Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday February 19 2017, @11:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the maybe-a-standing-desk? dept.

Researchers at The Ohio State University measured the muscle exertions of 10 central Ohio tattoo artists while they were working, and found that all of them exceeded maximums recommended to avoid injury, especially in the muscles of their upper back and neck.

In the journal Applied Ergonomics, the researchers presented their findings and offered some suggestions on how tattoo artists can avoid injury.

[...] To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first time that anyone has gathered such data from tattoo artists at work.The electrodes gathered data for 15 seconds every 3 minutes for the entirety of each tattoo session. Though a single tattoo session can last as long as 8 hours depending on the size and complexity of the tattoo, the sessions used in the study lasted anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. In addition, the researchers used a standardized observational assessment tool to assess each artist's posture every five minutes and took a picture to document each observation.

To [researcher Dana] Keester, some reasons for the artists' discomfort were immediately obvious. She noted that they sit for prolonged periods of time, often taking a posture just like the one immortalized in Norman Rockwell's painting "Tattoo Artist"—they perch on low stools, lean forward, and crane their neck to keep their eyes close to the tattoo they're creating.

Abstract: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000368701630117X


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday February 20 2017, @02:41PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 20 2017, @02:41PM (#469268)

    Though a single tattoo session can last as long as 8 hours

    On a lot of levels, why? I mean, thats longer than open heart surgery and presumably not nearly as complicated.

    Or why is it permitted in the marketplace?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Monday February 20 2017, @08:16PM

    by pnkwarhall (4558) on Monday February 20 2017, @08:16PM (#469415)

    "Permitted in the marketplace" ?? I would assume that 8 hour tattoo sessions are rare, for reasons related to both the artist's and canvas's comfort. But even if very long sessions common, what event or series of events would lead to legal restrictions on sitting time?

    --
    Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
    • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday February 20 2017, @09:15PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 20 2017, @09:15PM (#469441)

      I think you're confusing legally permitted with "F you go away I'm not doing that".

      It seems to indicate there's way too many tattoo parlors and not enough customers with money. You can sit there for 8 hours when I tell you to and you pay your rent, or some competitor gets their rent paid...

      Supply and Demand mismatch.

      Personally I always assumed cash businesses like that exist mostly to launder drug money, which makes it weird. I would imagine there's operative artistic parlors and there's the one that's always got the closed sign up but never goes out of business and is doing huge cash sales.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 20 2017, @09:33PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 20 2017, @09:33PM (#469448)

        It is a lifestyle.

        He stated he made all his money on body piercings, and especially intimate body piercings. Hand over fist no less. Apparently out here the standard is a 50 percent cut to the shop owner, rather than a monthly rental fee for the space. Furthermore you have to be either a certified emt or paramedic (It is subdermal injections, which I believe is EMT qualifications. Then pfleb is required for vein/arterial which in turn is a prereq to qualifying as a paramedic.

        On the other hand, he really enjoyed art, and particularly designing and inking body art. But he said the average labor costs for tattoos ended up being only 20-30 an hour, whereas body piercings could earn you 100-300 an hour depending on the piercings involved (~15 minutes per set at ~50 dollars USD for normal piercings.)

        But the key detail is: The artists are usually nominally independent and so labor laws don't apply. Doubly so if they own their own shop. Plus if they are doing piercing on the side instead of just inking because of whatever lifestyle they run in, they are making plenty of money to just see a chiropractor or acupuncturist once or twice a month as needed.