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Manisha Malik ¹, Deepa Vinay ¹, Kumkum Pandey ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, G.B. P.U.A & T., Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar Uttarakhand, IN

Abstract

In order to minimise postural unbalances and injuries of preschool adolescents, the present experimental study was earned out on 7th class students of private sector schools of Meerut. Total 30 students, 15 (50%) boys and 15 (50%) girls students aged between 10 to 13 years were participated. The effect of backpack load carrying on posture was assessed to measure the angles as Craniovertebral angle (CVA), Craniohonzontal angle (CHA) and Saggital shoulder posture (SSP). In this study six treatments were included in static condition with dynamic loading (without backpack, different modes of carrymg own backpack as over right shoulder, a both shoulders and 10 %, 15 % and 20 % backpack weight of reference body weight). Results revealed that there was small effect on CHA and CVA angle of boys and girls were affected when they earned 20 % of their body weight backpack with p value 0.020 in comparison with unloaded condition. SSP of girls and boys were affected due to the position of carrying in comparison with unloaded state. While carrying more than 10 % body weight, the SSP angle increased that lead to change in the shoulders as extension or more rounded shoulder if the forward head posture is increased.

Keywords

Back Pack, Reference Body Weight, CHA, CVA, SSP.

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Kumkum Pandey ¹, Aditi Vats ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, IN

Abstract

Owning to poor socioeconomic conditions factory workers are compel to carry out a considerable number of manual, rigorous tasks in brick factories and facing the various health problems because of repetitiveness, high frequency of action, excessive force, awkward posture, insufficient recovery time, use of mechanical tools, and exposure to high temperature. Space limitation requires workers to use much uncomfortable posture like standing, stooping, squatting, stretching, reaching, bending and twisting during the activities. The main aim of this study was to identify the specific ergonomic risk factors in the workplace facing by male and female workers during raw brick making activities and to analyze the causes of pain/discomfort related to workstation, hand tool and task analysis. For this purpose twenty male and twenty female workers from raw brick making unit were randomly selected and a detailed ergonomic risk factors were analyzed with the help of NIOSH checklist. In result it was found that more than 60 percent (33 percent male & 27 percent female) of the total respondents reported that the floor surface was free of obstacles and flat and there was no preventive maintenance programme for the mechanical aids, tools and other equipments. Total 25 percent respondents wherein 10 percent males and 15 percent females reported that they kept pulling and pulling forces minimal and total 75 percent male and female respondents did not agree with the same. Nearly 88 percent respondents wherein 45 percent males and 42.5 percent females said that the repetitive motions were avoided by taking sufficient pauses while doing the task. Total 75 percent respondents said that the tool handles were designed not to dig into the palm of the hand, in which 40 percent were the males and 35 percent were the female workers. On the whole, it was found that all respondents from the selected unit said that the employees have not been trained for the proper use of hand tool techniques, when and how to report the problems with tools and in proper tool maintenance technique and no one respondents were satisfied with this statement.

Keywords

Ergonomics, Ergonomic Hazards, WMSDs, Workplace.

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Kumkum Pandey ¹, Deepa Vinay ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar, U.K., IN
2 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar, Uttarkhand, IN

Abstract

Present investigation was done to test the knowledge of employees working in different industries. With this aim preliminary 140 items were collected and developed pertaining to the principles of ergonomics. Items which were nonspecific, redundant, vague and repetitive were rejected. This method led to a reduction of 74 items that means 66 items were discarded from the test. Thereafter content validity was done which also led to the reduction of items to 47. Again after getting the expert's opinion on the items of test index of item difficulty, index of item discrimination, index of item validity, point biserial and reliability were worked out. Finally ergonomic test contains 21 items where whole test was divided into three parts as work, worker and workplace. In work category there was 7 items, worker category contains 8 items and workplace category contains 6 items. To administer the knowledge test a respondent is given one mark for each correct answer and zero for each wrong answer. The total score of the respondents on all items of the test is taken on the basis of their knowledge score and the respondents may be categorized in to three groups having low, medium and high level of knowledge about ergonomic principles. Respondents who will score between 0-7 will be falls under the category of low level of ergonomics knowledge, followed by medium (8-14) and high level of knowledge (15-21) about ergonomics principles.

Keywords

Knowledge, Reliability, Validity, Biserial Correlation.

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Deepa Vinay ¹, Seema Kwatra ¹, Suneeta Sharma ¹, Kumkum Pandey ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A & T., Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, IN

Abstract

The reduction of postural stress is fundamental to workstation design in ergonomics. A multifaceted approach is needed to arrive at appropriate workstation design for different workers. The requirement of tasks and the characteristics of users need to be considered in relation to the options for workstation design. Therefore present study was carried out to assess and improve the workstation design for weaving operation and for the reduction of associated occupational health hazards. Descriptive cum experimental research design was chosen for the present study. Thirty workers (27 female & 3 male) involved m various weaving activities formed the sample for the investigation. Along with this, physiological parameters and postural angle analysis of weavers were assessed by conducting the experiments. To improve posture and potentially decrease musculoskeletal problems provision of ergonomically-designed workstations for weavers was intervened Participation of women respondents was found maximum this enterprise. The work was performed using frequent changes of the postures which included sitting, standing,forward and backward bending postures which can lead to MSD. AU these activities were performed using two types of workstations. Due to prolonged sitting posture while performing the activity led to stiffness m calf muscles and besides this it also causes pain in feet as well as in back. To improve posture and decrease MSD problems, ergonomically-designed workstation for weavers were refined and developed Two prototype of sitting stool and stool cum chair was introduced to test the suitability of the technology and it was found that there was reduction of MSDs by 48 percent along with enhancement in production.

Keywords

Occupational Health, Musculoskeletal Disorders, Gender and Health.

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Kumkum Pandey ¹, Deepa Vinay ², Priya Pandey ³

Affiliations
1 Department of Home Science, Government PG College, Khair, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, IN
2 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A.& T., Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, IN
3 Jeevan Jyoti Medical College, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, IN

Abstract

The most common types of injuries associated with manual handling are strains, sprains, fractures, lower back pain from awkward postures, muscle fatigue, and musculoskeletal issues affecting the back, neck, shoulders, elbows, and hands. Therefore, the fundamental approaches for evaluating the manual material handling are physiological, psychophysical, and biomechanical, with physiological and psychophysical approaches being the most common. Whereas the psychophysical approach concerned with analyzing the subjective strain of the worker's experience during lifting tasks that depends on individual fitness. Thus, in the present paper, it was tried to explore the interrelationships among physiological parameters (heart rate, energy expenditure) and subjective strain felt by manual handlers when lifting heavy loads.

Keywords

lifting, psychophysical, injury, MSD.

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Kumkum Pandey ¹, Deepa Vinay ², Priya Pandey ³

Affiliations
1 Department of Home Science, Government PG College, Khair, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, IN
2 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, IN
3 Jeevan Jyoti Medical College, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, IN

Abstract

For several decades, rice mill workers have carried out manual rigorous tasks in traditional rice processing units of India and suffering from severe postural hazards. In this study, videography of tasks of rice mill workers was done to analyze and observe different postures by the computerized OWAS (Ovako Working Posture Analysing System) method. Some complementary questions regarding work adjustment and health and safety were asked by using Likert 5-point scale. Along with this intra-observer reliability and OWAS risk indicator was also calculated. Selected tasks were loading, unloading, stacking, filling, etc; that were performed mostly with bent and twisted back posture. Thus, to determine the static physical stress by determining harmful postures and to avail corrective actions for improvement of the existing situation forty male respondents from seven different units (mean age, 29 years) participated. Altogether, a total of 1360 (680 from each) exposure interactions from two video assessments were analyzed and then classified under different OAC (OWAS Action Categories). From all observations, poor postures, that need corrective measures immediately, were found in the loading, unloading, stacking and filling of rice sacks. Whereas intra-observer reliability and OWAS risk indicator were found to be 88% and 695%. Therefore, OWAS was useful in evaluating the static physical workload by locating hazardous activities due to harmful postures and suggesting needed means to reduce postural stress.

Keywords

OWAS, MSD, posture, discomfort reliability

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