Manejo manual de cargas y su incidencia en los trastornos músculoesqueléticos de los trabajadores del área de ribera de la Curtiduría Promepell S.A.

Abstract

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This investigative study focus on the facilities of the Promepell S.A Tannery, located in the province of Tungurahua, based on the initial identification and medical examinations are detected problems of musculoskeletal disorders in the workers of the ribera area, which comprises job positions such as unhairing, fleshing and splitting leathers in wet condition. Due to the problematic and based on the theoretical basis it is found that the manual handling of leather is one of the main risk factors that cause occupational diseases specifically musculoskeletal disorders in the tannery sector. In order to determine the incidence of manual handling of loads in musculoskeletal disorders, evaluations are carried out using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) method for lifting loads, ISO 11228-2 method to determine the force of pushing and dragging of loads, the method of evaluation of manual handling of loads according to the Technical Guide of the National Institute of Safety and Health at Work (INSHT), where the index of lifting in the splitting is of 1.4, level of moderate risk, the index of initial strength and sustained force in the unhairing is greater than 1 corresponding to an unacceptable level of risk. In addition, the individual survey and the questionnaire for musculoskeletal disorders are applied to six workers in the ribera area, with 5 out of 6 workers showing discomfort at the back-column level, in addition to neck, shoulders and hands. With regard to medical examinations, scoliosis, hyperlordosis, hyperciphosis and rectification of the spine are the main musculoskeletal disorders suffered by workers. Once the results of the evaluation are obtained, a program of prevention of musculoskeletal disorders applied to the ribera area is proposed, in order to reduce the levels of risk from source, medium and worker.