Improvement of Tsukiji free fish market in Tokyo ("Kaizen" of work environment).
"TSUKIJI" is one of the biggest and most famous Free Fish Markets in the world, but there are many problems on the working condition because it was built about 60 years ago. Our investigation was held 1991 to 1993 to give some improvements regarding layout of buildings, working time, heat condition at refrigerator, working posture, and so on. We used a questionnaire on daily life and health care of workers, time study with measurement of heartbeats, and checklist (using Checklist for Improvement of Safety-Health and Working Conditions,' made by ILO). The main occupations in TSUKIJI were seller, buyer, delivery worker, and refrigerator maintenance worker. Their starting time was early in the morning, usually between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., but the hardest one was delivery workers starting at 9:00 p.m. They used auto cargo car for carrying to shops from refrigerator or from auction places many times. Sellers had two different types of work. First, the seller set up the auction, numbering the fish (or cases of seafood), arranging them in order, and so on. The rest of the work was transaction of invoices, sometimes using VDU with almost sitting. These works did not look well balanced. Buyer of tuna cut if like lumber by electric saws did not have guard for protection and there were more than 200 machines. Overlooking the market by checklist, some problems were clarified, and suggestions for improvement include restructuring the whole layout of the market or reforming buildings, standardization of the cases, adjustment of health facilities, safety protection on tools and machines, management of working system, working posture, health care, and so on.
Kishida
K
K
Takasaki City University of Economics, Takasaki.
Ikegami
T
T
Maehara
N
N
Watanabe
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D005522:Food Services; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings / Q000592:standards*; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D009790:Occupations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D014504:Urban Health; D017132:Workplace