Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders by improving Postural Habits: experience with cleaning personnel

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an intervention for improving postural habits among cleaning personnel, to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. We designed a specific intervention for cleaning personnel, consisting of a set of continuous actions focused on promoting good postural habits and physical activity. The intervention was implemented over two different years (initial implementation and replication phases) in a sample of workers in the general building cleaning subsector who belonged to different work centers of the same company. The evaluation of the intervention consisted of self-reported worker feedback and recording of habits by an external observer. In the initial implementation phase, we observed a 92% increase in participants who reported they always or almost always adopt good postural habits during cleaning tasks. In the replication phase, this improvement was sustained by about 67% of participants. The main improvements were observed in: bending knees and hips, keeping the back straight, alternating use of arms and using support while bending forward. The external observation of postural habits corroborated the improvement reported by the workers. This intervention approach, consisting of different actions, could be continued over time, facilitating worker empowerment, and may be effective in improving the postural habits of cleaning workers in the short term. More research is needed to assess whether the change in habits is maintained over the long term and what its effect would be on the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders.