Giedrė Bačkaitytė, Danguolė Grūnovienė
Abstract
The relevance of the thesis. The inappropriate posture of work and wrong sitting pose are the two main reasons which can cause the musculoskeletal pain in arms, neck, back and legs. Whereas, working in favorable, ergonomic and safe conditions creates an optimal environment for the physical and psychological health to maintain. The most important equipment in manicurist’s work is a work chair. The work chair must ensure productive work for a longer period of time and to maintain the level of fatigue at the minimum level. The objective of the thesis is to evaluate the importance and the usage of ergonomic equipment at manicurist’s work. The tasks of the research: 1. To describe ergonomic factors, equipment and to present the possible occupational diseases for manicurist. 2. To measure the physiological changes of muscles during the manicure procedures on the simple and the saddle chairs. The methods and research. The study included five 21-24 yearold girls that participated twice in the control group and twice in the experimental group, sitting on a simple and ergonomic chairs. In the research the myotonometer was used and the methods of spectroscopy and plethysmography were applied. The results. The type of the chair does not affect trapezoidal, deltoid and flexor digitorum longus in the thumb. The saturation of the oxygen (StO2) in the forearm muscles depended on which chair the participant of the research sit. The sitting on a saddle chairs increased StO2 from 75.5 ± 0.7% to 78.3 ± 0.6%, p <0.05. The greatest amount of StO2 was observed when the participant was sitting on saddle chair. Before the manicure StO2 was 92.4 ± 0.4% and after a manicure – 92.8 ± 0.5%. The arterial blood supply, the capacity of venous and the speed of blood flow in the veins changed insignificantly. The reduction of plethysmography height (p <0.05) was observed when the participant was sitting on the experimental saddle chair. The conclusions of the thesis: 1. An ergonomic workplace is an effective and at the same time a preventive tool which might affect optimal functioning of the person. Also, the ergonomic workplace can influence performance at work and help to avoid fatigue and monotony. Moreover, it might increase the satisfaction in job and improve relationships with colleagues as well. Favorable working and safety conditions create an optimal environment for the physical and psychological health to maintain. 2. The experiment showed that the most significant physiological change, while sitting on the saddle chair is the change of StO2. When sitting on this type of chair back is straight and due to this lungs can function better. This affects the saturation of oxygen in the muscles. The other physiological changes in muscle tone such as viscosity and stiffness, arterial blood, volume of venous reserve, velocity of blood flow in the veins and the height of plethysmography were statistically uncertain.
Keyword(s): ergonomic equipment; physiological change.
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2016.094
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