Present experimental research was planned to measure the percentage change in angle of cervical and shoulder posture of students due to carriage of different weights of backpack. For the above purpose total 30 students (15 boys and 15 girls) from the CBSE affiliated school of Meerut were selected by using the random and purposive sampling method. All the students were from the 7th class and belonged to the age group of 10-13 years. To measure the percentage change in cervical and spinal angle in terms of extension, flexion and range of motion (ROM), six experimental conditions were planned. These experimental conditions were as (1) change in cervical and spinal region in unloaded state without backpack, (2) with backpack on right shoulder, (3) with backpack on the both shoulder, (4) with backpack of 10 % reference body weight, (5) with backpack of 15 % reference body weight and (6) with backpack of 20 % reference body weight. These experiments were conducted by using by using inclinometer (Dualar IQ). Furthermore results were analyzed by using the mean, standard deviation (SD), range and ANOVA test.In result, it was found that the value of cervical and spinal region angles in static condition was increased with increase in weight of back pack i.e. 10 %, 15 % and 20 % of reference body weight in the girls and boys. Whereas, the angle of deviation of spinal and cervical region especially flexion and extension of boys and girls in dynamic condition was found to be decreasing with increase in 10 %, 15 % and 20 % body weight of backpack. Based on current study results, a schoolbag should not be more than 5% or body weight among the girl students and 10 % of body weight among boy students. Otherwise, it will be a risk factor for postural problems either immediately or during adulthood that needs to be cured urgently.

Abstract:This study was done with the aim to identify the specific ergonomic risk factors in the workplace affecting the both male and female workers while doing raw brick making activities and to analyze the pain/discomfort related to it. Twenty male and twenty female workers from the raw brick making unit were randomly selected and a detailed ergonomic risk factors were analyzed with the help of NIOSH Ergonomic Hazard Identification checklist. The questions were based on the primary job responsibility of the workers. Data revealed that nearly 8 percent males and 10 percent females were in 'usually' category, 25 percent males and 28 percent females in 'sometimes' and approximately 18 percent male and 13 percent females who never performed the task were kept in the category 'never'. It was found that all the male and female workers usually require exerting force with their hands and used the hand tools to do the task. About 8 percent males and 5 percent females were usually, 15 percent male and only 10 percent female were sometimes and 28 percent males and 35 percent female were never stood continuously for a period of more than 30 minutes. On the whole all the male and female respondents were lifting or lowering the objects between floor and waist height or shoulder height and most of the workers were becoming exposed to the vibration while performing the task and they were carrying the weight more than 50 lb. The study indicates that the majority of the activities are in the high risk category and demands immediate ergonomic intervention in the form of tool, workstation and process design.

Comput,rs have been used for design of rolling mills since 1960s. Easy access to high speed digital computers has facilitated use of more accurate rolling theories for design work and comprehensive computer simulations have been developed for all types of mills. These simulations include optimiTation of roll pass sequence, calculation of roll force, torque and temperature and detailed time studies for productivity calculations. These aspects of mill simulation are examined with specific examples. In the design of rolling mills equipment, computer-aided design has been widely used. The available software, which covers both steady state and dynamic analysis of items such as mill stands, drive systems, manipulators, cooling beds, roll cooling, and automatic gauge control systems, is reviewed with special reference to the nature of analysis and range of applications. Computer drafting is being increasingly used by rolling mills designers for both interactive and non-interactive applications. The integration of computer graphics with the design software holds promise for improving the productivity and creativity of designers and is an active area of development in rolling mills design organizations. A specific application where such integration has been achieved is discussed.

Abstract:Occupational low back pain (LBP) remains the leading safety and health challenge for many industries. The present study was focused to evaluate the physical demands of the manual material handling task in terms of back pain to assess the potential risk of injury. This investigation measures the prevalence of low back pain of rice mill workers in Rudrapur block, District Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttarakhand. Sixty workers, extensively involved in manual material handling (MMH) task (including, loading, unloading, stacking, filling carrying of rice or paddy sack etc.) were investigated for the presence of low back pain and associated personal and workplace risk factors and symptoms. The severity, intensity; frequency, duration and medication of low back pain was assessed utilizing the 'Aberdeen Low Back Pain Scale' developed by Ruta and Garratt (1994) on the basis of scoring in terms of light, moderately light, heavy , very heavy and extremely heavy back pain. The interpretation of scores revealed that 18.33 % respondents were falling under the category of moderately light pain (M), 66.66 % respondents were under heavy back pain (H), only 15 % were under the category of very heavy back pain (V), whereas none of the respondents were under the category of light pain (l) and extremely heavy pain (E). It was concluded that there remains an interest in developing integrated models to predict LBP among Rice mill workers using ergonomic and psychosocial factors as well as control strategies to reduce risk of injury.

The main objectives of this study were to identify the most problematic postures in brick making tasks performed by workers through application of the OWAS (Ovako Working Posture Analysis System) method, and to help them for improvement of working method and workplaces. Owing to poor socioeconomic conditions they are compelled to carry out a considerable number of manual, rigorous tasks in brick factories. Twenty construction workers, ten male and ten female, from five brick making industries participated in the field study. The brick making tasks observed during the two-month period included digging clay, loading clay, unloading clay, mixing clay etc. Of all the observations, poor working postures were observed most frequently in digging clay, crushing clay, mixing clay loading to the wheelbarrow, loading and unloading to the truck. And all these indicating that these postures should be corrected either soon or immediately. It was observed that workers who worked continuously in awkward postures during certain raw brick making activities consequently they suffered from discomfort in different parts of their body. Even though they were young, they were likely to suffer from serious musculoskeletal disorders in the future in the brick factory there is a need of immediate corrective measures. Though the OWAS method for postural data analysis proved to be a very useful way to reduce postural load of dynamic brick making tasks, and allowed for efficient application of the original OWAS method.