## 4 Discussion  
This study investigated the hazards to which food manufacturing workers are most exposed during their daily working hours and analyzed whether there were differences in daily exposure times between those who complained of musculoskeletal pain and those who did not. Food manufacturing workers reported the longest exposure time for ergonomic hazards, followed by physical hazards and biochemical hazards. The factors with a daily exposure time of more than 2 h were the highest exposure in the standing position (4.404 h per day), followed by repetitive motion (4.367 h per day), awkward posture (2.766 h per day), handling heavy loads (2.513 h per day), and vibration (2.432 h per day). The results of this study indicate that efforts are needed to improve repetitive motion exposure for more than 4 h within the OSHA hazard zone and to reduce awkward posture, handling of heavy loads, and vibration factors for more than 2 h, which falls within the caution zone. Looking at the three factors with the most significant difference, workers who reported musculoskeletal pain experienced significantly longer exposure times to low temperatures (1.417 to 1.582 times) than those who did not, followed by reports of awkward posture \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Variables**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**N**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Prevalence Rate (\%)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**B**} & \multirow{2}{*}{_p_-Value**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**OR**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**95\% C.I. for OR**} \\ \cline{5-7}  & & & & & & **Lower** & **Upper** \\ \hline Gender & & & & & & & **Lower** & **Upper** \\ Male (ref) & 226 & 15.0\% & & & & & & \\ Female & 326 & 27.6\% & 0.981 & \(<\)0.001 * & 2.667 & 1.649 & 4.313 \\ Work experience & & & & & & & \\ \(<\)3 years (ref) & 150 & 16.0\% & & & & & \\ \(>\)9 years & 190 & 21.1\% & 0.455 & 0.130 & 1.576 & 0.875 & 2.838 \\ \(>\)10 years & 212 & 28.3\% & 1.077 & \(<\)0.001 * & 2.936 & 1.614 & 5.340 \\ Working hours & & & & & & & \\ \(<\)40 h (ref) & 246 & 22.8\% & & & & & \\ \(>\)40 h & 306 & 22.2\% & \(-\)0.482 & 0.039 * & 0.618 & 0.390 & 0.977 \\ Low temperature & & & & & & & \\ \(<\)2 h (ref) & 459 & 19.0\% & & & & & \\ \(2\)-4 h & 32 & 43.8\% & 1.028 & 0.011 * & 2.795 & 1.267 & 6.165 \\ \(>\)4 h & 61 & 37.7\% & 0.597 & 0.066 & 1.817 & 0.962 & 3.433 \\ Handling heavy loads & & & & & & & \\ \(<\)2 h (ref) & 242 & 15.3\% & & & & & \\ \(2\)-4 h & 181 & 22.7\% & 0.565 & 0.035 * & 1.759 & 1.040 & 2.975 \\ \(>\)4 h & 129 & 35.7\% & 1.276 & \(<\)0.001 * & 3.582 & 2.025 & 6.336 \\ Constant & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note. * Significant at 0.05, ref = reference, OR = odds ratio, C.I. = confidence interval.  
\end{table} 
Table 8: Logistic regression analysis on lower limb pain. (1.377 to 1.502 times) and handling heavy loads (1.335 to 1.390 times). These findings suggest that reducing exposure to low temperatures, addressing awkward posture, and minimizing heavy lifting can effectively alleviate musculoskeletal pain. According to the results of the logistic regression analysis regarding back pain, workers in their 60s are 2.152 times more likely than those in their 40s or younger (\(p\) = 0.003). These results confirm that musculoskeletal pain affects older workers more than younger workers [30]. Muscle mass progressively decreases with age, and the time to recover from musculoskeletal injuries also increases [30]. Workers with over 10 years of experience are 2.064 times more likely than those under 3 years (\(p\) = 0.006). This supports findings that prolonged exposure to the same work environment can raise the likelihood of musculoskeletal pain due to the physical strain it imposes on the body [31]. Workers in processing and storage are 1.841 times more likely than those in other food manufacturing jobs (\(p\) = 0.003). This aligns with findings that seafood and frozen food processing workers report back pain caused by awkward posture and poor working conditions [32; 33].