Ergonomic Analysis of Traditional Pine Oleoresin Tapping: Musculoskeletal Disorders, Cumulative Fatigue, and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Pine oleoresin is a valuable non-timber forest product commodity in Indonesia. A traditional tapping using small-sized hoes ("kadukul" in Sundanese or "pethel" in Javanese) are widely applied. Given the protection of occupational safety and health is a worker's right, various ergonomic issues were discussed in this study. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) was examined by using Standardized Nordic Questionnaire and Wong-Baker Pain Rating Scale instruments, physical-mental-social fatigue was measured by Cumulative Fatigue Symptoms Index (CFSI), and job satisfaction was tested from eight variables such as wage, employment status, accessibility, health service, living facilities, work equipment, training, and social facility. This study revealed that most of the workers suffered from intense MSDs in the shoulder, arm, wrist, hand, thigh, calf, and foot (mostly right body side). This finding was in line with the CFSI analysis. The common fatigue symptoms suffered by the workers were in the category of the physical dimension, such as in sub-dimensions of general fatigue, chronics fatigue, and physical disorder. The job satisfaction analysis confirmed that two variables, i.e., wage and employment status, influenced job satisfaction significantly in a positive association. Proper personal protective equipment and workaid, working techniques improvement that meets occupational safety and health standard, and safety behavior incentive should be considered as effective strategies in improving the worker's safety and health protection.Keywords: forest harvesting, forestry worker, non-timber forest product, physical fatigue, safety

Work Measurement Study on Motor-Manual Pine Tapping Operation: the Application of the Concept of Lean Manufacturing and Allowances

“…For EF1, EF2, EF3, and SA13, the amount of physical workload was equivalent to 264.8 kcal/h, while the amount of energy Lan et al (2009) underline the importance of work measurement in determining reasonable working time quota. Measuring standard time value is beneficial for both employers and tapping workers because pine resin harvesting is mostly considered a side economic activity (Yovi & Amanda, 2019). The standard time required to complete the tapping operation per tree was obtained by multiplying the standard time by its allowances multiplier (Table 5) (Niebel & Freivalds, 2003).…”

“…It means that for the same number of trees, a worker needs 3.4 hours, which is 1.7 times longer. The average number of trees tapped per day by a worker who does tapping using the conventional tool only reaches 100-120 trees (or less) per day (Yovi & Amanda, 2019).…”

“…Pine tapping activity provides significant employment opportunities for local communities (Yovi & Amanda, 2019). In Indonesia, pine resin tapping is carried out under manual or motor-manual operation.…”

“…In Indonesia, pine resin tapping is carried out under manual or motor-manual operation. Conventional tapping tool in the form of a small iron-made hoe (kadukul) (Sundanese) (pethel) (Javanese) to chop the bark away (tapping face) in Hugue or square (koakan) tapping technique (Yovi & Amanda, 2019) is the most common tapping practice. However, in the last decades, the use of a hand-held tapping machine, local people call it "mujitek", has received wide attention.…”

“…In Java Island, almost all pine forests are managed by the state-owned company Perum Perhutani. The pine tapping activities are carried out by local communities who hold a "tapping contract" with a piece-rate payment system, where the wages are paid based on the volume of the tapped resin (Yovi & Amanda, 2019). This payment system is common among low-wage industries and widely adopted in developing countries (Davis, 2016).…”