Abstract
ABSTRACT The work pace in poultry slaughterhouses is high and the risk of developing upper limb work-related musculoskeletal disorders is moderate to high. Thus, through risk management and the use of technical, organizational, and administrative means, the employer should ensure the well-being of workers, as well as safe and healthy working environments and conditions. The aim of this study was to identify the self-reported preference of poultry slaughterhouse workers regarding rest break frequency and duration, and to verify the reasons for their choice. The participants in the study included 311 workers from four poultry slaughterhouses. The workers were asked what rest break schemes they preferred: 6x10 min, 3x20 min, 4x15 min or another schedule, as well as the reasons for their selection. According to the workers’ opinions, 3x20 min was the best break schedule (90.7%), mainly because it allowed time to rest (64.5%), as they had more time to carry out their activities calmly. Unanimously, these workers responded that a 10-min break is very short, which only allows one to reach the rest area or the bathroom and return, no time to rest. Only 8.7% of workers wanted to have a higher rest break frequency (6 or 4 times per day) to leave the sector more, go to the bathroom often, have shorter work intervals, in addition to warming up the body and resting more. This paper provides guidelines for slaughterhouse managers to determine the best rest break schedules for their workers to promote health and safety.
Highlights
Many poultry processing jobs are physically demanding and involve factors that increase the risk of developing upper limb work-related musculoskeletal disorders (UL-WMSDs), one of them is repetition (OSHA, 2013)
Workers used a variety of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the hands, besides clothing, aprons, socks, and boots provided by the slaughterhouses with a Certificate of Approval from the Brazilian Ministry of Labor
Male workers were 32.6 ± 10.8 years old and female 33.5 ± 10.6 years, and the time working at the slaughterhouse was 4.3 ± 5.4 years, from 3 months to 32 years
Summary
Many poultry processing jobs are physically demanding and involve factors that increase the risk of developing upper limb work-related musculoskeletal disorders (UL-WMSDs), one of them is repetition (OSHA, 2013). Studies have found that the work pace in poultry slaughterhouses is high (Reis et al, 2017; 2020), because workers perform on average more than 60 technical actions/min (Colombini et al, 2014). Global analyses identified that in most poultry slaughterhouses, the task risks were high (Reis et al, 2015a) or moderate (Reis et al, 2015b; 2016; 2017). One research carried out in three poultry slaughterhouses showed that most workers felt musculoskeletal discomfort (Tirloni et al, 2019a). This survey was performed before the publication of Regulatory Standard 36 (NR-36) that sets out the minimum requirements for evaluation, control, and eRBCA-2021-1504
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