Ergonomic analysis of cleaning professionals: pilot study

Introduction: The cleaning activity is characterized by being an occupational activity performed mostly standing, adopting excessive bending of the lower back postures, high positioning of the arms, squatting, the repetitiveness of movements and use of non-ergonomic working tools that demand a high physical profile and agility of the worker. The physical, ergonomic, psychosocial and organizational factors are work-related risks for the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders. Being extremely demanding for the worker's musculoskeletal structure, the ergonomic analysis is fundamental. This pilot study aimed to assess the risk of musculoskeletal lesion of a professional cleaning worker due to the movements and task performance along the activity. Methodology: A cleaning professional was selected, observations in loco were made, and video/photos were collected, as well as anthropometric data and job-related information. The Nordic questionnaire was applied, and complemented by the REBA method. To determine the energy expenditure and prevent the appearance of injury it was performed an analysis with ActiGraph wGT3X-BT. In order to analyze the adopted postures, Microsoft Excel® and Actilife® software were used for data processing. Results and discussion: The results indicate that the worker has a high prevalence of painful symptomatology in the exposed regions due to the adopted postures, which may be indicative of musculoskeletal injuries. The study allowed to analyze the most affected body regions were the neck, hips/thighs, knees and ankles/feet. The ergonomic analysis revealed the working postures used during the activity constitute a high risk of musculoskeletal injury. Conclusions: The results are consistent with the existing literature and provide information that allows characterizing the working activity through the body segments: neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist / hand, chest area, lower back, hips / thighs, knees and ankles / feet according with the positions adopted by effectively working over the 8h of work. With the results, it is possible to know the risks ergonomic that the worker is exposed, as well as improvements and/or changes in the form of execution of the activity.