title: Work activity in food service: The significance of customer relations, tipping practices and gender for preventing musculoskeletal disorders.
abstract: Some evidence shows that food servers are exposed to an elevated risk of musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, and that their work activity varies by gender. Interviews of servers and observations of food service in Québec, Canada, were carried out in three restaurants and a questionnaire was administered to 64 workers from 44 other restaurants. The relationship with the customer has specific effects on work activity and transforms the physical, emotional and cognitive work. Strategies intended to speed service or otherwise related to the customer relationship can involve health risks. Women reported more direct food service (p < 0.01), a tendency to do more "housekeeping" tasks (p < 0.07) and fewer hours of work per week (p < 0.01). Women workers reported experiencing more sites of pain (p < 0.003). This exploratory study suggests that managing the server-customer relationship could be important in preventing musculoskeletal disorders in this population and that women are at particular risk.
authors.affiliation: CGL Ergonomie, 157 Rue du Trèfle, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, QC G3A 1H9, Canada. Electronic address: eve@cglergonomie.com.
authors.forename: Ève
authors.initials: È
authors.lastname: Laperrière
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada. Electronic address: messing.karen@uqam.ca.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Messing
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada. Electronic address: Renee.bourbonnais@rea.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Renée
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bourbonnais
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D017770:Lifting; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000293:injuries*; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005082:Physical Exertion; D012147:Restaurants / Q000191:economics; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Food service; Gender; Musculoskeletal disorders; Tipping; Work activity analysis