Postural physical burden of street vendors in Boyacá, Colombia

Abstract

It was performed an observational study of transversal cut with a descriptive approach with the objective of evaluating the postural physical burden of fruits and vegetables street vendors in Boyacá, Colombia through the ergonomic assessment method REBA. The chosen population of the study was fifteen workers from a street vendors association in Sogamoso city. The results show that the vendors have a high and very high risk of generating musculoskeletal disorders due to the postural burden they are exposed to. Some recommendations were made to decrease the physical burden based on four strategic angles: education, social responsibility, self-learning and engineering control at workplaces. This brings to the conclusion that the problematic perceived in this population of workers from the informal sector is similar to the one seen in other regions and countries; it is recommended the active participation for developing policies that allow to improve their work conditions and life quality.