Comparative Study of Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) between Conventional and Machine Assisted Napier Grass Harvest Works

Abstract

Most of Napier grass industry in Malaysia is labored in small and medium scale. Therefore, the harvesting works are done manually by man power using conventional equipment such as sickle and machete. However, there are some efforts made to design the low cost equipment in assisting this Napier grass harvesting works. The aim of this study is to compare the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) performance in order to evaluate the certain body parts condition during harvesting works by using conventional equipment and innovation machine assisted. Based on survey, conventional harvesting method might increase the risk of low back pain (LBP) due to repetitive stooping posture. Furthermore, the back biomechanical load and force impact were also not handling wisely. The objective of this study is to prove that the usage of machine during harvesting works might improve the body posture especially on stoop level condition. Based on results, the overall RULA and REBA score are excellently improved as well as trunk position which is depicts the stooped level condition. Hence, the innovation of harvest machine could contribute to the Napier grass industry especially on small and medium entrepreneur.

Implementation of Kinetic and Kinematic Variables in Ergonomic Risk Assessment Using Motion Capture Simulation: A Review

“…Rapid Upper Limb Assessment and Rapid Entire Body Assessment are the preeminent and easiest tools for rapid ergonomic risk assessment in observational methods to evaluate work-posture [49,58]. RULA provides the level of postural load for the upper limb and REBA for the entire body [53,59]. Other ergonomic assessments, such as the Quick Exposure Checklist and the Strain Index, are also used for ergonomic risk assessment [50,55].…”

“…The advantages of these tools are that they can be conducted by inexperienced users as these tools are easy to learn and quick to use [51,52]. These ergonomic risk assessment tools also give an immediate result and mainly cover whole body posture to adequately assess work-related musculoskeletal disorder risk [7,53].…”

Implementation of Digital Ergonomic Applications for Workload Screening

“…It allows the evaluation of static and dynamic positions and includes the possibility of sudden changes in posture or unstable positions (Figure 3.). [8] Figure 3. REBA worksheet [8] An important ergonomic evaluation factor in production practice is also the assessment and implementation of NIOSH equations (Figure 4.…”

“…[8] Figure 3. REBA worksheet [8] An important ergonomic evaluation factor in production practice is also the assessment and implementation of NIOSH equations (Figure 4. ), which arose due to the evaluation of activities related to lifting loads and the occurrence of injuries in the lower back.…”

Farmer’s Work Posture Analysis Affected Musculoskeletal Disorders

“…Thus, posture obtain 7 score for RULA. Abd Rahman, et al [15] explained that harvesting works are done manually by human power, without any conventional tools. This could be the main factor of musculoskeletal disorders among harvest workers.…”