IDENTIFICATIONAND QUANTIFICATION OF STRESSORS AFFECTINGMOTORIZEDTWO WHEELER RIDERS: AN ERGONOMIC ATTEMPT

Motorised two-wheelers are cost effective fuel-efficient system to manage occupational compulsions and time bound responsibilities but on the other hand they account formaximumtrafficaccidentdeaths. Bike riders are exposed to prolonged static posture causing significant angular deviations at all most all joints of the body as well as lumbar angle (L1-L5). All these postural alterations are contributory factors to stress and musculo-skeletal symptoms. Although the vibration remains within the OSHA limit, the vibration map and pain map of a two-wheeler rider’s were observed to have strong correlations. Varied emotional and psycho-social components contribute to cumulative stress among them. Bike riding also involves visual acuity, which alters critical flicker frequency of the riders indicating immense visual stress and subsequent adaptation. Properstressmanagement, ergonomic intervention in engineering revisions of the two wheeler designmay contribute toreducechancesofaccident and ensure safety, wellbeing and performance of the riders.</jats:p

Ergonomic evaluation of physiological stress of building construction workers associated with manual material handling tasks

Purpose: In India, the cost of manpower is very low; hence Manual Material Handling (MMH) is the cheapest solution. This study aimed to quantify the cardiac strain and postural stress of male building construction workers associated with MMH tasks. Materials and methods: Mean (SD) age (years) and job experience (years) of the workers were 31.0(4.65) and 8.8 (3.23), respectively (n=35). Working peak heart rate was recorded by polar heart rate monitor, posture analysis was done by the Ovako Working Posture Analysis System (OWAS) and the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method, body part discomfort was assessed by the Nordic questionnaire, and perceived exertion was evaluated by the Borg scale. Two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test was performed between peak heart rate of workers associated with MMH tasks and upper extremity intensive tasks (n=31). Results: Results revealed that mean peak heart rate of the workers was significantly different (higher) compared with that of the upper extremity intensive workers (p<0.05). This study showed that most of the working postures were hazardous. The magnitude of risk for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) was much higher as per REBA compared with OWAS. Most of the workers suffered from pain in the head, neck, shoulder, lower back, and arm region. As per the Borg scale, the rate of perceived exertion was ‘hard and heavy’ among most of the workers (68.57%). Conclusions: Postural stress and cardiac strain beyond the safe limit indicates the heavy nature of the job. Load limit optimization, ergonomic lifting technique, and rescheduled work-rest cycle are essential to reducing physiological and perceived work load

Ergonomic evaluation of physiological stress of building construction workers associated with manual material handling tasks

Purpose: In India, the cost of manpower is very low; hence Manual Material Handling (MMH) is the cheapest solution. This study aimed to quantify the cardiac strain and postural stress of male building construction workers associated with MMH tasks. Materials and methods: Mean (SD) age (years) and job experience (years) of the workers were 31.0(4.65) and 8.8 (3.23), respectively (n=35). Working peak heart rate was recorded by polar heart rate monitor, posture analysis was done by the Ovako Working Posture Analysis System (OWAS) and the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method, body part discomfort was assessed by the Nordic questionnaire, and perceived exertion was evaluated by the Borg scale. Two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test was performed between peak heart rate of workers associated with MMH tasks and upper extremity intensive tasks (n=31). Results: Results revealed that mean peak heart rate of the workers was significantly different (higher) compared with that of the upper extremity intensive workers (p&lt;0.05). This study showed that most of the working postures were hazardous. The magnitude of risk for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) was much higher as per REBA compared with OWAS. Most of the workers suffered from pain in the head, neck, shoulder, lower back, and arm region. As per the Borg scale, the rate of perceived exertion was ‘hard and heavy’ among most of the workers (68.57%). Conclusions: Postural stress and cardiac strain beyond the safe limit indicates the heavy nature of the job. Load limit optimization, ergonomic lifting technique, and rescheduled work-rest cycle are essential to reducing physiological and perceived work load. </jats:p

Ergonomics: A bridge between fundamentals and applied research

Ergonomics is becoming a subject of applying fundamentals on anthropocentric dimensions for holistic welfare. The so-called conflict between Basic science and Applied research finds one of its edges in Ergonomics. Be it cutting-edge technology or frontiers of scientific innovation-all start from understanding basic scientific aptitude and skill, and the best way to get familiar with the situation is practicing basic science again and again at a regular basis. Ergonomics is diversified in such paradigms that truly set an example of such harmony between two apparently never-ending straight lines. If the spirit of Science is true human welfare, be it in the form of environmental development, machine development, technological advancement, human resource development, or development of consecutive interfaces between these components, Participatory Ergonomics is one of the vivid examples of such conglomeration. Although fundamental science may appear to be of very little practical significance, it turns out that eventually it has far greater impact on human society than much of the so-called "applied research.