Field observation of hospital food service workers and the relationship between customer demand and biomechanical stress: a case study.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Armstrong TJ ; Carrasquillo V ; Hu SJ
• Description:
  Motion analysis of three workers at a large hospital kitchen was conducted using video recordings as part of this case study. Workers were observed during both a high-demand period and a low-demand period to evaluate their exposure to physical risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. On average, workers' reaching posture did not change significantly with customer demand. However, recovery time decreased by 18% and hand activity level (HAL) increased by 27% when customer demand increased. On an individual basis, the only worker whose work pace was constrained by processing (cooking) time and the availability of materials to complete the tasks had the most recovery time and did not show an increase in HAL even with an increase in demand. These results suggest the importance of designing tasks that are paced externally (e.g., cooking time) in a self-paced operation to limit the reduction in recovery time and increase in HAL as demand increases. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Food-Processing Industry Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Hand Activity Level; Recovery Time; Field Observation; Reaching Posture; Customer Demand; Work Pace Food Processing Workers; Motion Studies; Ergonomics; Musculoskeletal Disorders; MSD; Posture; Body Mechanics; Work Analysis;
• ISSN:
  2472-5838
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  47-58
• Volume:
  10
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065155
• Citation:
  IISE Trans Occup Ergon Hum Factors 2022 Jan-Mar; 10(1):47-58
• Contact Point Address:
  Vernnaliz Carrasquillo, Industrial and Operations Engineering, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA
• Email:
  vcarrasq@emich.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f20b50ff2ec90dd75a6dc8e281667c672d53873daf654c1c4dd6b01bc87351b6c5172899c85eb7398e459e4b53d411702ee515d63cfb85ad9062c61e68cbf0e6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248886/cdc_248886_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.70 MB ]