload of the employees of the refuse collecting department
Practitioner 's Summary : Currently , there is inconsistent evidence for recommending job rotation as a strategy for preventing musculoskeletal complaints .
The aim of this systematic review was to summarise evidence on the effects of job rotation on musculoskeletal complaints , exposures related to musculoskeletal complaints and sustainable working life parameters .