The Relevance of Psychosocial Factors in Industry—A Narrative Review

Psychosocial risk factors in combination with physical risk factors are a transversal work reality in a wide range of industries and occupations. The main objectives of this review were to investigate the relevance of assessing psychosocial factors in the manufacturing and the automotive industries. The methodology encompassed a narrative review of the literature, with research of scientific articles in databases PubMed, Scielo, ScienceDirect, Scopus. In the manufacturing industry were identified high quantitative demands, low control over working, job insecurity, insecurity over working conditions, high cognitive demands, conflicting social relationships, low recognition at work, work-life conflict, among other psychosocial factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in the upper limbs, neck and spine. In the automotive industry, high quantitative demands, the low latitude of decision, low control over working, intense pace of work and low quality of leadership were associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in various regions of the upper limbs, neck and spine. There is a gap in the literature regarding the assessment of psychosocial factors in the automotive industry, and a lack of longitudinal studies and more in-depth assessment of psychosocial factors that identify reference values for the automotive industry.