Ergonomic assessment on the tasks performed by hairstylists in Quezon city, Philippines

Abstract

There is currently no existing ergonomic assessment on hairdressers in the Philippines. This study aims to investigate the WMSD symptoms of hairdressers in Quezon City and the risk factors which are significantly associated to it. Twelve hairdressers were chosen for this study. They were interviewed using a modified Nordic Questionnaire to characterize their perceived body discomfort. Task they often do during work were selected and evaluated using a Rapid Entire Body Assessment. Results showed that 83% and 41.67% of the subjects perceived the body discomfort for 12-month and 7-day, respectively. Moreover, a correlation of 0.224 was found between the postural WMSD risk and their perceived pain. From calculating the spearman correlation, the risk factors that are significantly associated with the body discomfort are the duration of task, years of experience, and number of customers.