Acknowledgements

While doing my research in the Work Science Laboratory of Oulu University, Finland, I have picked my battle wisely and studied health, safety and ergonomic issues under the supervision of some experts who have decades of experience on work-related issues. At the time they passed along guidance and provided many valuable pieces of advice and suggestions, making an outlandish prediction of my future as an active professional on this subject, which is multidisciplinary. When I was accepted for doctoral studies (30^th August 1998), it was a great challenge to continue research on such a topic that has both technical and medical aspects. In the beginning of my studies, I thought I could not succeed in this battle due to various local constraints such as taking courses without regular class attendance, applying for funding, travelling from Finland to Bangladesh, and so on.

The industrial workplaces in Bangladesh are also vibrant in regard to non-compliance of work regulations, and thus, allowing a researcher by the factory owners and labour union in their factory premises is not easy. The factory owners are usually afraid about workplace survey and investigation believing that the study would cause them penalty or such action. Notwithstanding the difficulties encountered, I focused on technical and medical ideas in setting up suitable protocol measurements and questionnaire designs using local concepts for collecting work-related data and information. I think it is highly desirable to bring forward such work-related issues in developing countries to “fill a special need” for workplace improvement that is lacking in today’s scientific literature.

While this thesis could undertake this role by focusing on occupational health and safety, I wonder whether a more appropriate way of making the workplace intervention or ergonomic application might be the collaboration of all the parties concerned. As few publications are as yet interdisciplinary, I still wonder and am afraid if the thesis is ready for public defence. At any rate, I believe that this thesis will provide the current state of some problems, with an identification and assessment of work-related risk factors—in which further research is required to provide systematic insight to draw public attention on the subject. I am therefore grateful to many persons who have contributed in different ways to achieve this thesis in the final stage.

I need to acknowledge the valuable support, expert discussions and collaborations from all of my supervisors and co-authors—who extended their individual expertise in the writing of the scientific articles for possible publications in different journals. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank all beleaguered anonymous reviewers of my articles for linguistic revisions, suggestions and criticisms. I am greatly indebted to my colleagues and many friends in Finland for their kind help, and relatives for their understanding and patience that I have spent on this work for an unexpectedly long time.

With immense pleasure, I wish to express my warmest thanks to several foundations (e.g., the Academy of Finland, Tauno Tönningin Foundation, Finnish Work Environments Fund) for financial assistance, and remain ever grateful to all of workers who participated in case studies, and to the management of the work organisations and factory owners for their kind co-operation, and for data collection.

Oulu, Finland, September 2002                                                           Rabiul Ahasan