Evaluation of Quality of Life and Ergonomic Risks in Workers of the Furniture Sector in Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

This study evaluated ergonomically the workers of a furniture industry making sofa structures, located in the city of Visconde do Rio Branco, Minas Gerais State, between August 2016 and December 2016, aiming to evaluate the quality of life and the ergonomic risks of the workers present. It was evaluated a population of 66 workers, including assemblers of sofa structures and carpentry machine operators, both males. Initially, all of these were submitted to the pain test, performed by means of questions regarding the greatest and least muscular discomfort, with the help of a map of the musculature of the human body. A sample of the workers with the highest rates of muscular pain was withdrawn from this population. The sample was submitted to WHOQOL-Bref (World Health Organization Quality of Life - Bref) questionnaire, which evaluates the perception of quality of life; After the kinesiological analysis of the work, observing the positions adopted and the assembly time of the structures of the sofa; the RULA method (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment), responsible for evaluate possible damage to limbs, such as the arm, forearm, wrist, neck, trunk and legs; and finally the biomechanical evaluation of static and postural forces, using 3DSSPP software (3D Static Strength Prediction Program). The results of WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire revealed that, in general, the perception of the sample about quality of life at work was classified as "very satisfactory" and the "physical environment was the one with the lowest degree of satisfaction. The kinesiological and biomechanical analyzes showed that the factors most critical to the work routine are related to wrist flexion, ulnar deviation and flexion of the indicator. However, based on static and postural forces, this activity can be developed without health risks by 97% of the workers. The load on workers during the working day did not prove to be crucial for triggering musculoskeletal disorders, so most workers are able to develop their work activities without health risks.