TAILOR’S CHAIR AND MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDER IN NIGERIA BY

摘要

Dimensions of the common sitting devices in use by tailors were obtained. For these, the seat height, seat length, seat width and back rest height were considered. Anthropometric data dimensions relevant to chair design were also collected. These were used to obtain specifications for tailor's chair design that can accommodate at least 90% of the tailor populace. Results: All the tailors studied used foot-operated sewing machine. It was observed that50% of the tailors sampled used stool while 43% used chairs with back rest. Of those using stool, 35% had the seat padded, while 43% of those using chairs had them padded. All the subjects were observed sitting hear the edge of their chairs with their necks and trunks flexed forward. From the questionnaire and interview, 97% complained of neck-shoulder pain, 41% of upper-arm, 3% of elbow forearm area, 58% of chest, 2% of fingers, 97% of lower-back pain, 54% of thigh, 56% of calf and 54% of ankle-foot area. The subjects indicated presence of musculoskeletal discomfort at neckshoulder, low-back and chest regions. The study showed that the tailor alternates between two positions with average distance of 14cm and this movement and posture is maintained for an average of 3 to 6 hours per day and higher at pea work period. The repetitive movement is necessitated by the tasks which in turn, is determined by the design of the chair and the sewing machine super-imposed on a non-neutral forward flexed posture. This postures are required by pedalling, pinning, folding, cutting and threading. Therefore, 79% were found to flex their necks forward beyond the recommended 15°(Grandjean, 1983) and 91% flexed their knees forward above 110° without the seat being tilted. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the tailors' experience job-related musculoskeletal disorders and that these disorders can be attributable to the sitting devices used that modify their sitting postures. The seats designs did not accommodate necessary ergonomic characteristics like tilting the seat forward to between 15° and 25° which could have brought the body to neutral or close to neutral posture.