VENEZUELA

. AUTHORS: VICTOR CASTILLO. UNELLEZ`s Professor.CARLOS GARCIA. UNEFA`s Professor.

WORKSHOP ON ERGONOMICS EVALUTION

ASTERDAM, SEPTEMBER 2009.

IntroductionObjectiveMethodologyResultsConclusions and Recommendations

1. The Venezuelan and European statistics on musculoskeletal diseases in women call for attention from the international community

2. In order to understand the complexity of women`s health problems we must extend our perspective and change science (Messing 2008)

3. The secretaries often complain in a general way about pains and other types of health problems related to musculoskeletal disorders.

4. The supervisors think they are lazy, because they often need rest.

THE MYTH:THE MYTH:SAFE WORKING PLACESSAFE WORKING PLACES

AND EASY JOBS AND EASY JOBS

THE MYTH:THE MYTH:SAFE WORKING PLACESSAFE WORKING PLACES

AND EASY JOBS AND EASY JOBS

LIMITED LIMITED SAFETY SAFETY POLICIESPOLICIES

LIMITED LIMITED SAFETY SAFETY POLICIESPOLICIES

LACK LACK OF PREVENTIVE OF PREVENTIVE PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONAL

FORMATIONFORMATION

LACK LACK OF PREVENTIVE OF PREVENTIVE PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONAL

FORMATIONFORMATION

GENERATE

DANGEROUS DANGEROUS AND DESTRUCTIVEAND DESTRUCTIVEEFFECT FOR THEM EFFECT FOR THEM

DANGEROUS DANGEROUS AND DESTRUCTIVEAND DESTRUCTIVEEFFECT FOR THEM EFFECT FOR THEM

Wrong critiria and lack of effective ergonomics determine the investment of economic resources for work safety and health.

It is considered a waste of money and time to update the work conditions .

No body cares for the results of the statistics wich show the reality in most of the work places.It is simply taken as results of luck and casualty when something wrong happends.

The economic matters of today will represents a very high cost for the company tomorrow and some lives could be lost.

Any work place ( labour center ) with an excellent working conditions will have a better results of its workers. Cost analysis show that no investment in the updating of the working conditions will generate high cost in a long and shot period of time.

To make the evaluation of the work conditions applying the Ergonomic Approach, considering the productivity costs, social costs and the criteria used by the employer in the case of a female worker ( executive secretary ) in an official venezuelan university.

This field research project takes an ergonomic approach with a mixed (qualitative - quantitative) design. An ergonomic evaluation was carried out approach using triangulation method. The study was conducted in three stages:

1. Déparis Method (Malchaire 2009) to obtain the participative diagnosis of the hazardous conditions of work.2. The analysis for postural comfort in seated and standing positions. 3. The analysis of cost for an extreme case.

Participants were 8 women who were working in offices of the university, distributed in two groups: a) homogeneous and b) heterogeneous.

A deep research was made taking as an example the case of a female worker (an executive secretary ) who was incapacitated from work bacause of a bad ocupational desease due to inadecuate work conditions at the university where she used to work.

Aproaches the working situation from the general

to the specific.

1. General organization, moving to the location of the workplace.

2. Safety.

3. Tools and direct means of work.

4. Enviromental physical factors.

5. Psycho-organizational factors.

Results

Aspect The homogeneous group

The heterogeneous group

Extreme case

Ages (years)

36 - 41 23- 54 50

Seniority (years)

10-14 02-09 15

Educations Two are professionals and one studies in the same university (night shift)

Two are university students and 3 are senior professionals

Professional

Height (m) 1,60-1,65 1,55-1,63 1,60

Weight (kg) 75 -81 54-85 55

Diagnosed diseases among secretaries

Musculoskeletal disorders Neuritis

Back and neck pain.

Cervical instability in C3/C4.

Degenerative discopathy C4/C5 and C5/C6 with segmentary instabilityNeuritis

Table 01Characteristics of the women under this study

Source: information from the investigation or research

Risk factor Risk factor

1.- Working area 10.- Lighting

2.-Technical organization of the position

11.- Noise

3.-Worksite adaptation 12.- Thermal environment

4.-Accident risks 13.- Biological and chemical risks

5.- Commands and signals

14.-Employment security

6.-Tools and working materials

15.- Working relations ( workmates )

7.- Working posture 16.-Social, local and general environment

8.- Effort and load manipulation

17.- Work contents

9.- Mental load 18.- Psychosocial environment

Table 02Synthesis of the situation of the secretaries’ workplace

Source: information of the investigation or research

1. Confined and limited space.

2. Offices with spoiled equipment and desks

3. Inadequate furniture.

4. Constant variations in the cycle of work.

RESULTADOS

RESULTADOS

1. Weakness in intra-campus automobile traffic control.

2. Lack of emergency situation training.

3. Lack of an emergency system alarm.

1. Inadequate or non-existent tools.

2. Obsolete working equipment.

3. Total lack of ergonomic approach.

4. Uncomfortable and tiring working positions for women (in

squatting position, arms raiseding, extended neck, tension on

upper shoulders, standing up position for too long and inadequate

situation for sitting).

RESULTADOS

1. Noise interfering with work.

2. Poor lighting.

3. Lack of thermal comfort

4. Unhealthy conditions (dust, pigeons, bat, and mice excrement

and spiders` nests).

5. Biological and chemical risks

RESULTADOS

Disapointment because of some unfair acts.

RESULTADOS

Difficulties for teamwork.

Competitions among workers for advancement, job security.

Employment security in danger.

The time for the cycle of work is 67 min. It repeats from two to seven times per day

64% of the timein a very long

seated position

Precarious condition

27% of the time in a standing position

•Average comfort quotient of all secretaries jobsites by 5 critera = 0,33.•Sustained unconfortable positions• Use of inadequate furniture.

•Average comfort quotient = 0,20.•A lot of physical effort.• Uncomfortable positions.•Work outside of the ideal range of postures.

DangerousPosition

* Change the furniture of the office buying movable files, executive chairs, desk and computer desk according to the dimensions of the workers.

* Desing an effective maintenance plan for the phisical installations of the offices and equipment to prevent any type of failure, adecuate lighting and promote a constant cleaning procedure for the office to keep the work place neat and clean.

Developing and application of an effective management of health and safety in the work place which allows:

a) Install the health and work safety committee.b) Execute activities of orientation and training related to

accidents and ocupational deseases prevention.c) Add the medical service and the industrial safety unit to

the preventive activities.d) Promote the preventive and integral protection culture

to each worker in the work place including the employer.

1. Update the work place conditions of the workers ( secretaries) including the “extreme case “.

2. Include an effective ergonomics aproach in order to get an excellent work place conditions.

1. Avoid aparent unnecessary expenses.

2. Diminish operative costs per year; so, it could garantee the operativity of the year with the previous assigned budget

3. Waiting doing nothing leaving everything to luck ; but, the statistics and the work place evaluation or labor evaluation indicates precarious conditions which generates an occupational desease(at extreme conditions).

4. The reactive action and not the preventive action for the problems in the work conditions, is not the best decision taken.

Ergonómics Intervention (Bs) Non Ergonómics Intervention (Bs)

Adaptable furniture acquisition. Chair, table, file and cabinet.

15000(first investment)

Waste of labour time because of: precarious work conditions, Medical rest and personal labour incapacitation.

83200

Application of a maintenance plan for the Phisical installations and office equipment.

1000 (per year) 11000

Surgery Intervention of the spinal column and acquisition of medical supplies.

31800

Develop and apply a management of health and safety ( education to prevent ).

2000 (Per year)

22000

Social Costs, Image costs and payment of the sue for the occupational desease.

30000

TOTAL COST ( Bs) 48000 145000

Costs Relation (No action/ Oportune action) = 145000Bs / 48000Bs= 3 (adimensional) Time Consideration : 11 years.

Table 03Costs related to the employer’s options in the extreme case

• Risks of falls in the stairs bacause the wrong location of the work place as is the case of the extreme case.

• Risks of death for mothers and babies because of chairs braking of the pregnant women when working in their work places.

• Low levels of work performance due to the problems with the organisation of the work places.

• Necessities of training and hiring of other persons to replace the incapacitated workers or workers on labour rest.

• Modify the economics criteria to make accurate decisions related to the working conditions.

• Sensitize the university health and safety management to women´s problems.

• Consider the social and productivity costs and integrating analysis criteria in order to take decisions related to the ergonomics interventions.

THE END