An ergonomic study of work methods and physical disorders among professional butchers

Butchers considered that the back and the upper extremities were subjected to high loads from their work. Of the 92% with reported physical disorders, 80% had pains or complaints from more than one body area. Most frequent were disorders of the back and shoulders. 50% of the butchers had been on sick leave due to their disorders. By ergonomic analysis of the work, several work tasks which caused high loads on those body parts in which disorders had occurred were identified. The high loads were found to have the following main causes, which occurred together in many work situations: (1) Exertion of high forces when cutting the meat. (2) Frequent and heavy manual materials handling. (3) Inappropriate working postures. It appeared from the study that the workload on the butchers was unnecessarily high and that it could be the main reason for the high frequency of disorders amongst them. The strain on them was to a large extent caused by bad working postures, which could be improved by introducing improved equipment. The equipment should be such that the working-height may be adjusted both to the individual and for the task performed.