Work Risk Assessment in the Tea Picking with the Key Indicator Method-Awkward Body Postures (KIM-ABP)

Abstract

Tea plantation in Neglasari Pangalengan, Bandung, West Java, is a smallholder tea plantation. In the picking process, there are many manual activities, from picking tea shoots to transferring the pickings to transport trucks. The picking process is carried out for 4 hours starting. Most of this time is spent picking the tea shoots. Farmers must carry baskets where empty baskets weigh between 3.6 and 5.1 kg, while 10 - 15 kg is the weight of filled baskets. Manual handling of this material causes various risks to occupational safety and health, loads are often above the workers’ ability limit and they are faced with non-ergonomic work facilities. In the picking process, workers lift weights of more than 5 kg. Workers who lift loads > 5 kg have a 2.3 times higher risk of experiencing low back pain compared to workers who lift loads ≤ 5 kg. Therefore, this study measured occupational risks and recommendations for improvements to minimize the risk of occupational diseases. The method used is the Key Indicator Method-Awkward Body Postures (KIM-ABP). The result from the risk assessment was 268 where a score greater than 100 indicates high risk and the need for improvements in the workplace.
 Keywords: manual handling, work risk, Key Indicator Method, KIM-ABP