Inclusion criteria

Types of participants

The quantitative and qualitative components of this review will consider studies that include adult onshore wind technicians. In the absence of studies directly relating to onshore wind technicians, participants from other related sectors (i.e. occupations that involve repeated vertical ladder climbing and/or confined space working similar to turbine structures) will be considered. These participants include, but are not restricted to, telecommunications workers, offshore oil and gas workers, construction and maintenance workers and electricians. The specific environmental health effects associated with offshore wind and marine developments are not within the scope of this review.

The textual component of this review will consider the same participants as the quantitative and qualitative components, but will also include occupational health and safety experts, health professionals, employers and industry bodies.

Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest

The quantitative component of the review will consider studies that evaluate the musculoskeletal and other physical health risks to onshore wind technicians and related others associated with the repeated climbing of vertical ladders and working in confined spaces.

The qualitative component of this review will consider studies that investigate onshore wind technicians' and related others' perceptions and experiences of work-related musculoskeletal and other physical health disorders.

The textual component of this review will consider publications that describe the issues related to musculoskeletal and other physical health risks of working in the wind power generation and related industries.

The possible mental health risks associated with working in the wind power generation industry are not within the scope of this review.

Context

This review will consider health-related outcomes of employees in the onshore wind power generation industry and other related industries with similar activities and environments (such as telecommunications, offshore oil and gas and electrical engineering).

Types of outcomes

This review will consider studies that include the following quantitative outcome measures:

- Prevalence and incidence of musculoskeletal and related physical disorders;

- Type and severity of musculoskeletal and related physical disorders including pain, quality of life and physical function;

- Occupational measures such as absenteeism;

- Outcomes related to mental health, confined space rescue, at-height rescue or fatalities are not within the scope of this review.

Types of studies

The quantitative component of the review will consider both analytical and descriptive epidemiological study designs including prospective and retrospective cohort studies, case control studies, case series, individual case reports and cross sectional studies for inclusion.

The qualitative component of the review will consider studies that focus on qualitative data including, but not limited to, designs such as phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, action research and feminist research.

In the absence of research studies, other texts such as opinion papers and reports will be considered.

The textual component of the review will consider expert opinion, discussion papers, position papers and other texts.

Search strategy

The search strategy aims to find both published and unpublished studies. A three-step search strategy will be utilized in this review. An initial limited search of Web of Knowledge, Business Science Complete (BSC) and Medline will be undertaken, followed by analysis of the text words contained in the title and abstract and of the index terms used to describe the articles. A second search using all identified keywords and index terms will then be undertaken across all included databases. Thirdly, the reference lists of all identified reports and articles will be searched for additional studies. Only studies published in English will be considered for inclusion in this review, since translation services are not available to the review team. No search limits will be applied in terms of year of publication both because the review is focused on an industry in its relative infancy, and because of the limited number of articles found during initial scoping.

The databases to be searched include:

Medline, AMED, EmBase, CINAHL, IEEE, Science Direct, Springerlink, ASSIA, Westlaw, Lexus, Avery, OnePetro, Construction & Building Abstracts, Construction Information Service, Business Source Complete, Web of Knowledge, Joanna Briggs Institute Library, PROSPERO.

The search for unpublished studies will include:

Google, Google Scholar, Conference proceedings, Center for Reviews and Dissemination, OpenDOAR, International Newsstand.

Initial keywords to be used will be:

Ladder

Injury

Musculoskeletal

Climb*

Work*

Occupation*

Confined Space

Assessment of methodological quality

Quantitative papers selected for retrieval will be assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological validity prior to inclusion in the review using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) (Appendix I). Any disagreements that arise between the reviewers will be resolved through discussion, or with a third reviewer.

Qualitative papers selected for retrieval will be assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological validity prior to inclusion in the review using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI) (Appendix I). Any disagreements that arise between the reviewers will be resolved through discussion, or with a third reviewer.

Textual papers selected for retrieval will be assessed by two independent reviewers for authenticity prior to inclusion in the review using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Narrative, Opinion and Text Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-NOTARI) (Appendix I). Any disagreements that arise between the reviewers will be resolved through discussion, or with a third reviewer.

Data collection

Quantitative data will be extracted from papers included in the review using the standardized data extraction tool from JBI-MAStARI (Appendix II). The data extracted will include specific details about the interventions, populations, study methods and outcomes of significance to the review question and specific objectives.

Qualitative data will be extracted from papers included in the review using the standardized data extraction tool from JBI-QARI (Appendix II). The data extracted will include specific details about the interventions, populations, study methods and outcomes of significance to the review question and specific objectives.

Textual data will be extracted from papers included in the review using the standardized data extraction tool from JBI-NOTARI (Appendix VI). The data extracted will include specific details about the interventions, populations, study methods and outcomes of significance to the review question and specific objectives.

Data synthesis

Quantitative papers will, where possible, be pooled in statistical meta-analysis using JBI-MAStARI. All results will be subject to double data entry. Effect sizes expressed as a relative risk for cohort studies, odds ratios for case control studies (for categorical data) and weighted mean differences (for continuous data) and their 95% confidence intervals will be calculated for analysis. A random effects model will be used and heterogeneity will be assessed statistically using the standard chi-square test. However, it is likely that statistical pooling will not be possible. In this case, the findings will be presented in narrative form including tables and figures to aid in data presentation where appropriate.

Qualitative research findings will, where possible, be pooled using JBI-QARI. This will involve the aggregation or synthesis of findings to generate a set of statements that represent that aggregation, through assembling the findings (Level 1 findings) rated according to their quality and categorizing these findings on the basis of similarity in meaning (Level 2 findings). These categories are then subjected to a meta-synthesis in order to produce a single comprehensive set of synthesized findings (Level 3 findings) that can be used as a basis for evidence-based practice. Where textual pooling is not possible, the findings will be presented in narrative form.

Textual papers will, where possible, be pooled using JBI-NOTARI. This will involve the aggregation or synthesis of conclusions to generate a set of statements that represent that aggregation, through assembling and categorizing these conclusions on the basis of similarity in meaning. The first step will generate a set of statements that represent the aggregated data through assembling the conclusions rated according to their quality. Then, findings will be categorized based on similarity of meaning. The final step will be through meta-aggregation of the categories to produce a single comprehensive set of synthesized findings that can be used as a basis for evidence-based practice.

Conflicts of interest

None

Acknowledgements

Funding: Renewable UK

References