Evaluation of ergonomic postures of hairdressers by REBA in Birjand

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are major parts of the occupational diseases in workplaces. In hairdressing because of repetitive motions, prolonged practice in stand postures, wrong working conditions there is the probability of musculoskeletal disorders occurrence. Protection from such diseases is dependent on assessment and improvement of job postures by using job analysis methods in ergonomics. This study was aimed to evaluate ergonomic conditions in hairdressing by rapid entire body assessment (REBA) in Birjand city and also to assess the relation between MSDs in different parts of the body and work conditions. In a descriptive-analytical study ergonomic posture of 150 hairdressers was studied by using REBA method. The prevalence of MSDs was obtained by using Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). The data were analyzed by independent t-test and chi-square tests with p≤0.05 as the limit of significance. 39% of hairdressers were males and 61% females. The prevalence of disorders for different parts of the body was as follows: 21% for neck, 31% for shoulders, 6% for wrist, 54% for back and 69% for legs. There were significant correlations between disorders of wrist and legs with sex, leg disorder and work time, disorders of wrist and legs with REBA scores. (p≤0.05) It is concluded that the work conditions need to be improved. In addition the level of hairdresser's education regarding biomechanical hazardous effects as well as correct work conditions should be increased.