Musculoskeletal symptoms and ergonomic hazards among material handlers in grocery retail industries

International Research and Innovation Summit 2017

Rahman, Mohd Nasrull Abdol^1 ; Zuhaidi, Muhammad Fareez Ahmad^1

Department of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Johor, Batu Pahat

86400, Malaysia^1

关键词: Direct observations;    Ergonomic hazards;    Ergonomic risk factors;    Musculo-skeletal injuries;    Musculoskeletal disorders;    Musculoskeletal symptoms;    Retail industry;    Washington industrial safety and health acts;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/226/1/012027/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/226/1/012027

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Grocery retail work can be physically demanding as material handler's tasks involve manual lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing and pulling loads. The nature of this work puts them at a risk for serious low back pain, shoulder pain and other musculoskeletal injuries. This study was conducted by using two different types of tools which were Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) as a survey and Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) Checklist as a direct observation method. Among 46 males and 14 females material handlers were involved throughout this study. For NMQ, the highest body part trouble in the last 12 months was low back pain (88.3%), followed by upper back (68.3%), neck (55.3%) and shoulder (36.7%). While for WISHA Checklist, most of them experienced hazard level involving awkward posture and high hand force. From the research conducted, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and ergonomic risk factors (ERFs) do related as it showed that musculoskeletal disorders may arise if the workers ignored the safety in ergonomic hazards.