Assessment of the development and implementation of tools in contract cleaning

Sociodemographic, Occupational, and Health Profile of Brazilian Housekeepers and House Cleaners-A Hypothesis-Generating Study

For many women, house cleaning is an important way to participate in the labor market. In Brazil, there are 2 types of domestic workers: housekeepers have relatively secure employment and house cleaners are day laborers. The aim of this hypothesis-generating study was to describe the sociodemographic, occupational and health profile of a sample of domestic workers in Brazil. House cleaners received lower wages, had longer daily working hours and worked in a larger number of homes each week in comparison to housekeepers. About 51% of the domestic workers in this sample reported the use of pain medication and 34% reported spinal problems. Musculoskeletal symptoms were frequent in the lower back and upper limbs. Forty-seven percent reported high blood pressure. This study highlights the vulnerability of domestic workers, especially house cleaners, regarding workload, salary, and health conditions. Level of education is a contributing factor to this vulnerability.

Using the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment to examine the effect of the new Hotel Housekeeping California Standard

A housekeeper's job includes a variety of repetitive and strenuous tasks, which can put workers at high risk for musculoskeletal disorders. In 2018, a new standard was implemented in California aiming to prevent work-related injuries of hospitality industry workers. This paper assesses California housekeepers performing regular work tasks during their shifts from 2018 to 2020. Rapid Upper Limb Assessments (RULA) after the standard was implemented found average right-arm scores for scrubbing tasks (M = 6.93, SD = 0.00), vacuuming (M = 6.27, SD = 0.45), and trash-collecting (M = 4.48, SD = 0.50). Forces to move housekeeping carts were also evaluated, with 98% of pushing forces and 73% of turning forces observed within the accepted range. Results show that RULA scores remain high even after the implementation of the standard, with improvements only seen in tasks that required just changing of the method.

Comparisons of Trunk Motions and Low Back Injury Risk between Alternative Hotel Room Cleaning Methods

Hotel room cleaners frequently report job-related pain, with high rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorder injuries established for this group of workers. Surprisingly, there is limited published research documenting the impact of interventions to reduce ergonomic-related injury risks specific to hotel room cleaners' job tasks. In this study focused on hotel bathroom-cleaning and furniture-dusting tasks, twelve experienced hotel room cleaners used their standard method and a risk-reduction method-a tool with a handle that could extend, to perform these tasks. The female study participants' average age was 45.3 (SD 8.7) years with an average of 10 years of work experience as cleaners (range: 0.8-26.0 years). Trunk kinematics and a low back injury risk assessment were measured using the Lumbar Motion Monitor. All study metrics were significantly reduced when cleaning tasks involved use of adjustable, long-handled tools (p < 0.05). This study demonstrated that commonly available cleaning and dusting tools with extendable handles can significantly reduce low back injury risk among hotel room cleaners and potentially reduce injury risk to other body parts known to be the site of musculoskeletal disorders in this workforce. The study findings suggest that cleaning or housekeeping jobs in other industries where these same tasks are performed could benefit from use of extended-handle tools like those investigated here.

Cleaning in the 21st Century: The musculoskeletal disorders associated with the centuries-old occupation - A literature review

Workers performing cleaning duties experience higher injury rates, especially in the form of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), than other industries. It is essential to understand the inherent risks associated with the nature of this occupation. Based on the Balance Theory (Smith & Carayon-Sainfort, 1989), this review surveys the current literature, especially those published since the previous review paper (Kumar & Kumar, 2008), and identifies which elements contributing to MSD risks were examined: task, technology, organization, environment, individual, and their interactions. Thirty-nine research papers published between 2005 and 2021 are identified and summarized. Among these papers, task and individual elements received the most attention, at 42 and 34 occurrences, respectively. The interaction elements of technology-organization, technology-environment, and organization-environment received less than three mentions. The goal of this literature review is to update the knowledge base and identify current trends for the cleaning occupation. Possible interventions for risk reduction and future research directions are suggested.

Effects of different tools and working height on physical workload in vertical cleaning tasks applying ambient control techniques

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different tools and working heights on physical workloads in vertical cleaning tasks. Thirty healthy adults were recruited to use a rag and a long-handle tool (LHT) to simulate cleaning operations on the Wii Fit board surfaces of 3 different heights, respectively. Participants used a lower 50th percentile force but were required to spend a longer time to finish the task while using an LHT than using a rag. The tool preferences were the main factors considered for efficiency and personal subjective workload and physiological load. 76.6% of the participants preferred to use the LHT instead of the rag at a high task height, but 70% preferred to use the rag when working at a medium task height. For low workload cleaning tasks on vertical surfaces, employers should provide cleaners with different handle lengths tools to choose from to reduce the cleaner's workload.

Which is the most ergonomic mop? A comparison of three domestic mopping systems

PURPOSE

To assess musculoskeletal risk factors (repetitions, posture, forces) of the upper limb during domestic floor mopping tasks.

METHODS

Two hundred women were surveyed to determine the most common mopping system, mopping patterns and type of flooring used in their homes. The biomechanical demands of the three most common mopping systems were then evaluated in the laboratory. Participants were also asked to rate their perceived levels of exertion and cleanliness of each mopping system.

RESULTS

The use of wet wipes had the highest repetition count and exertion rates during mopping and scrubbing tasks. Higher peak scrubbing forces were noted for the plunge mop. All participants found the cotton fibre mop to be the cleanest. All 3 mops had medium postural risk.

CONCLUSION

The advantages and disadvantages of each mopping system were outlined and may be used by occupational therapists when providing ergonomic advice to patients with upper limb musculoskeletal conditions.

Hand-Product Contact Point Detection on Surgical Instruments – A User Evaluation

The interaction of hand tools with the user is crucial and a key factor for his or her performance. In specific medical devices like surgical instruments, it is also important to ensure patient safety, namely, to avoid the risk of a surgical instrument’s being left inside a body.

This article investigates the patterns of hand-to-product contact areas by identifying the potential locations to couple an external add-on tracing device on surgical instruments. A user evaluation study was conducted to determine the contact areas between the surgeons’ hands and different surgical instruments. The methodology, the results, and a discussion are described below.

Effects of mop handle height on shoulder muscle activity and perceived exertion during floor mopping using a figure eight method

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of mop handle height on electromyographic (EMG) activities of the shoulder muscles and perceived exertion for the shoulder area during floor mopping using a figure eight method. An experimental study with 13 cleaners was conducted using surface EMG and category ratio (CR-10) scale. EMG activity was recorded unilaterally from the upper trapezius, infraspinatus, anterior and middle deltoid muscles. Each subject performed four trials of mopping and each trial consisted of using a different mop handle height (mop adjustment at the level of shoulder, chin, nose and eye) in randomized order. EMG data were normalized to a percentage of maximal voluntary contraction (%MVC). The muscle activities were assessed by estimating the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of the amplitude probability distribution function (APDF) of the EMG signals and analysed by linear mixed model analysis. Results showed that shoulder muscle activity was significantly lower when the mop handle height was adjusted to shoulder level or chin level as compared to eye level. These findings were supported by subjective ratings of exertion. It seems that mop handle height adjustment between shoulder and chin level may be recommended as a basis for figure eight mopping.