{"id":6623,"date":"2022-05-06T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=6623"},"modified":"2022-05-04T18:24:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T23:24:35","slug":"barista-ergonomics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/barista-ergonomics\/","title":{"rendered":"Move Smart: Four Ways To Improve Barista Ergonomics"},"content":{"rendered":"

[I]n August 2015, Fresh Cup published a suite of articles looking at safety and ergonomics behind the bar. The goal was to educate current and future retailers on setting up a safe space for their staff and helping baristas mitigate injury.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

We recently republished one of those pieces on common cafe injuries<\/a>. Today, we\u2019ll look at barista wellness. Though most agree that being a barista requires refining highly-specialized skills, there remains uncertainty about the long-term impact of barista work on the body. Working behind the bar is physically taxing in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI broke my wrist tamping,\u201d says Alexandra LittleJohn. \u201cI was nineteen, and I was tamping too hard and lost control of the portafilter and shattered my wrist on the countertop.\u201d LittleJohn, who has worked in coffee for the last fifteen years, is the national sales manager for\u00a0<\/span>Equator Coffees & Teas<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and has a lot to say on the risks of working in a cafe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot,\u201d she says. Her wrist has long since healed, but she still takes proper form seriously when training new baristas. Today, most trainers are at least aware of educating trainees on good wrist positioning, but that wasn\u2019t always the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest issue for baristas is tamping,\u201d says Matt Barahura, manager of\u00a0<\/span>James Coffee Company<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in San Diego. \u201cWhen done improperly, repetitive tamping can cause pain in the wrist and elbow and eventually lead to more serious repetitive motion injuries.\u201d Barahura, like many baristas, has learned to tamp with his left arm so as not to overstress the right. But more important than that, he says, is day-one barista training.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"(Photos:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen training new baristas, I can\u2019t stress the importance of ergonomic tamping enough,\u201d he says. \u201cProper ergonomics should be taught from day one and talked about regularly to keep everyone fresh.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Holding employees to ergonomics standards should be a no-brainer, and not just when it comes to tamping. But coffee grew up fast; OSHA standards, for example, while steadfast in most of the service industry, never really made it off the back burner in coffee and tea retail, at least not outside of corporate coffee life.<\/span><\/p>\n

We don\u2019t talk enough about barista safety. Instead, we speak obsessively about how to accurately extract flavor from coffee or the latest piece of equipment. Caf\u00e9s are built out meticulously to facilitate customer happiness with a staggering level of detail. But imagine if we put that same detail-oriented attitude to predict potential problems for the staff that inhabits those beautiful shops.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Usually it is not, or it begins and ends with tamping. <\/span>So, what can baristas, managers, and caf\u00e9 owners do to protect those who so admirably steward coffee to the consumer?<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Train<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

One could write a book on ergonomic espresso making. With access to so much information, trainers and managers should spend meaningful time with every barista ensuring they tamp smart by gripping the tamper like a doorknob or flashlight, not with a \u201ctiger claw\u201d or fingers wrapped towards the base of the tamper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trainers should also teach new baristas how to steam smart. \u201cGood steaming doesn\u2019t require a lot of wrist movement on the barista\u2019s part,\u201d says LittleJohn. The idea of \u201cworking smart\u201d extends to every way we move: baristas should be informed how to lift and bend smart, for example (from the legs and as little as possible).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"KnockBox\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one thing to be able to make tasty espresso. As a leader, if that\u2019s your primary focus, your staff could be talented but out of commission soon with sore wrists and cricked necks.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. D<\/span>esign for Wellness<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

There are many tiny ways to streamline a caf\u00e9 to prioritize the safety of workers. But it\u2019s important to consider big ergonomic decisions when building a cafe. Think about things like:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n