Posturas forzadas y prevalencia de trastornos musculoesqueléticos de miembros superiores en trabajadores del área de etiquetado en una empresa de plástico de la ciudad de Quito

Abstract

Objectives: I) Establish the prevalence of upper limb skeletal-muscle disorders in workers in the labeling area and, II) Identify the ergonomic risk level due to forced postures in the labeling station, in a plastic company of Quito city. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study applied to 11 workers in the labeling area. Musculoskeletal symptomatology, referred by workers in upper limbs and cervical area, was identified. It was collected through the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire and the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method to assess the level of risk due to forced postures in the labeling station. Results: The 11 workers reported at least one discomfort in the last 12 months. The 36.4% of them reported pain in the neck, right shoulder, and right hand/wrist. The 5 positions show a medium risk level, deserving the necessary ergonomic action. Conclusions: all the workers present neck and upper limb discomfort with a predominance in the right hemibody, in addition, there is a moderate level of ergonomic risk in the positions exercised by the workers in the labeling process, therefore, it is necessary to implement prevention measures and interventions in the workplace.