Browsing by Author "Kalkis, Henrijs"

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    Assessment of skeletal muscle fatigue of road maintenance workers based on heart rate monitoring and myotonometry
    (2006) Roja, Zenija; Kalkis, Valdis; Vain, Arved; Kalkis, Henrijs; Eglite, Maija; Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
    Objective: This research work is dedicated to occupational health problems caused by ergonomic risks. The research object was road building industry, where workers have to work very intensively, have long work hours, are working in forced/constrained work postures and overstrain during the work specific parts of their bodies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the work heaviness degree and to estimate the muscle fatigue of workers after one week work cycle. The study group consisted of 10 road construction and maintenance workers and 10 pavers aged between 20 and 60 years. Methods: Physical load were analyzed by measuring heart rate (HR), work postures (OWAS) and perceived exertion (RPE). Assessments of the muscles strain and functional state (tone) were carried out using myotonometric (MYO) measurements. The reliability of the statistical processing of heart rate monitoring and myotonometry data was determined using correlating analysis. Results: This study showed that that road construction and repairing works should be considered as a hard work according to average metabolic energy consumption 8.1 ± 1.5 kcal/min; paving, in its turn, was a moderately hard work according to 7.2 ± 1.1 kcal/min. Several muscle tone levels were identified allowing subdivision of workers into three conditional categories basing on muscle tone and fatigue: I - absolute muscle relaxation and ability to relax; II - a state of equilibrium, when muscles are able to adapt to the work load and are partly able to relax; and III - muscle fatigue and increased tone. It was also found out that the increase of muscle tone and fatigue mainly depend on workers physical preparedness and length of service, and less - on their age. Conclusion: We have concluded that a complex ergonomic analysis consisting of heart rate monitoring, assessment of compulsive working postures and myotonometry is appropriate to assess the work heaviness degree and can provide prognosis of occupational pathology or work-related musculoskeletal disorders for the workers under different workload conditions. These results can also be used when deciding on necessary rest time and its periodicity.
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    Economic Analytical Methods for Work-related MSD Cost Prediction
    (2015) Kalkis, Henrijs; Rīga Stradiņš University
    Today's changing work environment focuses on work organization and new forms of cooperation (outsourcing, decentralization of resources, introduction of new technologies, etc.) [1,2]. Organizations sustainable development is linked to the business success in the long-term run. It can be achieved with the help of organization‘s social and technical development, healthy work environment and competitive workers. Musculo-skeletal disorders (MSD), including lower back pain, arm and neck muscle or tendon sprains and joint diseases have a significant impact on employees’ workability not only at the individual level but also at national perspective [3,4]. MSD affects efficiency, productivity and overall quality in every organization and labor market [5]. The aim of research is to discover most appropriate economic analytical methods for work-related MSD cost prediction in Latvian enterprises. This research focuses on the analysis of literature of various economic analytical methods for work-related MSD cost prediction at the organisations. Experts in ergonomics field suggests dividing ergonomic intervention costs to avoid MSD into four main categories [6]: Staff, equipment and material, reduced production and sales volume, overhead costs. World literature analysis shows that by increasing ergonomics preventive and assessment costs, considerably decreases costs of human and technology errors in the processes. Hence, it is possibility to gain additional profit that could be diverted for further preventive actions in order to continuously minimize MSD [6–8]. The combination and modification of economic analysis methods of economic loss mathematical calculations [9,10] and Washington State Ergonomics Cost Benefit Calculator is suitable for work-related MSD cost prediction and ergonomics solution cost and benefit analysis in European enterprises.
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    Total quality management tools and techniques for improving service quality and client satisfaction in the healthcare environment : A qualitative systematic review
    (EDP Sciences, 2022) Grossu-Leibovica, Dana; Kalkis, Henrijs; Vilka, L; Vike, J; Vilka, L.; Vike, J.; Starptautiskā biznesa un ekonomikas katedra
    The aim of the given research is to analyse total quality management tools for improving service quality and client satisfaction in healthcare settings through a systematic qualitative review. Data was collected through the web of sciences (WOS), Scopus, EBSCO, PubMed, and Medline. Initially, we found 573 articles from all the sources, but after eliminating the non-relevant articles, only 24 usable articles were finalized. Furthermore, 12 articles were purely related to TQM, service quality, and client satisfaction. This study concludes that TQM practices and tools improve service quality and client satisfaction in healthcare organizations. This study provides excellent managerial and practical insights. Managers should implement the TQM tools to improve service quality and client satisfaction. This way, customer satisfaction is enhanced, and patient satisfaction is improved, leading to high operational and overall performance. This study also reveals a need for further studies to clarify the role of TQM tools on service quality and patient satisfaction.