[Function analysis of employees at cash desks in the retailing sector by means of the study of the movements of the upper limbs].
Supermarket checkouts are different in term of dimensions and arrangement of the essential devices for cashier's work. It means that a different layout can involve different tasks, so it is necessary to evaluate every single system in order to define the entity of required commitment for the worker. A supermarket checkout was considered in order to evaluate its workstation and to analyze the different tasks of two cashiers with similar anthropometric measurements. In particular one of them is affected by a widespread osteoarthritis, verified by instrumental tests and clinical examination. Several geometrical measures of the workstation were carried out while the cashiers were observed and filmed by videotapes during their activities. The study has been carried out by drawing the "preferred" and "maximal" working areas, as UNI EN ISO 14738:2004 suggests. Some tasks seem to be particularly critical especially for the cashier affected by osteoarthritis, who adopts compensatory postural mechanisms in order to use some devices which are not easy to reach inside the workstation, and which can induce pain to her. Finally the authors make some considerations about the opportunity of making a new layout of the workstation in order to find a more suitable arrangement of the devices.
Molinaro
V
V
ISPESL, Dipartimento di Medicina del Lavoro, Laboratorio di Fisiologia ed Ergonomia, Monteporzio Catone, RM.
Del Ferraro
S
S
D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology*; D006804:Ergonomics; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D011187:Posture