Analysis of Work Posture and Manual Material Handling in a Flour Production Process

Abstract

The workers in UD Jaya Group, a small flour producer located in Klaten District, Central Java, Indonesia, complained of having muscle pain or musculoskeletal disorders in the calf, knee, wrist, arm, waist, shoulder, back, and neck because there were variety of activities that required the workers to perform non-ergonomic work postures. This pain resulted in a decrease of work productivity, potentially caused work accidents, and affected the health of the workers. The purpose of the research is to analyze the work postures and to reduce musculoskeletal disorders caused by the non-ergonomic work postures among UDJaya Group workers. In achieving the purpose, a post-work analysis was performed on the work postures and the manual handling processes by using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method and the Manual Activity Chart (MAC) Tool. Based on the REBA assessment on 18 work activities, there was 1 working activity that was classified as an action level 1, 15 working activities were classified as the action level 2, and 2 working activities were classified as the action level 3. Based on the MAC Tool assessment on 11 work activities, 10 working activities were classified as the action level 2 and 1 working activity was classified as the action level 4. The recommendations were to reduce the weight of the load, increase the number of lamps and provide aiding tools.

Analysis of Work Posture and Manual Handling on the Material Transport Activities of Indonesian Traditional Market Worker

“…Level 1 is no action demanded if the score is 0-4, level 2 is action demanded in the near future if the score is 5-12, level 3 is action demanded shortly if the score is 13-20, and level 4 is action demanded immediately if score reaching 21-31 (Jari et al, 2022). The stages of evaluating manual material handling are identifying the type of operation like lifting, carrying, or team handling, categorizing score variables, recapping the total score, and determining the total score based on the level of risk (Munawir, 2020). The advantages of this method are analyzing activities that affect performance, analyzing environmental factors that can affect performance, and this method effectively minimizing costs.…”

Manual material handling analysis using biomechanics at repair department workers

“…When lifting materials, lifting load restrictions can reduce worker fatigue [14]. Manual lifting activities are the most common cause of fatigue and injury to the spinal cord and waist [15].…”

“…Analysis of manual material handling was also carried out on the activities of workers in flour producers [15]. Many lifting activities are not ergonomic [15].…”

“…Analysis of manual material handling was also carried out on the activities of workers in flour producers [15]. Many lifting activities are not ergonomic [15]. This can cause work accidents, and reduce work productivity and worker health.…”

Biomechanical and physiological responses to allowable load handling limits in Iranian female workers

“…Manual material handling (MMH) is known as one of the substantial contributors to the risk of low back pain (LBP) and other work‐related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (Afshari et al, 2018; Menzel et al, 2004; Munawir et al, 2020; Rajendran et al, 2021; Zurada, 2012). Occupational jobs demanding frequent and/or heavy load lifting are strongly associated with higher rates of spinal disc degeneration and LBP (Gallagher & Marras, 2012).…”