OWAS method analysis applied to a slaughterhouse company

Introduction: The Industrial Revolution was a milestone in world development, but as every innovative process, it has also brought adverse situations, especially to the health of the worker. The beginning of the industrial process was marked by the repetitiveness of movements and monotony at work. Subsequently, the automation developed and modified the form of production. However, despite the improvements in the industry, the same effort is still noted, characterized by the exhaustive repetition of movements, the requirement of the same muscular group daily and monotony, factors that cause stress, musculoskeletal injuries and occupational accidents. The objective of this research was to assess the index of workers with musculoskeletal injuries. Methodology: The study was developed in two sectors of a slaughterhouse located in the south of Brazil: chicken’s wing cut sector and platform sector. The observation, in situ, allowed the ergonomic analysis through the Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System (OWAS) method to assess the ergonomic risks of the postures based on the position of the back, arms, and legs of the workers. Time and methods were analyzed, as well as the medical records of all workers, which were registered and assessed. For the statistical analysis, workers were divided into a) uptime, b) workers who had already exercised demanding work activity of physical exertion and/or repetition of movements and the form of removal (with medical low or without medical low) and, c) by gender. Results and discussion: Through the use of the OWAS method, it was verified that workers from both sectors are not exposed to ergonomic risk. Therefore, hypothetically, they would not be subjected to musculoskeletal injuries. These results were then compared with the medical records and there was disagreement between the result of the ergonomic method and the number of injured workers. Women were the most affected by the musculoskeletal injuries. Regarding the male universe, the majority of mean suffering from musculoskeletal injuries were those who had previously worked with the activities that required force and/or repetition of movements. Conclusions: It was determined that the index of injuried workers were 25% of women in the wing cut, and 17% of men in the platform sector, which was not coherent with the application of the Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System method. It is believed the main reason is that the method does not consider the movements repetitiveness which characterises the activity. Therefore, it would be helpful for the analysis that the ergonomic study is performed using several tools, so that the result is reliable, given the dissonances that may exist between methods and means of analysis.