ASSESSMENT MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS (MSDS) IN WAITERS

Ruiz Ibarra Jesús Iván1, Ramírez Leyva Alberto1, KarinaLuna Soto1

Areli S. Gastelum O.2; Laura B. Inzunza R.2; Cecilia LópezR.2; Adilene A. López; María J. Quiñonez C2.

1 Professor for the Technological Institute of Los Mochis

2 Industrial Engineering students by the TechnologicalInstitute of Los Mochis

E-mail Authors: jesus_ruizi@hotmail.com;alberto_ramirez_leyva@yahoo.com; karinaluna1@yahoo.com

RESUMEN. El trabajo es una actividad que permite a los

seres humanos desarrollarse plenamente e interactuar con

sus semejantes, la Organización Internacional del Trabajo

(OIT) define este concepto como el conjunto de actividades

humanas, remuneradas o no, que producen bienes o servicios

en una economía, que cumplen con la necesidades de una

comunidad o proveen los medios de subsistencia necesarios

para los individuos. El turismo de masas nació en la década

de los años 50´s, a partir de esto, la industria del

turismo ha transformado la vida de muchos países y sus

habitantes , llegando a convertirse en un sector clave de

sus economías , crear riqueza , fuerza laboral, y un

promotor de su cultura . Siendo el factor más importante

en la industria del turismo el factor humano, que no puede

ser sustituido por robots o la automatización de todos los

servicios, ya sea para la producción y la prestación de

servicios; es esencial mantener y cuidar los equipos,

maquinaria y herramientas, mucho más lo es el factor

humano, que sin duda, debe enfatizar la seguridad y salud

en el trabajo. Los trastornos musculo-esqueléticos incluyen

un gran número de afecciones de los músculos, tendones,

nervios o articulaciones que pueden ocurrir en cualquier

parte del cuerpo, aunque las más comunes son las que

afectan al cuello, la espalda y las extremidades

superiores. Objetivo. Determinar la presencia de trastornos

musculo-esqueléticos en meseras trabajando a tiempo

completo. Delimitación. La realización de este proyecto de

investigación se centró en las meseras en Guasave, Sin.

Dónde trabajan seis días a la semana con un turno de 8

horas, para determinar los trastornos músculo-esqueléticos

que se producen con más frecuencia. Metodología. Este

artículo presenta las principales afectaciones que las

personas desarrollan como meseras por las actividades

inherentes a esta profesión, se analiza fatiga y los

trastornos musculo-esqueléticos. La herramienta de mapeo

que se utilizó fué Corlett & Bishop, que muestra el grado

de malestar - dolor que se produce en diferentes partes del

cuerpo. Así como la escala de 4 puntos de Luke, que muestra

un nivel de fatiga experimentada por meseras. Resultados.

Después de realizar los estudios mencionados y analizar el

ámbito de la investigación, se observó que todo el tiempo

eran las mismas posiciones de los trabajadores y las

actividades se repitieron durante un turno completo. Antes

de comenzar con la aplicación de métodos de evaluación se

tienen la obligación de informar a las meseras lo que iba a

hacer, eso no va a afectar a la forma en la que se realiza

el trabajo y del mismo modo no afecta a los resultados del

estudio. En cuanto a los cuestionarios para medir la fatiga

y los trastornos musculo-esqueléticos, antes de aplicarlo a

las camareras se les pidió que contestara lo que sentía al

momento de la encuesta. Conclusiones. En base a los

resultados obtenidos por los estudios realizados se puede

concluir que el mayor índice de quejas presentadas por

cansancio fué el jueves, viernes y sábado con un resultado

de cansado, muy cansado y extremadamente cansado en eso

días, ya que son lo días de la semana en que se tiene un

incremento en las molestias. También los datos muestran

como resultado que se debieron al aumento de la demanda en

el restaurante, ya que son días muy ocupados, lo que hace

que el peso que se lleva en la bandeja es más alta de lo

normal, sin embargo, eso no quiere decir que el peso

acostumbrado sea el adecuado para los segmentos del cuerpo

de la mesera.

ABSTRACT. Work is an activity that allows human beings to

fully develop and interact with their peers, the

International Labour Organization ( ILO) defines this

concept as the set of human activities, paid or unpaid,

that produce goods or services in an economy, that meet the

needs of a community or provide livelihoods necessary for

individuals. Mass tourism was born in the decade of the

50s, from this, the tourism industry has transformed the

lives of many countries and their inhabitants, reaching to

become a key sector in their economies, create wealth,

power work, and an enhancer of their culture. Being a major

player in the tourism industry talent human factor, which

cannot be replaced by robots or automation of all services,

whether for production and service provision is essential

to maintain and care equipment, machinery and tools, much

more so is the human factor which undoubtedly must

emphasize safety and health at work. Musculoskeletal

disorders include a large number of disorders of muscles,

tendons, nerves or joints that can occur anywhere on the

body, although the most common are those that affect the

neck, back and upper extremities. Objective. Determine the

presence of musculoskeletal disorders in waitresses working

full time. Delimitation. The completion of this research

project will focus on the waitresses in Guasave, Sin. Where

works six days a week with one shift of 8 hours to

determine the musculoskeletal disorders that occur most

frequently. Methodology. This paper presents the main

diseases that people develop as waiters can get by the

activities inherent in this profession, fatigue analyzes

and musculoskeletal disorders are evaluated. The mapping

tool is used Corlett &Bishop, which shows the degree of

discomfort - pain that occurs in different parts of the

body-. Scale of 4 points of Luke, showing a level of

fatigue experienced by waitresses. Results. After

performing the above studies and analyze the area of

research, several points are observed such as decreased

efficiency of waitresses, and all the time were the same

positions of workers and activities were repeated for a

full shift . This research also considered the non-work

activities of the waitresses, and also influence on fatigue

and musculoskeletal disorders. Before starting with the

application of assessment methods are required to inform

the waitresses what was to be done, that will not affect

the way in labor and likewise not affect the study results.

Regarding the questionnaires to measure fatigue and

musculoskeletal disorders, before applying it to the

waitresses asked to answer how he felt at the time of the

questionnaire. Conclusions. Based on the results obtained

by surveys conducted it can be concluded that the highest

rate of complaints presented by tired on Thursday, Friday

and Saturday whit a rate of tired, very tired and

extremely tired, this because as the days of the week for

the inconvenience increase served on the waitresses. Also

the data shows as a result, the trouble those days were due

to increased demand in the restaurant as they are very busy

days, which makes the weight is carried on the tray is

higher than usual, however that does not mean that the

usual is the right weight for the waitress´s body segments.

CONTRIBUTION TO ERGONOMICS:

Waitress is a little studied activity, this investigation

is a beginning for a future investigation works for

occupations related to this profession, new hand-tools

designs to improve the execution of this activity

KEYWORDS: MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDER, RISK ASSESSMENT, WAITERS

1. INTRODUCTION.

Although they may have an even staff and labor extra, home,

working conditions are an aspect directly related to

musculoskeletal disorders. In this regard, efforts,

postures or movements performed may be influenced by the

design of the place, the type of tasks to be performed and

work organization, can appear both in the development of

heavy and office work. According to the above, the

prevention of musculoskeletal disorders is linked directly

with a proper design of the space and the workplace,

maintaining adequate lighting, the use of quality tools and

good work organization.

2. OBJECTIVE

Determine the presence of musculoskeletal disorders inwaitresses working full time

2.1 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

Analyzing the subject of research in their work environment.

Interviewing research subjects. Assess the activities undertaken by the study subjects

and analyze the collected data to propose for

improvement

3. DELIMITATION.

The completion of this research project will focus on the

service personnel in restaurants (waitress) specifically

for businesses that exist in Guasave, Sin. Where works six

days a week with one shift of 8 hours to determine the

musculoskeletal disorders that occur most frequently.

4. METHODOLOGY.

This paper presents the main diseases that people develop

as waiters can get by the activities inherent in this

profession, the same as with training and other measures

could be eliminated or reduced. We analyze fatigue and

musculoskeletal disorders are evaluated. One of the tools

used is mapping Corlett & Bishop, which is a study that

shows the amount of discomfort-pain that occurs in

different parts of the body. Scale of 4 points of Luke,

showing a level of fatigue experienced by waiters, this

will help us to determine the body segments where pain or

discomfort is experienced also applies.

4.1 PROCEDURE.

It begins with designating the sample size, which is 20

people dedicated to the waiter. It took 6 working days,

since the servers will distribute their working time during

the week. This was repeated for a period of 3 weeks, during

which 100% of the servers they work 6 days a week.

4.2 METHOD OF 4 ITEMS OF LUKE AND ET AL.

Used a scale to determine the level of fatigue. On this

scale, called the points of Luke, fatigue levels are

entered after a normal day of work, where the measurement

scale is: "nothing tired" 1 point "tired" 2 points "very

tired "3 points and" extremely tired "4 points. Responses

to "very tired" and "extremely tired" fatigue are

considered.

4.3 METHOD CORLETT & BISHOP

DISCOMFORT SCALE OF BODYSEGMENTS CORLETT & BISHOP

The scale of discomfortbody segments (Corlett &Bishop, 1976) is ameasurement technique thatcan be used to determinethe degree of comfortexperienced by a person whouses technical assistance,this can be observed in the image 1, where the hand andshoulder posture are incorrect.

The technique was developed for evaluating designs of

chairs, but the principles could easily be applied to other

products as well.

The development of such scales

requires expert knowledge, but

are made by the end user to be

applied: also requires some

skills and experiences in

technical analysis.

Such scales are an effective way

to obtain information on

perceived discomfort, but it

should be noted that some of the

Image 1. Waitress´s bad posture

respondents may not reveal their discomfort in a reliable

way.

For this reason, it is not a good idea to rely solely on

such subjective measures and should be supplemented with

other more objective techniques to gather this information.

In addition, the discomfort of a person can be determined

by the degree of change in posture when using a product,

the amount of time that is available for use and their

preferences for similar products. [7]

The test of pain in body parts (Corlett & Bishop) is

another test of comfort (Figure 1) in which questions about

the rate of discomfort or pain in any part of the body, at

time intervals while the furniture is used for a number 1

to 3 hours. To assist the location of pain, the test is

accompanied by a map of the body, with small variations in

the areas where it is divided, according to authors.

Responses were weighted by the level of discomfort and

temporary pain assessment is obtained in each area of the

body. [8]

Any change made in the sensations of discomfort or

inconvenience (Drury & Coury, 1982), should be solely for

the purpose of using that seat. The discomfort should be

related to the characteristics of the task and furniture,

to obtain design criteria.

5. RESULTS.

Figure 1. Corlett & Bishop map

After performing the above studies and analyze the area of

research, several points are observed such as decreased

efficiency in the servers, and all the time were the same

positions of workers and activities were repetitive, for a

full shift.

This research also took into account the non-work

activities of the servers, and also influence on fatigue

and musculoskeletal disorders.

The size of the wasprobing

was 20 people –male or

female- who are dedicated to

working as a waitress

(Figure 2). It took 6

working days, since the

servers will distribute

their working time during the week. This was repeated for a

period of 3 weeks, during which 100% of the waitresses are

working 6 days a week.

The sounding result show a 40% of interviewed work 8 hours

per day and a 60% visited the doctor for labor pains, it

shows in the figure

3

Based on the results

obtained by surveys

the highest rate of

complaints presented

by tired on

Doctor visits for labor pain

Figure 2. Waitress population

Thursday, Friday and Saturday (figure 4) whit a rate of

tired, very tired and extremely tired

Before starting with the application of assess-ment methods

are required to inform the waitresses what is going to do,

so they do not affect in the way of working and likewise

not affect the study results.

Regarding the

questionnaires to

measure fatigue and

musculoskeletal

disorders, before

applying it to the

waitresses asked to

answer how he felt

at the time of the questionnaire. The results for the

Corlett & Bishop map analysis are shown in the table 1

Mayor disorders

are in neck,

shoulders, upper

arm, wrist and

hand. In lower

grade are head and

lower back.

Figure 4. Results 4 point Lukeet Al

Table 1. Results Corlett & Bishop map of the body

6. CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results obtained by surveys conducted it can

be concluded that the highest rate of complaints presented

by on Thursday, Friday and Saturday whit a rate of tired,

very tired and extremely tired, this because as the days of

the week for the inconvenience increase served on the

waitresses.

Also the data shows as a result, the trouble you had those

days were due to increased demand in the restaurant as they

are very busy days, which makes the weight is carried on

the tray is higher than usual, however that does not mean

that the usual is the right weight for a waitress.

One of the recommendations made is the redesign of the tray

to adapt better to the worker (s). Looking to give comfort

to the worker that he can fulfill his duties in the best

way, the redesign is that the tray fits in a better way to

work and that has a texture and shape so that it can be

used without overexertion and in an essential way that

suits the neutral body shape.

7. REFERENCES

1. Eurofound, "Fourth European Working Conditions Survey.Impact of work on health.", European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.,  pp: -, 2005

2. http://www.ergonautas.upv.es/art-tech/tme/ TME_Bibliografia.htm

3. Mondelo Pedro R., Ergonomía 1, 3ra Edición, Ediciones

upc. 2000.

4. http://www.ergonet.com.br/download/fatiga-

costureras.pdf

5. http://www.salud.es/riesgos_laborales/trastornos-

musculo-esqueleticos.

6. http://portal.uned.es/portal/page?

_pageid=93,872156&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

7. CORLETT&BISHOP. R. P. 1976. A technique for measuring

postural discomfort (Una técnica para medir el

malestar postural). Ergonomics, 9, 175-182.

8. http://www.tdr.cesca.es/TESIS_UJI/AVARIABLE/TDX-

0619108-25901//vergara.pdf