Ergonomic evaluation of a
Barista's Coffee Making Task.
Lecturer·
Due
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Executive Summary
Introduction
Index:
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4
Ergonomic risks associated with coffee making 4
3.1 Coffee Making Task 5
3.2 Ergonomic Issues with Coffee Making Task 5
3.2.1 Hand-Arm Vi
ation (HAV) 5
3.2.2 Non Optimal Posture Resulting in Musculoskeletal Injury 6
Evaluation of Ergonomic Issues
4.1 The employee (barista)
4.2 Job Design
4.3 Design of Equipment
4.3.1 Vi
ation
4.3.2 Control layout
4.4 Work Environment
4.4.1 Shop layout
4.4.2 Equipment layout
4.5 Employees
Discussion and Conclusions
5.1 Elimination
5.2 Substitution
5.3 Personal Protective equipment PPE
Recommendations
6.1 Short-term recommendations
6.2 Long-term recommendations
References
Appendices
A: HSE Risk Filter
B: Quick Exposure Check
C: RULA
D: ManTRA V 2.0
E: Shop Layout
F: Employee Interviews
G: Shop Lighting
Verification of workplace ergonomics assessment
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The purpose of this report is to identify the ergonomic risks associated with the coffee
making process often undertaken by a Barista during a typical work day and recommend
ergonomic based solutions in attempt to reduce or remove risk of injury to the worker.
This investigation demonstrates how making coffee in this work environment exposes the
worker to risk of musculoskeletal injury through non-optimal posture, injuries due to
frequent heat and cold exposure to the hands and i
itation due to uneven lighting around
the work area.
These risks were discovered through an ergonomics workplace assessment of the worker
undertaking the task, the work environment/equipment and interviews with staff members.
The tools used to undertake this assessment were a HSE Risk filter, Quick Exposure check
(QEC), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and Manual Tasks Risk Assessment Tool
(ManTRA) V 2.0.
In order to make recommendations control measures were proposed in order with the
hierarchy of controls to ensure the highest level of risk reduction is applied to all actions
involved in this task. These controls exist in both long term and short term solutions for the
consideration of the business owners.
Ergonomics is an important thing to consider when designing a workplace as it determines
whether the interaction that a worker will have with the equipment they are operating is a
positive or negative one (Stolarska XXXXXXXXXXWhen considering this interaction it is important
to make sure the interaction is as optimal as possible to prevent injury or discomfort to the
worker. This ergonomics report has been constructed to assess the potential impact and
isks of the daily tasks that a barista would usually undertake and provide solutions to
emove or reduce the risk of injury to the worker.
The cafe being assessed has a variety of tasks but not all of the staff have an opportunity to
complete these tasks, instead they have workers dedicated to each task for example
dedicated baristas due to their qualifications tend to stand at the coffee machine for their
whole shift as unqualified staff are unable to relieve them. Various movements and
equipment are required/ involved in the coffee making process. This report will be focusing
on the actions and equipment that a barista would be expected to use/ undertake on a
egular basis.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD's) that result from workplaces are present across all
occupations and it has been found that workers that are involved in roles that require
epetitve hand movements such as grocery workers and baristas have high incidence of
MSD's (Anton & Weeks 2016).
It is widley known that a high percentage around 70% of baristas suffer and complain of low
ack pain and upper limb conditions and they attribute this to their occupation yet
ergonomic solutions to these issues are rarely offered (Dainty et al. 2014).
3,l Coffee l\'laking Task
There is usually one qualified barista per eight (8) hour shift and work starts from 4:30am in
the morning so two baristas work at the cafe each day in overlapping shifts. Each barista will
spend five (5) to seven (7) hours a day standing at the coffee machine with one 15 minute
and one 30 minute
eak throughout the work shift with the remaining time spent cleaning
and gathering supplies from the storeroom.
No policies or procedures have cu
ently been implemented that pertain to this task, nor
have any ergonomic solutions have been applied to the work area in order to assist workers.
3,2 Ergonornic Issues ,vith Coffee 1\1aking Task
Any potential ergonomic issues with the occupational task of making coffee were examined
with a variety of ergonomic assessment tools. The factors that were taken into
consideration were design of the workspace, the overall task, the worker and the
equipment involved in completing the task. The ergonomic hazards that were a primary
cause for concern pertain to the categories of:
The coffee making process has the potential to expose the user to frequent and constant
hand and arm vi
ations through use of a variety of equipment. These vi
ations come from
two of the steps in the coffee making process the first is where use of the steam wand is
equired to heat the milk as the machine heats the milk with steam projected at high
pressure which causes the user to experience vi
ation in the fingers, hand and forearm
seen in figure 1. The second task is when grinding the coffee beans the QlO series grinder
implements a grind on demand function which the motor starts grinding when the user
inserts the portafilter, this results in the motor sending vi
ations through the fingers and
hand down into the forearm of the operator as seen in figure 2. The exposure to these
vi
ations can result in a variety of health conditions from pins and needles, numbness all
the way to loss of finger sensation and tactile function {Forouharmajd et al. 2017).
Figure 1: Operation of steam wand Figure 2: Operation of the grinder
Due to the layout of the machine and workspace required to undertake the task of coffee
making workers are required to undertake these main steps bend, twist, exert trunk flexion
and shoulder extension when getting milk from the fridge see figure 3, figure 4 and figure 5,
extension of shoulder while rotating arm to grab cups see figure 6, neck bent down while
using machine in particular the steam wand. Worker also experiences radial and ulna
deviation with supination and pronation and adduction/abduction of upper limbs while
operating the machine and a combination of these for tamping coffee into the portafilter
see figure 9.
Figure 3: Initial bend for milk Figure 4: Half way bend for milk Figure 5: Full extension for milk
Figure 6: Gra
ing cup Figure 7: Gra
ing steam wand Figure 8: Using functions on coffee machine
-""--...-
Figure 9: Tamping coffee into portafilter
The workplace assessment of the coffee making process performed in daily duties by a
arista was undertaken using a variety of techniques to cross check results of the risks
involved in the activity and identify any ergonomic solutions to these risks. The methods
that were utilised in this assessment were interviews and observation of staff members, a
HSE Risk filter, Quick Exposure check (QEC), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and
Manual Tasks Risk Assessment Tool (ManTRA) V 2.0.
4.1 The ernployee (barista)
While using a coffee machine normally does not require a special training or qualifications
this particular cafe has its own barista qualification course. Beyond this training that focuses
on the coffee making process no emphasis is put on ergonomics principals nor is any
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provided.
The job design was assessed using HSE Risk filter (Appendix A) which determines if a full
ergonomics assessment should be undertaken. A QEC (Appendix B) was also utilised to
determine the impact the job has on each region of the body by focusing on repetition,
force and posture depending on these factors scores are calculated to determine the risk
level. RULA (Appendix C) an assessment that focuses on the impact a job has the upper
limbs of a worker was also implemented in the same manner as the QEC scores are added to
determine risk levels and finally ManTRA V 2.0 (Appendix D) was also used to confirm the
esults we observed in the other two tests, it assesses the exposure to musculoskeletal risk
factors associated with certain work tasks by a scoring system and table to calculate risk
levels. The HSE risk filter identified the need to undertake an ergonomics assessment of the
workplace as Yes was answered to 4 out of the 5 questions. Table 1 shows the results of the
QEC assessment.
Table 1: QEC Results
Body Area/Work Total Score Exposure Category Action Required
Back (Static) 26 High Yes
Shoulde
Arm 34 High Yes
Wrist/Hand 42 Very High Yes
Neck 14 High Yes
Driving 1 Low No
Vi
ation 1 Low No
Work Pace 4 Moderate Yes
Stress 4 Moderate Yes
From the results in the table above it is clear the high risk areas identified by the QEC are all
elated to the upper body this is where all the rapid, repetitive and forceful movements are
undertaken by the worker.
In the RULA assessment the final score of the task was a 7 which suggests that the job
arista in this particular workplace is at a very high risk and change should be implemented
now.
Finally the ManTRA V 2.0 assessment results in table 2 show the musculoskeletal risks for
the whole body in the coffee making task.
Table 2: ManTRA V 2.0 Results
Body Region Repetition Risk Exertion Risk Cumulative Risk Action needed
Lower Limbs XXXXXXXXXXNo
Back XXXXXXXXXXNo
Neck/Shoulder XXXXXXXXXXYes
Arm/Wrist/Hand XXXXXXXXXXYes
·4.3 Design of Equiprnent
When making coffee two parts of the process produce vi
ations that are transfe
ed to the
worker the first source of vi
ations is when first initially grinding the coffee beans with a
grind on demand setting the motor grinds as the portafilter is pressed into the unit
vi
ations from the motor can be felt by the user (Figure 2), the second instance is when the