ESSA Vol 22 1 2010

June 2010
Vol. 22 No 1
ergonomics SA
A peer-reviewed publication of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa. A peer-reviewed publication of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa.
ISSN NUMBER: 10 10 2728
esa
Journal of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
CJ CHRISTIE (Rhodes University)
EDITORIAL BOARD (South African and International)

R BRIDGER (Institute of Naval Medicine, Alverstoke, U.K.) H HENDRICK (University of Southern California) PA SCOTT (Rhodes University) P STONE (Loughborough University of Technology) H SHAHNAVAZ (Lulea University) J WALL (University of South Alabama)
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ergonomics SA (esa) provides a medium for publication of material relevant to occupational conditions and needs in Southern Africa at a time of change unparalleled in history. To this end the journal accepts articles in the following categories: research papers, review articles, conceptual theories, methodological articles involving technology for recording and/or analysing humans at work, observational reports from the field, brief research reports/updates, and news and views. The editors aim to ensure that professional rigour characterises all published material while recognising that the needs of Southern Africa in this field and of Ergonomics anywhere, are for the generation and dissemination of technical, non technical, fundamental and applied knowledge. To this end the journal welcomes review papers and encourages contributions to its News and Views section. RESEARCH PAPERS: Original empirical articles of significance for the broadly ramified field of Ergonomics are welcomed, particularly those related to the problems associated with Industrially Developing Countries, particularly in a Southern African context. These may involve original theory and/or unique application. REVIEW ARTICLES: Review articles are encouraged and those whose focus is on application of the contained knowledge to the situation as it pertains in Southern Africa are most sought. The requirement of readability and appropriate writing style is particularly crucial here. METHODOLOGICAL REPORTS: Papers devoted to the technology for recording and/or analysing of parameters relative to humans at work, so long as these are presented in a form intelligible to readers representing a wide variety of professional backgrounds, are welcomed. The requirement of clarity of exposition, particularly in terms of illustrations, is particularly relevant here. CASE STUDIES/OBSERVATIONAL RECORDS: Interesting case studies/observations from the field, especially if they suggest problems or solutions not previously considered, will be accepted. RESEARCH NOTES/UPDATES: Ongoing research information which may stimulate debate or foster contacts between professionals with similar interests may be summarised in short (one or two page) updates. These are not subjected to formal blind review by referees, but are published at the discretion of the Chief Editors. NEWS AND VIEWS: Submissions for this section of the journal are personal reports or position statements and these are encouraged in the interest of fostering debate, stimulating thought or revision and promoting exchange of ideas. Views expressed do not necessarily carry endorsement from the editorial board but they must be expressed in conformity with accepted norms and standards. Contributions to News and Views are subjected to an open review process. Letters to the Editors in Chief, engendered by contributions appearing earlier in the journal, may be published in subsequent issues under this section. ergonomics SA is free to members of ESSA and may be purchased by non-members on request from the production coordinator at j.mcdougall@ru.ac.za or on (046) 6038468.
ISSN NUMBER: 10 10 2728
Journal of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa.

Volume 22 (1), June 2010 CONTENTS
Editorial ............................................................................................................
Ergonomic evaluation of tasks performed by female workers in the unorganized sectors of the manual brick manufacturing units in India S Sahu and M Sett ...................................................................................................... 2
An ergonomic evaluation of workstations in small-scale cybercafes in Nigeria S J Ojolo, S A Oke, A E Adesegha, R R Dinrifo, A Oluwo and S Orewa ................... 17
Small & medium Scale Casting and Forging Industry in India: an ergonomic Study L P Singh, A Bhardwaj, K K Deepak and S Sahu ......................................................
36
Information for contributors...................................................................................
57
Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728
EDITORIAL
______________________________________________________________________ The euphoria of the 2010 Soccer World Cup is now over and what a world cup it was. South Africa proved the world wrong and did itself proud congratulations to the organizing committee and all the South Africans who made our international visitors feel so welcome. Why, you may ask, am I bringing the Soccer World Cup into an ergonomics journal? Well firstly, because I am a proud South African and this is a South African journal, but secondly, because many ergonomists steer clear of sports research considering it the realm of the sports scientist. However, there are important links between the science of sport and the science of work. The most important being that sport for many is their work. I would like to highlight one soccer-specific example from a recent paper in the Journal of Sports Sciences (Reilly, 2005). Very briefly, according to this article, as soccer is a team game, a priority in preparing players for match-play must be to harness their individual capabilities so that the group becomes an effective competitive unit. The paper highlights many individual and team factors that need to be considered (Figure 1). The model suggests that coaches (managers/engineers) need to consider interfacing the demands of the game (tasks) with the capabilities of the players (the workers). Thus, when preparing for competition (work), technical, tactical and physiological requirements must be integrated in a holistic manner.
Figure 1: An ergonomics model for the analyses of football (Taken from Reilly, 2005) Just like this model, the three papers comprising the current issue of Ergonomics SA use the same principles of interfacing the demands of the work environment with the capabilities of the indigenous work forces in India and Nigeria. The articles all highlight the importance of ergonomics interventions within various industries in these developing nations and provide important directions for future research. Thus, the basic research premise of ergonomics and sports science is the same, just the application differs! Candice Christie (Editor-in-Chief) Reilly, T., 2005. An ergonomics model of the soccer training process. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23(6), 561-572. 1
Ergonomic evaluation of tasks performed by female workers in the unorganized sectors of the manual brick manufacturing units in India
S Sahu Department of Physiology University of Kalyani Kalyani-741235 Nadia, West Bengal, India
skcsahu@yahoo.co.in
M Sett
Abstract
Manual brick manufacturing units in India, especially in the unorganized sectors, employ a large number of female workers. In the present investigation, an attempt was made to ergonomically evaluate the posture and the musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of the female workers engaged in the brick manufacturing units. Two main types of task are performed by the female workers in the brick fields in the unorganized sectors viz, brick moulding and brick carrying. Modified Nordic Questionnaire and Body Part Discomfort (BPD) scale was applied on these workers to identify the MSDs and the zones of discomfort in different body parts. Four different types of postural analyses viz, OWAS, RULA, REBA and LUBA were done to find out the postural load of the female workers at work. Statistical analyses showed that the zones of maximum discomfort for the female moulders are the low back (9.31.45), followed by the calf muscles (8.31.09), trunk (8.21.33), ankle (8.11.73), and wrist (8.01.71). On the other hand, the maximum discomfort zones in the brick carriers are the head (9.21.63) followed by the neck (8.81.21), trunk (8.41.61) and low back (8.21.59). Thus, immediate ergonomic interventions are needed to prevent the MSDs by correcting the harmful working postures and to reduce their work stress. Key words: Manual brick manufacturing, Indian female workers, posture analysis, MSD.
Introduction
Brick manufacturing work is an age-old profession practised all over the world. In this industry a lot of manual material handling (MMH) tasks are performed. In the developed countries some mechanization was introduced but various studies show that the workers working in the brick manufacturing units suffer from musculoskeletal problems (Buckle and Stubbs, 1990; Ferreira and Tracy, 1991; Brogmus and Marko, 1991; Basra and Crawford, 1995; Cook et al., 1996; Heuer et al,. 1996; Chung and Kee, 2000; Trevelyan and Haslani, 2001). 2
Notwithstanding the technological advances, a large number of workers perform heavy MMH jobs in developing countries, especially in the unorganized sectors. Studies from developing countries like India show that these workers suffer from assorted health problems due to awkward postures and carrying heavy loads (Mukhopadhyay, 2008; Sett and Sahu, 2008). All these authors concluded that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) resulted from frequent trunk bending, twisting and repetitive handling of several bricks at a time. Moreover, some studies report that women have a higher prevalence rate of work-related MSDs than that of men (Treaster and Burr, 2004; Basu et al., 2008b). The postures adopted by the workers in their working place depends upon the type of work, the design of the work place, personal characteristics, the tools required to perform the particular work and also the duration and frequency of the work cycle (Bridger, 1995; Putz-Anderson, 1988). So, various techniques have been reported for postural analyses to identify the stress during different phases of work (Colombini et al., 1985). One of the earliest methods of work posture assessment was Ovako Working postures Assessment System (OWAS) (Karhu et al., 1977). Other authors used this method for posture analysis (Kant et al., 1990; Kivi and Mattila, 1991; Engels et al., 1994). The other method for postural analysis is the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) (Mc Atamney and Corlett, 1993). RULA has been extensively used in various studies (Leuder, 1996; Axelsson, 1997; Gutierrez, 1998). The other two recent techniques of work posture analysis are the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) (Hignett and McAtamney, 2000) and Loading on the Upper Body Assessment (LUBA) (Kee and Karwowski, 2001). Therefore, an ergonomic study was conducted on these female workers by continuous observation method to identify and quantify the postural stress. Moreover, the suitability of these postural analysis methods in evaluating the working postures adopted by the Indian female workers during different MMH tasks was under investigation. This study also sought the prevalence of MSDs among the female brick moulders and carriers. 1.1 The brick manufacturing scenario in India The manual brick manufacturing process in India has been going on for centuries, and millions of people are employed. A large number of female workers are engaged in this field. In unorganized sectors, these workers are recruited temporarily on a seasonal basis and thus are neither trained nor sufficiently experienced. Therefore, they do not have any previous knowledge about unsafe acts and hazards related to this work, or they simply ignore the safe working process, as also seen among the female construction labourers of India (Basu et al., 2005; Basu et al., 2008a). MMH is the cheapest solution in developing countries (Maiti, 2008), so most of the brick manufacturing units in India perform the task of MMH. The workers are recruited by employers on a seasonal basis, mainly from November to April. These female workers come from different villages from the same or different states of India. No work occurs during Indias monsoon season (June to August). They
then go back to their villages and engage themselves in some other work, like agriculture, basket making, etc. or remain unemployed. There are two groups of female workers in brick manufacturing units, whose main tasks are brick making and carrying bricks respectively. The group of female workers that carry raw bricks from the stacks in the field to the brick kiln and baked bricks back from the kiln, to stack in some other places in the field are grouped as the Brick Carriers. They work from 6:00 am to 10:30 am, take a break and again work from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The other group of female workers that mix mud, carry the mud in a wooden cart to the field, dump it and then use the mud for moulding bricks in the field are grouped as the Brick Moulders. These female brick moulders work continuously from 6:00 am till sunset, taking intervals only while having their breakfast or lunch. Both groups of workers work six days a week. The jobs of the two groups are not interchangeable and they can only perform the task that is allotted to them. The workers are paid on a contractual basis i.e. at the rate of every thousand bricks moulded or carried.
Methods
2.1 Subjects The study was conducted on 144 female workers (60 brick moulders and 84 brick carriers) engaged in four different brick fields of West Bengal, India. Adult female workers with at least one year of work experience were randomly chosen from different manual brick manufacturing units in India. According to the nature of their work, they were divided into the two groups. 2.2 Physical parameters Physical parameters such as stature and body weight were measured with an anthropometric rod and a weighing machine respectively. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated from the anthropometric data (Poskitt, 2000). 2.3 Activity analysis Work study during actual work in the field was performed according to ILO, 1984. Methodical study by drawing multiple activity charts was done by Activity Sampling method. Time study was also done with the help of a properly calibrated stop watch. Time taken for a particular job in each cycle and thus in each hour was observed and noted. 2.4 Postural analysis Working postures were evaluated directly by visual observation as well as indirectly by a camera, and then analyzed by the following methods: 2.4.1 OWAS method (Karhu et al., 1977): Four levels of risk were identified as a function of a number of postural factors such as the back, upper limb, lower limb postures and the degree of strength required. The four levels of risk were then related in assessing the remedial actions: no action necessary, action in the near future, action to be taken soon and action to be taken immediately.
2.4.2 RULA method (McAtamney and Corlett, 1993): This was developed to assess the workers work-related upper limb disorders. For this assessment, the postures were at first randomly selected from the freeze photographs, to be scored as per the scoring sheet. Then the scores were put through tables that were converted to a grand score of 1 to 7, after which they were clustered into four action levels. 2.4.3 REBA method (Hignett and McAtamney, 2000): The postures to be assessed were first scored and transformed into Score A and Score B from the given table. The two scores were then entered into another table to produce the final Score C. This result was interpreted into a table containing five action levels, giving the risk of the assessed posture. 2.4.4 LUBA method (Kee and Karwowski, 2001): Each joint motion class of the posture to be assessed was assigned a numerical relative discomfort score on the basis of discomfort value, which was then categorized into four action levels. 2.5 Nordic Questionnaire study Nordic Questionnaire (Kuorinka et al., 1987) was modified according to the situation and was used to interview to workers in their local dialect (Bengali and Hindi). The questionnaire emphasized their individual details, type of work and the occurrence or frequency of pain felt in different parts of their body. 2.6 Subjective methods of discomfort The intensity of pain or different types of discomfort was measured by utilizing the Body Part Discomfort (BPD) scale (Jacquelin et al., 1994). The scale consists of marks from 1 to 10 and ranges from just noticeable discomfort to intolerable discomfort. A 0 in the scale means no discomfort at all. 2.7 Statistical analysis The data were expressed as mean standard error of mean. Comparison of the means of the Body Part Discomfort zones of different body parts in the female brick moulders with respect to that of the female brick carriers were made by students t-test and P<.01 was used as the limit of significance (Das and Das, 2004).
Results and Discussions
3.1 Demographic features of the subjects The physical characteristics and experience of the female workers are shown in Table 1.
Table 1.
The physical characteristics and experience of the female workers

Weight (Kg) Body Mass Index (BMI) (Kg/m2) 18.43 1.33 (16.44-21.4) Age (years) Experience (Years) 3.2 6.25 (1-8)
Height (cm)
144.15 5.67 (138-152)
40.83 4.9 (35-50)
22.3 3.13 (18-27)
(Values: Mean SEM, Figures in parentheses indicate the range)
Nutritional status of the subjects was assessed from their BMI and the mean value showed that the subjects suffered from Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) (Weisell, 2002). Pal et al., (2008) showed that 30% of the young tribal women engaged in brick fields were affected by CED. The female workers working in different manual brick manufacturing units were quite young (22.3 3.13 years) and so they had less working experience. 3.2 Activity analysis Each activity of the workers was analysed and is represented in Table 2. Table 2.
Groups
The work and time study of the two groups of female workers
Activities Mixing mud once with hand Carrying mud by pushing a wooden cart Load handled (kg) 23.26 2.01 Time taken (sec)/ Cycle 14.55 3.67 No. of cycles/ Hour 11.41 .67
37.76 2.95
34.65 1.31
9.57 .45
Brick moulding (6.9 .45 mins/ Cycle)
Cutting mud for 1 brick Squat and mould 1 brick Take out 1 brick from mould Stack 1 brick on head Stand with 12 bricks on head Walk with bricks on head Unload 1 brick and place on the kiln top
5.85 .25 6.07 .31 5.37 .39
3.46 .55 9.50 1.33 3.95 .67
76.28 .9 68.33 .37 80.12 .33
49.61 .55
10.62 2.25
23.67 .17
50.05 .69
5.29 3.19
45.03 .79
Brick carrying (9.37 1.13 mins/trip)
50.31 1.01
66.23 3.67
7.45 .28
30.25 4.14
11.07 1.33
25.13 .55
(Values: Mean SEM)
The tasks of the brick moulders are completed within a cycle time of 6.9 .45 mins. Thus they complete about eight such cycles in one hour. The time taken (sec) to mould one brick has been depicted in the table. Altogether they mould 8-10 bricks in 3.88 .7 min with the mud that they carry at one time, in the wooden cart. On the other hand, the brick carriers complete one whole cycle in 9.37 1.13 min and the female workers carry 10 to 12 bricks at a time. From Table 2 it can be concluded that for cutting mud and moulding, the cycle time is much less. These tasks are described as repetitive as they perform more cycles per hour, so the brick moulders are put under stress. On the other hand, maximum time is spent by the brick carriers walking a distance (.6 .13 Km) to and from the field and brick kiln, with load (50.31 1.01 kg) or without load respectively. Each unbaked brick weighs about 4.5-5.0 kg and each baked brick weighs about 3.5-4.0 kg. They carry 10-12 bricks at a time. They are paid per thousand bricks carried, so even if they get exhausted, they carry on with their task, which further puts the brick carriers under stress. 3.3 Postural analysis
A.
B.
C. Figure 1.
D. Photographs of the female workers engaged in different activities in the brick field: - (A) Carrying mud in a wooden cart, (B) Moulding mud, (C) Stacking bricks on head, (D) Walking with bricks on head to the brick kiln
In Table 3, the postural analysis of the different steps in brick moulding performed by the female workers is represented in detail, along with the maximum discomfort zone and rating. The different tasks done by the female workers while moulding bricks are: mixing mud by hand, carrying mud by pushing a small wooden cart, cutting mud, 7
squatting to mould, and finally taking out a brick from the mould. These tasks have been designated as a, b, c, d and e respectively for convenience in discussion. According to the known four types of postural assessment, the risk level of postures a, c and d have been categorized from High to Very high and these postures need immediate corrective measures in the near future. But there are some disparities among the results obtained from the four methods of postural analysis in postures b and e. According to OWAS and LUBA methods, posture b is not harmful, unlike the results obtained from REBA and RULA methods. Again, OWAS analysis of posture e is categorized as having some risk but the others define it to be very risky. As per the maximum discomfort rating, the posture adopted in e is marked as intolerably strenuous (9.1 .33) by the female moulders. Hignett and McAtamney (2006) stated that RULA is generally used if the person is sitting, standing still or in an otherwise sedentary position, and mainly using the upper body and arms to work. For all other tasks REBA should be used. On the other hand, Kee and Karwowski (2006) indicated that the LUBA technique is applied to the seated or standing postures, with the lower limb well supported in an evenly balanced posture. OWAS postural analyses have been worked out on a wide range of postures, from bricklaying (Kivi and Mattila, 1991) to nurses (Engels et al., 1994) to the workers in garages (Kant et al., 1990) but the results can be low in detail (Hignett and McAtamney, 2000). So, a suitable method is required for evaluating the postures adopted by workers squatted on the ground (Fig 1. B), in the Indian context. In Table 4 the total postural analysis of the sequential steps in brick carrying is represented in detail, along with the maximum discomfort zone and rating. The different tasks done by the female workers while carrying bricks are: stacking bricks on head, standing with bricks on head, walking with bricks on head, and finally unloading bricks on the kiln top. They have been designated as f, g, h and i for convenience in discussion. Postures f and h are categorized as having medium to high risk level as per all the types of postural assessment. The results obtained from LUBA and RULA methods are same for posture g and this is the correct method for assessing such postures. These methods are used in postures when an individual is sitting or standing still with lower limbs well supported and the upper body is at work. Moreover, the maximum discomfort rating is in the head (8.9 .67) because the carriers carry heavy loads. There are differences in these results from that of the OWAS method, which marks posture i to be harmful. So, OWAS, REBA, RULA and LUBA methods do not evaluate the half squat posture adopted by the workers during this task.
Table 3.
Posture
Different methods of postural analysis of the female brick moulder

Activities OWAS code Risk (OWAS) RULA score Action level (RULA) 4 REBA score Risk level (REBA) High LUBA postural load 15 Action category (LUBA) IV Maximum discomfort in body parts Low back Maximum Discomfort Rating 8.8 .19
Mixing mud by hand Carrying mud by pushing a wooden cart Cutting mud Squat and mould
2, 1, 3, 3
Major strain Not harmful
10
2, 1, 6, 3
High
II
Low back
6.6 .67
2, 1, 3, 2
Major strain Some strain Some strain
11,12
Very High, High
12
III
Legs
7.8 1.3
c 2, 1, 3, 1 7 4 10 13 III Low back 8.2 .45
d Take out brick from mould e 4, 1, 3, 1 7 4 13 Very High 16 IV Low back 9.1 .33
Table 4.
Different methods of postural analysis of the female brick carrier

Posture Activities OWAS code Risk (OWAS) RULA score Action level (RULA) REBA score Risk level (REBA) LUBA postural load Action category (LUBA) Maximum discomfort in body parts Low back Maximum Discomfort Rating
Stack bricks on head f Stand with bricks on head Walk with bricks on head h Unload bricks on the kiln top
1, 3, 3, 3
Some strain
4,6
2,3
6,9
Medium, High
10
III
7.4 1.15
1, 3, 1, 3
Some strain
High
15
IV
Head
8.9 .67
1, 3, 6, 3
Some strain
High
10
III
Legs
7.8 .45
2, 2, 3, 3
Harmful
6,7
3,4
7,9
Medium, High
7,13
II,III
Low back
8.2 .33
10
3.4 Discomfort and pain in different body parts Figure 2 shows the graphical representation of pain in different parts of the body of two groups of the female workers, according to the modified Nordic Questionnaire.
120 100
C omplaints (% )
80 60 40 20 0
Brick moulders (N=60) Brick carriers (N=84)
Figure 2.
From the graph it is clear that the brick moulders have more pain in the low back and part of the legs because most of the time they sit continuously in the same awkward posture to mould the bricks. On the other hand, since the female brick carriers carry a heavy load to and from the field and the brick kiln, they suffer more discomfort and pain in the head, neck, shoulder and also their trunk. Musculoskeletal pain is not felt by the workers before work or at work. 38.89 % of the female workers feel severe pain just after their whole days work, i.e. in the evening. Others feel pain in their different body parts when they go to sleep at night and take rest. The intensity of pain or discomfort was measured by utilizing the Body Part Discomfort (BPD) scale, which is depicted by graphical presentation in Figure 3.
11
ad Ne Sh c k ou ld er El Up bo w pe r Lo ar m w er ar m W r is t Ha nd Tr u Lo nk w ba ck Th ig h Kn ee Fe et An kl e Ca lf Le g
He
Different body parts
Complaints about pain (in percentage) in different parts of the body of two groups of female workers
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
d Ne Sh ck ou ld er El Up bo w pe r Lo ar m w er ar m W r is t Ha nd Tr un Lo k w ba ck Th ig h Kn ee Fe et An kl e Ca lf He a
Body Part Discomfort Scale
Brick moulders (N=60) Brick carriers (N=84)
Different body parts
Figure 3.
Graphical presentation of the different discomfort zones of the body, as per the Body Part Discomfort (BPD) scale of the two groups of female workers
From the above graphical representation it is clear that more discomfort zones are concentrated in the upper part of the body of the female brick carriers, such as the head, neck, shoulders, arms etc. than that of the lower body parts, as seen in the case of female brick moulders (P<.01). The difference is due to the fact that the brick carriers carry heavy loads and walk a great distance (.6 .13 km) from the field to the kiln top, whereas the brick moulders go on moulding in the same awkward sitting posture for long hours and their task is designated as repetitive in nature. Table 5 below shows the different types of discomfort felt. They have been categorized as pain, numbness, swelling and stiffness as per the Nordic Questionnaire (Kuorinka et al., 1987). Table 5. Responses on different types of discomfort felt by the female workers
Brick moulders (N=60) 44 (73.33%) 22 (36.67%) 8 (13.33%) 4 (06.67%) Brick carriers (N=84) 76 (90.48%) 46 (54.76%) 24 (28.57%) 16 (19.05%)
Types of discomfort Pain Numbness Swelling Stiffness
(Percentages of total number of workers having a feeling of discomfort are shown in the parentheses). Note: Total does not add up to 100 % due to multiple responses.
12
Among the types of discomfort, it was noticed that the female workers of both groups felt pain in different body parts. The percentage of pain is higher (90.48%) in the case of the female brick carriers. However, as the socio-economic conditions of the workers are very poor, so to earn more they carry more bricks even if they get exhausted. The percentage of swelling and stiffness is lower but cannot remain unnoticed. From the study, it is recommended that redesigning the workplace and rescheduling the work-rest cycles of these female workers, along with proper counselling of food habits and maintaining hygienic conditions, is necessary to upgrade their quality of life. An ergonomically designed sitting stool is suggested for the brick moulders and assistive load carrying or carrying bricks loaded on a cart would reduce the workers work load in the work place.
Conclusion
According to the OWAS and REBA methods, the postures adopted by the brick moulders have been categorized as having High to Very high risk levels and that of the postures adopted by the brick carriers have Medium to High risk levels, even though complaints about the different discomfort feelings are more prevalent among the carriers. The results are supported by the subjective assessment of discomfort. The female workers rise before dawn to finish off their household chores and cooking before they move off to the brick fields, which altogether puts them under stress. Thus OWAS and REBA methods of postural analysis closely correlate with the awkward postures adopted by the female workers. Though REBA method is used for sitting postures, a new method of postural analysis needs to be developed in the future for assessing the postures of being seated on the ground, as in the Indian context. Moreover, ergonomic interventions such as redesigning the workplace and the work-rest schedule would improve the conditions of the female workers and reduce their work stress.
Acknowledgement
The authors express their sincere gratitude to all those female workers and the employers from the different brick manufacturing units, who rendered immense cooperation for the completion of this study.
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Basu, K., Sahu, S. and Paul, G., 2005. Study on construction labourers working in unorganized sectors, Journal of science, 1, 53-60. Basu, K., Sahu, S. and Paul, G., 2008a. An ergonomic study of work injuries in construction work in unorganized sector, Journal of Environmental Physiology, 1(1), 55-62. Basu, K., Sahu, S. and Paul, G., 2008b. Ergonomic evaluation of work stress among female labourers of unorganized sectors of the construction industry in India, AsianPacific Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety, 15(3), 57-58. Bridger, R.S., 1995. Introduction to Ergonomics, (Mc Graw-Hill Book Co.), Singapore. Brogmus, G. E. and Marko, R., 1991. Advances in industrial Ergonomics and Safety III (Taylor and Francis, London), Karwowski, W. and Yates, J. W. (Eds), Cumulative trauma disorders of the upper extremities: the magnitude of the problem in US industry, pp. 95-102. Buckle, P. W. and Stubbs, D. A., 1990. Contemporary ergonomics, (Taylor and Francis, London), Lovesy, E. J. (Ed), Epidemiological aspects of musculoskeletal disorders of the shoulder and upper limbs, pp. 75-78. Chung, M. K. and Kee, D., 2000. Evaluation of lifting tasks frequently performed during brick manufacturing processes using NIOH lifting equations, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 25(2), 423-433. Colombini, D., Occhipinti, E., Molteni, G., Grieco, A., Pedotti, A., Boccardi, S., Frigo, S. and Menoni, O., 1985. Posture analyses, Ergonomics, 28(1), 275-284. Cook, T. M., Rosecrance, J. C. and Zimmermann, C. L., 1996. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in brick laying: a symptom and job factors survey and guidelines for improvements, Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 11(6), 1335-1339. Das, D. and Das, A., 2004. Statistics in Biology and Psychology, 4th edn, (Academic publishers), Calcutta, pp. 32-122. Engels, J. A., Landeweered, J. A. and Kant, Y., 1994. An OWAS-based analysis of nurses working postures, Ergonomics, 37(5), 900-919. Ferreira, D. P. and Tracy, M. F., 1991. Contemporary Ergonomics, (Taylor and Francis, London), Dovekey F. J. (Ed), Musculoskeletal disorders in a brick company, pp. 475480. Gutierrez, A. M. J. A., 1998. A workstation design for a Philippine semiconductor, In Bishu, R., Karwowski, W. and Goonetilleke, R. S. (Eds), ERGON-AXIA98. Proceedings of the first World Congress on Ergonomics for Global Quality and Productivity, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, July 8-11, HK University of Science and Technology, pp. 133-136.
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Heuer, H., Klimmer, F., Kylian, H., Seeber, A., Schmidt, K. H., Hoffmann, G. and Luttke-Nymphius, M., 1996. Musculoskeletal problems in brick layers as a function of length of employment: the role of secondary selection by low-back pain, Work and Stress, 10, 322-335. Hignett, S. and McAtamney, L., 2000. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), Applied Ergonomics, 31, 201-205. Hignett, S. and McAtamney, L., 2006. Fundamentals and assessment tools for occupational ergonomics, 2nd edn. (Taylor and Francis), Marras, W. S. and Karwowski, W. (Eds), REBA and RULA: Whole body and Upper Limb Rapid Assessment Tools. International Labour Organization, 1984. Introduction to work study, 4th edn, (Universal Publishing Corporation), Bombay, p. 402. Jacquelin, L. R., Drury, G. and Richard, L. B., 1994. A field methodology for the control of musculoskeletal injuries, Applied Ergonomics, 25, 3-16. Kant, I., Notermans, J. H. V. and Borm, P. J. A., 1990. Observations of working postures in garages using Ovako Working Postures Analysis System (OWAS) and consequent workload reduction recommendations, Ergonomics, 33(2), 209-220. Karhu, O., Kansi, P. and Kuornika, I., 1977. Correcting working postures in industry: a practical method for analyses, Applied Ergonomics, 8(4), 199-201. Kee, D. and Karwowski, W., 2001. LUBA - An assessment technique for postural loading on the upper body based on joint motion discomfort and maximum holding time, Journal of Applied Ergonomics, 32, 357-366. Kee, D. and Karwowski, W., 2006. Fundamentals and assessment tools for occupational ergonomics, 2nd edn. (Taylor and Francis), Marras, W. S. and Karwowski, W. (Eds), An Assessment Technique for Postural Loading on the Upper Body (LUBA). Kivi, P. and Mattila, M., 1991. Analysis and improvement of work postures in the building industry: application of the computerized OWAS method, Applied Ergonomics, 22(1), 43-48. Kuorinka, I., Johnson Kilbom, B., Vinterberg, A., Biering, M., Sorenson, F., Anderson, G. and Jorgenson, K., 1987. Standardized Nordic questionnaire for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms, Applied Ergonomics, 18, 233-237. Leuder, R., 1996. A proposed RULA for computer users, Proceedings of the Ergonomics Summer Workshop, UC, Berkeley, August 8th-9th. Maiti, R., 2008. Work load assessment in building construction related activities in India, Applied Ergonomics, 39, 754-765. McAtamney, L. and Corlett, E. N., 1993. RULA: a survey method for the investigation of work related upper limb disorders, Applied Ergonomics, 24(2), 91-99.
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Mukhopadhyay, P., 2008. Risk factors in manual brick manufacturing in India, HFESA Journal, Ergonomics Australia, 22(1), 16-25. Pal, N., Paul, G. and Roy, K., 2008. A study on nutritional status of tribal women in brick fields of Birbhum district of West Bengal, Journal of Environmental Physiology, 1(1), 49-54. Poskitt, E.M., 2000. Body Mass Index and child obesity: Are we nearing a definition? Acta Paediatrics, 89,507-509. Putz-Anderson, V., 1988. Cumulative Trauma Disorders: a manual for musculoskeletal diseases of the upper limbs, (Taylor and Francis), London. Sett, M. and Sahu, S., 2008. Ergonomic study on female workers in manual brick manufacturing units in West Bengal, India, Asian-Pacific Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety, 15(3), 59-60. Treaster, D. E. and Burr, D., 2004. Gender differences in prevalence of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder, Ergonomics, 47(5), 495-526. Trevelyan, F. C. and Haslani, R. A., 2001. Musculoskeletal disorders in a handmade brick manufacturing plant, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 27(3), 4355. Weisell, R. C., 2002. Body mass index as an indicator of obesity, Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 11 (Suppl.), S681-S684.
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An ergonomic evaluation of workstations in small-scale cybercafes in Nigeria

S J Ojolo, S A Oke, A E Adesegha Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria sa_oke@yahoo.com R R Dinrifo School of Engineering Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria A Oluwo, S Orewa Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
This paper presents a survey of cybercafes in a developing country to reveal their design pitfalls and propose appropriate solutions to the observed problems based on ergonomic principles. These cybercafes provide Internet services to communities but the concern is to make the work convenient at the computer workplace and comfortable at work thus reducing the risk of musculoskeletal injury and minimising energy expended at work. A survey was conducted in fourteen cybercafes using questionnaires, personal interviews and actual field measurements. Ergonomic analysis revealed that cybercafe chairs are the major pitfalls of the caf design: they are often too short with no arm rests and with insufficient backrests. Chairs are also stationary as opposed to being mobile with rollers. Customers leg positioning under the table is restricted and the workspace is too small. Also, the top of computer monitors often is above eye level for an average height customer. Since very little documentation exists on the subject in developing countries, the work opens a gate of opportunities for those in the cybercaf business with financial constraints to implement standard designs. The work also complements the dearth of expertise in the area since many towns in Nigeria do not have the required expertise for cybercaf design and construction. Keywords: Cybercafe, ergonomics, survey, developing country, Nigeria, ergonomic evaluation, ergonomic design
Introduction
The Internet has influenced the world today by providing adequate, up-to-date information useful for research and decision making (Ahiabenu, 2002). Since only a small fraction of Internet users in Nigeria could afford personal Internet connectivity in their homes and offices, others utilise commercial service outlets referred to as cybercafs. A cybercaf is a room, an office, or a social accommodation with computer terminals connected to a server and established for profit making by selling user time. Apart from Internet browsing and multimedia services provided by cybercafs, Internet calls, printing, scanning, fax, online chatting, communicating with each other by transferring computer files, searching databases, exchanging electronic mails, conferencing, downloading and CD-ROM burning are other services also provided. On
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university campuses in Nigeria, numerous students also patronize cybercafs to obtain information on personal updates on global issues, articles, social and academic events, data, news, projects, political issues, international contacts, commercial information and online-transactions, travel, entertainment, and information on software and hardware. The computer operator/user at a cybercaf undergoes a variety of muscular stresses while working for long durations which degrades the quality of work. This situation is similar to the case described by Parmod et al., (2006) and is well supported by Helander (2003). Thus, the proper design of cybercaf workstations will ensure ease of functioning for the operator/user without experiencing stress on vital body parts. In this paper, it is emphasized that there is lack of documentation in the Nigerian environment, which means a lack of research on cybercafs and a lack of anthropometric data. It is observed that many new cybercafs are designed based on the intuitive knowledge of the project team leader. However, once a particular pattern of design has been adopted and money is spent on the project, it becomes wasteful to redesign the cybercaf when such waste could have been avoided at the design stage. Take for instance, a design with a chair too low in height (see Finlay et al., 1983; Cram and Vinitzky, 1995). A user who sits on this inconvenient chair for two hours or more would prefer to terminate the work at that point due to reactions on his or her buttocks. Also, too high tables would not permit easy browsing and writing out of information on the table. However, if standard guides are available for cybercafs, the project team leader would benefit from the research to design an ergonomic cybercaf. The sparse and unavailability of anthropometric data on cybercafs for the West African population has therefore wasted resource utilization in this sector of the economy. The design of basic computer workstations might be different to that of a cybercaf in many respects. For instance, two different design types are common in the Nigerian environment. A group of cybercaf workstations considers standardised chairs that provide standardised height, pan-width, backrest-width and backrest-height. The other group utilizes highly adjustable chairs for allowing many different people to use the same equipment. However, adjustable chairs are very expensive and wear out too often making it only affordable to a selected few cybercafs. These sitting characteristics are essential to maintain adequate eye level, buttock comfort, and to minimise pains due to backrest discomfort. However, for other workplaces such as the telephone operators workstation, supermarket counter, and receptionist in an office environment, such highly detailed standardised specifications are also required and have been extensively documented (Carter and Banister, 1994; Liao and Drury, 2000) However, such studies do not provide the full details to understand the case of cybercafes. The standardised chairs required for cybercafes are supposed to take care of the nature and period of transactions of customers. Also, cybercafs customers spend a short to medium term period and would need seat designs that may permit only minimum back muscle fatigue (see also Goldstein, 1978; Lane and Stewart, 1980; Mehta and Tewari, 2000; Mehta et al., 2008). If customers are uncomfortable with their seating posture and position, they would just leave and take their custom elsewhere. The Nigerian situation is unique in the sense that the culture is different from that of other developed nations. Nigerians embrace the culture of togetherness and working in a group even with students in tertiary institutions. Take for instance in a cybercafe, although only one user at a time (say one hour computer time) is sold to an 18
undergraduate, several people may utilize this computer time at achieving a common goal at the same time. Therefore, if the student gets the required information from the internet despite his poor knowledge of computer and internet usage, it may be convenient for him to go with a crowd to the cybercafe. This case is common because of the low level of computer education of most cybercafe users. Therefore, a crowd may eventually use the space created for a single user. This is possibly a unique situation in an industrially developing country (Nigeria) and the associated problems call for an investigation on the design of cybercafes in this country. As discussed later in this article, although it is agreed that some information relating to important aspects of computer workstation design and anthropometric measurements may be available in the literature, they provide very little guidance for research and decision making for developing countries, especially within the Nigerian context. Unfortunately, anthropometric data are not available for the Nigerian population. For example, cybercafs in a developing world context (Nigeria) might be different to more industrialized countries when considering a number of things, which include poor access to Internet in homes. Human traffic in cybercafs in Nigeria is very high such that the cybercafs owners make the most economic use of space. The luxury of space allowance between the sitting positions of customers in cybercafs in Nigeria may not be affordable while this could be permitted in industrialized countries with fewer people utilizing cybercafs. In addition, the strict business laws restraining cybercaf operators from inadequate design are not enforced in Nigeria. The uniqueness of the situation of an industrially developing country (Nigeria) and the associated problems gives justification for building up a new set of computer workstation design data.
Literature review
The literature reviewed here scrutinizes previous work relating to workstation design how this could benefit the cybercaf workstation design. A series of papers have reported on wrist postures and problems in keyboard typing (Chen et al., 1994; Hedge and Powers, 1995; Hedge and Shew, 1996; Bash and Rempel, 1997). Some other papers have reported on video display terminals (Hunting, 1991; Grandjean, 1993). Helander (2003) surveyed indicators of ergonomics quality by using parameters that relate to aesthetics and comfort and long-term ergonomics factors that depend on feedback from ligaments, joints and the spine (see also Paul and Menon, 1994; Parsons, 1991; Radwin, 1994; Snook, 1993). Several other ergonomics considerations have been made that could improve the quality of service in cybercafs (Hedge, 1994; Human and Rempel, 1995). The ideas for workstations developed by Shikdar and Al-Hadhrami (2007) could be applied to cybercafes. The workstations special features include a motorized table for upward, downward and angular movements, an ergonomic chair with an adjustable seat pan, arm support and back support. Cost consideration and affordability are also important considerations arising from the presentations of Mandal (1995) and Oborne (1995). The workstation could be used as a sit, stand or sit-stand workstation. From experience and knowledge of field visits, it seems that many parts of the cybercaf workstations could be improved with knowledge of the literature. Thus, efforts at improving the following would significantly improve performance at cybercaf workstations: (1) seat/chair design (Hatta et al., 2007), (2) table/desk design, (3) indoor air quality, and illumination levels, (4) noise levels, and more.
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2.1 Seat design The design of seats (including chairs) has been a major concern of a growing number of investigators, who aim at providing a comfortable position for the operator in order to guarantee optimum work performance and avoid accidents in work involving mobility. Goonetilleke and Feizhou (2001) argued that anthropometry alone is not sufficient for the design of seats. They argued that the differing sensitivity in the buttock and thigh areas is an indication that chairs should be designed and selected depending on the population under consideration. Their paper developed a methodology to evaluate the useful seat depth for a target population. This information may be usefully adapted for cybercafe workstation design, particularly for the various cybercafe chair designs shown in Figures 1 to 4. Vos et al. (2006) investigated postural and chair design impacts upon seat pan interface pressure in order to identify whether differences in posture or chair design result in greater pressure differences. The trunk-thigh angle may, in a practical sense, be greater than 900 since the trunk, thigh and the back have to be positioned in a relaxed position, which is aided by an angle greater than 900. Also, the use of an armrest significantly reduces energy losses since the user could comfortably relax their hand on the armrest instead of leaving it in a swinging position that consumes energy unnecessarily. Nag et al. (2008) analyzed the human-seat interfaces to determine the differential distribution of the body weight on the components of the seat. The study stated that the horizontal as well as a 5 forward slope of the seat is the preferred choice, since the load distributed at the seat was highest at the backward sloping seat for all conditions of the supported and unsupported back. The study also reaffirms that the backrest and armrest have a conjoint influence in reducing the load distributed at the seat, which in turn might help in mitigating stress on the spinal and other paraspinal structures. 2.2 Workplace layout and Visual Display Units Workplace layout, which deals with how equipment and furniture are positioned to fit the individual operator to allow good and flexible work postures, has been extensively applied to different work settings (ISO, 1999; Toomingas and Gavhed, 2008). Toomingas and Gavhed (2008) studied the workstation layout at call centres in Sweden and concluded that the quality of furniture was generally good and fulfilled the demands of the law, directives and standards. This study is not much applicable to the current investigation in view of the different settings that the studies focus on: one focuses on the call centre while the current study directs attention to cybercafs. These are different services, different work posture requirements and different commitment requirements from operators in terms of customer satisfaction and well-being. Thus, previous literature is lacking in sufficient details to assist in carrying out the current study. Lindegard et al. (2005) published data sets on workplace layout by expert ergonomists and concluded that ratings of comfort and perceived exertion could be used as costefficient and user-friendly methods for practitioners to identify high exposure to poor workplace layout. However, Hutchinson (2008) criticized the conclusion and stated that users and experts ratings were very largely independent of each other. Several studies have established a relationship between musculoskeletal disorders and the use of video display units (VDU) (e.g. Nevala-Puranen et al., 2003; Carter and Banister, 1994; Faucett and Rempel, 1994). However, very sparse information concerns
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its relationship with table dimensions, particularly for less developed societies. A prominent result reported by Nevala-Puranen et al. (2003) showed that repeated neck, shoulder and arm symptoms can be more efficiently reduced among newspaper employees if ergonomic measures are combined with changes in work techniques than if the redesign measures focuses only on the work environment. Additional studies on VDU include (i) interventions for reducing complaints on VDU while working (Pillastrini et al., 2007); and (ii) incidence of neck pain among office employees working with video display units (Korhomen et al., 2003) which reported that annual incidence of neck pain was 34.4% and that the poor physical work environment and poor placement of the keyboard increased the risk of neck pain in office employees. From the above review, unfortunately, the ergonomics design of cybercafs particularly in a developing country context is completely omitted. Thus, there is currently a great need for an article presenting a viewpoint of the application of ergonomics to the design of chairs and workstation facilities in cybercafes particularly in developing countries. This will ensure that the customer works comfortably and utilizes the computer facilities optimally with minimum loss of energy and full interest at work. In particular, the objectives of this paper are to present a survey of cybercafes in Nigeria to reveal design pitfalls and propose solutions based on ergonomic principles. The challenge is to capture the various ergonomic features of cybercafe design in a quantitative way, as far as reasonably possible, and display the distilled results.
Methodology
3.1 Sample The participants in this study were mainly university students, some secondary school students and a large number of young post-secondary school graduates which are in the working class group whose activities are almost daily on the utilization of computers for browsing at the cybercafes. These cybercafes are concentrated around the two university campuses University of Ibadan and University of Lagos where data were collected. This study was carried out on the few operators that render services to customers daily, particularly those who volunteered to provide useful data for this study. The study took the anthropometric data of 100 respondents which include 55 males and 45 females. Please note that information concerning 5 other respondents could not be obtained due to the non cooperation of the respondents. Although no biographical information such as ethnic background was documented, experience revealed that the majority of the respondents belonged to the Yoruba and Igbo ethnic groups while the Hausa ethnic group members covered by the study were insignificant. Additional information on the demographic characteristics of the people interviewed would have been useful but could not be collected for the current work in view of the reluctance of the respondents to provide all the information required. Concerning the anthropometric data of the subjects, it was discovered that the average age of the subjects studied was 28.04 5.28 years. It was interesting to note that 29% of the sampled group was in the age bracket 20-23 years, which formed the highest proportion and confirmed that the focus group was largely university students, many of whom were undergraduates in this age bracket. The remaining composition of the study group was 26% (24-27 years), 15% (28-31years), 12% (32-35 years), 13% (36-39 years)
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and 5% (40-43 years). The average shoulder-to-shoulder length of the subject was 46.20 4.51cm. The average arm length was 77.20 5.14 cm while the average shoulder height from waist was 47.90 4.06cm. The average finger length was 9.36 1.23 cm while the average body height from ground was 172.10 7.85 cm. 3.2 Procedures and instruments The study was carried out for eight weeks while five days per week was used for data collection and the other days for planning and analysis of the data. Fourteen cybercafs were visited where questionnaire and facility layout analysis were done. Efforts were made to capture as much information as possible, hence, the use of three methods of data collection: questionnaire, personal interviews and field data collection. A total of 120 questionnaires were administered to staff and customers of the 14 cybercafs while 105 questionnaires were returned. Some information concerning the extra four cybercafs which made up to 14 were not obtained. Subsequently, we reported extensive information for only 10 cybercafs. The results from the questionnaires have been reported in the results section. Personal interviews were conducted with staff and customers of the cybercafes to support the responses obtained from the questionnaire method. Ten (five staff operator/cybercafe attendants and five customers) separate interviews were conducted due to the limitations imposed by the interviewees unwilling to spend time with the interviewer. However, it was recognized that the cybercafe attendants/operators have a rich experience on the problems encountered by the customers in the cybercafes and would distill out the useful parts of these problems to the interviewer. On the other hand, it was known that first hand information would be obtained from the customers relevant to the problems being encountered while working at the cybercafs. Some of the staff and customers were reluctant in documenting their views, while others were prepared to release information verbally. Personal interviews were extensively adopted in the data collection process to make up for the shortcoming of the questionnaire method. Subjects completed a series of self-report questionnaires that asked for a variety of information. Separate questionnaires that contain the same questions were administered to men and women. The separation was for ease of categorizing the different data by sex of respondents. The questionnaires were designed to capture both the features of the cybercafes that were important to customers and the effects of utilizing a cybercafe that were at variance with standards which can inflict injuries and pain on the users. Section A contained questions relevant to the adequacy or otherwise of chair height, coverage of chair by foam and leather, height of the computer table, inhalation of fumes from generators, and comfort of the customer in terms of space availability for the activities that the customer intends to perform. The focus of section B was to understand the effect of the cybercafe on the customer in terms of eyestrain, headache symptoms and musculo-skeletal strain. The assumption made in developing section B was that the side-effects of utilizing the cybercafe were immediately felt by the user and were directly reflected in the reactions of these customers to such effects. As an extension of section B, respondents were asked to rate (on a scale 1 to 10) the following according to the extent to which they are affected when working on the computer: ache, pain, discomfort. Ache and pains are states of discomfort. Pains could be felt in the body through the stress or strain on the nerves and veins. It may also evolve as a result of
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enormous computer activities carried out incessantly. Discomfort is a persistent state or condition which emanates as a result of the first two. In order to capture the range of monitor viewing distances that would permit proper viewing of letters on the monitor without any complaints by the user, a strategy of data capture in two phases was undertaken. The first phase entailed starting from the minimum monitor viewing distance and then gradually moving in increments of 10cm, taking note of the complaints of eye ache, heavy eyes and where the user barely sees letters displayed on screen. In-between these two extremes is a region where slight eye ache was felt. This particular region of slight eye ache is then thoroughly investigated by segmenting the viewing distance into smaller bits. This was done as part of phase 2. 3.3 Measurements Actual measurements were made of the various facilities utilized, and comparative analyses were made with the literature values. Measurements that were collected included body height, shoulder-to-shoulder length, arm length, shoulder height from waist, and finger length. Subjects (the 100 people who completed the questionnaires) were tested individually at their workstations. Workstation dimensions were measured while they were sitting in front of the computer. Monitor distance was observed; this was the distance from the centre of the monitor to the eyes when sitting in front of the computer with fingers on the home row key(s) as well as the viewing angle of the operator from the monitor. The procedure for measuring the viewing distance of the sampled subjects at the cybercafe involved observing the viewing distance of the 100 subjects from their monitors in the range 30 cm to 130 cm from the centre of the monitor using a gradual increment of 10cm to 1cm. The viewing angles of subjects were measured while actively working on the computer. In order to obtain the optimum viewing angle, the 100 subjects had their monitors tilted in steps of 50 from 150 to 600 and the resulting complaints of the subjects noted. A description of the measuring instruments that were used to collect the anthropometric data is as follows. A measuring tape, which is a flexible form of ruler of a ribbon of cloth with linear-measurement markings was used to measure distances and lengths of chairs/desks, body sizes and measurement involving linear dimensions. Due to its flexibility that allows for a measure of great length, it was easily carried about. Its length was 300 cm. A second measuring instrument used for the study was a protractor, which aided the measurement of a set of angles, particularly when the viewing angles and distances of the various respondents from points of reference were to be determined. In particular, it was used to measure various angles that the respondents were positioned in a viewing posture.
Results
During the survey, various designs of chairs were observed (Figures 1-4), which have different features. The approach utilized in presenting results provided information that reported on the following (a) range (maximum and minimum value), (b) the average, (c) the standard deviation for each of the following major chair dimensions across all the 23
chairs/cybercafes height from floor to top of backrest, height from floor to seat pan, seat pan width, seat pan depth, height from seat pan to top of backrest, backrest width.
Figure 1.
Partial view of Cybercafe XY
Figure 2.
Partial view of Cybercafe XYA
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Figure 3.
Partial view of Cybercafe XYB
Figure 4.
Partial view of Cybercafe XYC
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In sum, eight different chairs were analysed and reported in the survey (Table 1). Similar to the measurements done on different chair types, information for major table dimensions was obtained and presented in Table 2. In fact two different table types were captured during the survey. Table 1. S/No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Anthropometric measurements of Chairs Description Height from floor to top of backrest Height from floor to seat pan Seat pan width Seat pan depth Height from seat pan to top backrest Backrest width Mean values
_
( x ) cm 88.56 43.81 41.00 1.44 49.06 44.12
Range (R) (minimum to maximum) cm 69.00 125.00 41.50 45.50 35.00 47.50 1.00 4.50 34.50 80.00 25.00 56.00
Standard deviation () cm 29.23 2.14 14.21 0.15 19.02 43.81
Number of chair types = 8 (sample size)
Table 2. S/No. 1 2 3 4
Anthropmetric measurements of Tables Description Mean values in cm Table height from floor to table top Table width Table breadth Side boarding height 80.61 62.16 179.84 26.28
Range (R) cm 58.60-104.90 40.90-95.50 81.80-327.00 5.16-8.18
Standard deviation in cm 12.27 15.32 81.83 3.32
Number of table types = 2
Side boarding is a partition that separates one user from the other while they are using the same table. Data on the monitor distance and monitor angle were also analysed and presented here (Tables 3 and 4). Information relevant to (a) range (maximum and minimum value), (b) the average and, (c) the standard deviation are explored. The other data is presented on the viewing angle of people (Table 5). Measurements were taken in two phases 1 and 2. Notice that complaints by subjects fall in a range but in certain cybercafs the complaint is the same. This means that there may be a systemic problem, possibly poor work design that positions the operator in a way not to observe the displayed information properly due to space management problems.
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Table 3. Cybercafe
Monitor view distance (cm) (phase 1) Range (cm ) (minimummaximum) 31.00-39.00 40.00-49.00 50.00-59.00 60.00-69.00 70.00-79.00 80.00-89.00 90.00-99.00 100.00-109.00 110.00-119.00 120.00-129.00 Midpoint (cm) 34.50 44.50 54.50 64.50 74.50 84.50 94.50 104.50 114.50 124.50 Average complaint by the 10 subjects in each cybercafe Eye ache, heavy eyes Slight eye ache Slight eye ache Slight eye ache Eyes strain Eyes strain Barely sees letters displayed on screen Barely sees letters displayed on screen Barely sees letters displayed on screen Barely sees letters displayed on screen
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of subjects per cybercafe = 10; this number is taken because of the limitation in data collection.
Generally, there was a difficulty encountered in the collection of data on viewing distances of users from the monitor. The cybercafe owners and operators viewed the survey exercise as a distraction to their operations since measurement attempts entailed moving close to the customer at work and thus forfeiting customers privacy which is held in high esteem by the operators. Thus, to achieve the aim of this measurement exercise, a strategy of spending the least possible time in the cybercafe while optimally utilizing time in measurement was explored. The investigators were constrained to split the viewing distances measured in each cybercafe across a number of cybercaf outlets surveyed. We embarked on this strategy as it promoted randomization of measurement. However, we suggest that future studies should tackle this problem by taking complete measurements at each cybercaf. Data concerning the letters displayed on the screen is relevant to the work the user is doing at the particular time the investigation was carried out. Table 4. Monitor viewing distance (cm ) (phase 2) Range (cm ) (minimum-maximum) Midpoint (cm ) Average complaint by the 10 subjects in each cybercafe No complaints No complaints No complaints No complaints No complaints No complaints No complaints No complaints No complaints No complaints
Cybercafe
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
50.00-59.00 60.00-69.00 50.00-59.00 60.00-69.00 50.00-59.00 60.00-69.00 50.00-59.00 60.00-69.00 50.00-59.00 60.00-69.00
54.50 64.50 54.50 64.50 54.50 64.50 54.50 64.50 54.50 64.50
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Number of subjects per cybercafe = 10. Notice that the standard deviation is about 9 for all the cybercafs in both phase 1 and phase 2. The decision as to which cyber caf was given 50-59cm and which was given 60-69cm was made randomly as a result of the constraint on data collection in cyber cafes. It is thought that a good representation of the data collection could be made if smaller ranges of values of viewing distances were spread across all the cyber cafs. Phase 2 was carried out with a focus on the possible distance in which the customer experienced the least discomfort. Table 5. Viewing angle of people (degrees) Mean viewing angle (degree ) 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Comments from subjects Slight neck pain No visibility of letters on screen Little changes in visibility of letters on screen No pains at least for a period of 6 hrs No pains at least for a period of 6 hrs No pains at least for a period of 6 hrs Slight neck pains No visibility of letters on screen Little changes in visibility of letters on screen Heavy neck pains
No of subjects (people) 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
Sample size = 100. Subjects in 10 cybercafes. Note standard deviation is zero for all entries
It was noted that very little information existed on the statistics presented here. When more than 50% of the class members comment on a complaint, the same is taken as representative of the group. For instance, more than 50% of the subjects in the mean viewing angle of the 150 category complained of slight neck pain. This is taken as representative of the group. From field experiments, the majority of people who utilized an extensive period working on the computer usually engaged in about 6 hours of work. For ease of reference and classification, 6 hours was used as a point within which the effects of using the computer were measured. Other results of anthropometric data of cybercafe users presented in this section relate to means and standard deviations of actual measures of subjects including anthropometric features such as shoulder-toshoulder, arm length, shoulder height from waist, finger length and height of subjects, This, aided by the tape rule measurements, presents an idea of anthropometric features of the sampled population. The data are shown in Table 6. As indicated in the method section for the measurement of viewing distance of sampled subjects, for the range 31cm to 39cm, the subjects complained of eye ache and heavy eyes. However, in the viewing distance of the range 40cm to 49cm, the subjects were fairly comfortable and only complained of slight eye ache. For high and low tables and chairs, although the viewing distance may not be much affected, however, the tilting angle would change. In the range 50cm to 59cm, the complaint by subjects was still limited to slight eye ache. The same complaint was repeated for the range 60cm to 69cm. However, when the viewing distance of 70cm to 80cm was observed, the complaint was persistent eyestrain instead of the slight nature of eye ache from 50cm 28
upwards. It was suggested that 50cm and 70cm were the turning points, representing a possible range of values to further investigate in order to obtain the optimum viewing distance of computer users in cybercafes for the group presented in this work. Further, in the range 80cm to 89cm, the subjects still complained of eyestrain. In the range 90cm to 99cm, the subjects could barely see the letters displayed on the screen. However, in the ranges 100cm to 109cm, 110cm to 119cm, and 120cm to 129cm, the complaint by the subjects was uniform, which stated that they could no longer see letters displayed except the light from the screen. The phase 2 of the work made use of repeated procedures for determining the appropriate viewing distance but focusing on the ranges 50cm to 59cm and 60cm to 69cm. It was observed that none of the 100 subjects complained within these ranges. From the survey, both the average table height and chair heights were in the range 52cm80cm and 40cm60cm, respectively. The seating (chair) height of 53.3 9.14 cm fell within the boundary of the range obtained by Shikdar and Al-Hadhrami (2007), which indicates a seating chair height of 43-56cm. However, the upper boundary may be exceeded. The table height obtained fell within the literature value of Shikdar and Al-Hadhrami (2007), which showed table height of 70-105cm (from field experience). This was slightly different from XYC as shown in Figure 4.
Table 6.
S/No.
Anthropometric features of subjects

Description Mean values for
_
subjects ( x ) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Age Shoulder-to-shoulder Arm length Shoulder height from waist Finger length Height 28.04 yrs 46.20cm 77.20cm 47.90cm 9.36cm 172.10cm
Standard deviation for subjects () 5.28 yrs 4.51 cm 5.14cm 4.06cm 1.23cm 7.85cm
Range (i.e. minimum and maximum) 20.00 40.00 yrs 37.00 52.00cm 66.00 84.00cm 20.00 54.00cm 8.00 12.00cm 161.00 183.00cm
Discussion
Most of the pitfalls of the cybercafe design were due to the poor design of cybercafe chairs. In the following highlighted points, a set of recommendations are made, which emerged from the study comparing the anthropometrics of the users to the dimensions of the desk/chair, as shown in points 1 to 5 and point 7. However, point 6 emerged from the literature. (1) The height of the chair was too low (see Table 1, where the height from the floor to seat pan is 43.81 cm). It was not convenient for short people in that there is a marked difference between the gap created when seated on the chair and working on the table to process computer work. This problem could be solved if the height from floor to top of backrest could be increased to 95.00cm, the height from floor to seat pan could be changed to 45.00cm, or the seat pan width could be increased to 42.00cm while the depth could still be retained at the current dimension. The height
29
from seat pan to top backrest could increase to 50.00cm. The backrest width may still be maintained at 44.12cm. However, a more acceptable action is to provide an adjustable chair; (2) The backrest was not covered with foam and leather, causing the customers back to rest directly on the metallic frame; (3) The backrest was also not big enough to support the customers back (see Table 1, with backrest width as 44.12 cm); (4) the backrest did not serve the customer at all in the typing position: in the typing position, customers had to stoop forward; (5) Since the legs of the chairs were too low (see Table 1, where the height from the floor to seat pan is 43.81 cm), the effects of the reaction of the chair against the buttocks of the customer was felt more than in high chairs. It was observed that for the high chair, the reaction was distributed and the effect of the reaction felt by the customer was reduced. However, for the short chair, the reaction was concentrated and had more effects than the high chair. (6) An additional shortcoming of the cybercaf design was that the computer monitor was above the eye level of customers at sitting position (Bergqvist and Knave, 1994). This was not good enough, as the customer must tilt his or her head and neck up through an angle to view the monitor. This position was inconvenient and tiring. Whenever the head was tilted, and remained in the same position for a long time, pain would be felt on the spinal cord and this made customers get tired easily and even affected the health of customers. (7) Another flaw of the design was that the chair was not provided with an arm rest (Table 1 shows no results on armrest since it was not encountered in the survey). The elbow of the customer therefore dangled in the air while typing, and the biceps muscles were greatly stressed trying to keep the hand hanging in space. The literature value for angular movement of 45o, back support tilt of 30o and elbow support height of 23-33cm has not been confirmed or disproved by the survey. A comparative analysis of results obtained with those reported in Goonetilleke and Feizhou (2001) reported chair height of between 31-33cm adequate for the South China region Chinese population, which seemed lower than the range of values obtained from this survey. The data collected for the current study showed that the height of the chair from seat pan to top backrest is 49.06cm (range: 34.50-80.00cm, standard deviation: 19.02cm). The height of the chair from floor to top of backrest was observed to have a mean of 88.56cm (range: 69.00-125.00cm, standard deviation: 29.23cm). The height from floor to seat pan was 43.81 (range: 41.40-45.50cm, standard deviation of 2.14cm). In the cybercaf industry, space was a great limitation. However, some cybercaf operators optimized the use of their space thereby providing less comfort for the user while others did not take advantage of space. Figure 2 showed an appreciable space economy demonstrated by the cybercaf by positioning the system unit on a shelf while only the monitor, keyboard (Smith and Cronin, 1993) and mouse were positioned on the table. Unfortunately, space was not fully utilized this way in cybercafs XY, XYB and XYC (Figures 1, 3 and 4) since the system units often competed with the customer for space as the customers leg positions during browsing were restrained. 5.1 Ideal/Proposed sitting position at cybercafe From extensive literature scanning and field experience, a possible sitting posture which reveals posture features such as distance of customers eye position from monitor, sitting height, chair height and other ergonomic features indicate that a cyber caf could be designed according to standards by regulatory authorities. In summary, the following features were reflections of a standard sitting posture emerging from the study
30
comparing the anthropometrics of the users to the dimensions and positions of the monitor, chair/desk: (1) The top of the monitor should be placed at eye level for proper head and neck position (Bergqvist and Knave, 1994); (2) Back rest should be covered with foam and leather and the backrest positioned in such a way that it is always utilized (Carter and Banister, 1994); (3) The chair should be high enough (about 1.44cm) and a considerable portion of hip and thigh (on the average of about 41.00cm) supported by it in order to reduce the reaction on customers hips (Toomingas and Govhed, 2008); (4) Chair height should be adjustable to allow for extreme height e.g. very short or very tall (Toomingas and Govhed, 2008; Nag et al., 2008); (5) Arm rest should be available to support the elbow during typing (Chen et al., 1994; Human and Rempel, 1995); (6) Hand rest should be at the same level with the keyboard; (7) There should be no leg restrictions under the table to restrict free movement of customers legs; (8) Footrest should be such that it supports the leg and may best be positioned such that the knee is bent at 900 at work, a position that requires minimum energy loss at work (Eruksrud and Bohannon, 2003).
Conclusion, study limitations and future studies
This paper has presented a framework for the ergonomic evaluation of cybercafs with particular reference to those located within the territory of an academic environment in a developing country. It was discovered that the cybercaf chairs of many of the cybercafs visited was the major pitfall of the caf design. This was due to the fact that chairs were too short, no hand rest was provided and there was no significant backrest. Other shortcomings of the design included the fact that the chairs were stationary as opposed to roller chairs. There were restrictions to the movement or positioning of customers legs under the table; the workspace was too small and the top of computer monitor was above eye level of an average height customer. This is a new contribution to knowledge in the area of cybercaf design in the developing country context. The area is worthy of further empirical analysis. The information presented in the study would improve customer satisfaction thereby guaranteeing patronage and should have positive economic implications, which may affect companys profits. In order to attain competitiveness, cybercafs should be designed in a customer-friendly manner. In this work we have evaluated designs and suggested inputs as indicated in the section on results that would make customers more comfortable while using the Internet in a cybercafe. Although no cost analysis was made, the suggestion are however practicable. This research has some limitations. An important drawback of the work is the lack of sufficient reliability due to the limited number of respondents. For an academic and theory-based work, it may require a sample of over 350 subjects to effectively examine hypotheses. Future studies may improve on this. Another important issue in cybercaf design is to permit an acceptable level of air circulation/flow and ventilation for maximum efficiency at the cybercaf workstation. From field visits, it is observed that ventilation in many cybercafs in Nigeria is very poor. However, the issue of ventilation in cybercaf design was not covered in the study. Also, noise, in terms of location of cybercafs away from noise sources such as generators, noisy markets, car garages/parks, etc, which may reduce concentration at work, hence productivity, at cybercaf workstation, has been omitted in this study. Further studies may cover this. Tables 3 and 4 show a non-overlapping set of ranges. We thought that the range was a
31
convenient means of measurement and hence used the range. This is an observed weakness of the study. It is suggested that other statistical measures could be used to avoid this problem in future studies. There are future avenues for improvement of the work reported here. There is no ideal sitting/cybercaf design with which any new development could be compared. Designing a mathematical methodology against which parameters of a proposed cybercaf design could be measured and an index in which values could be substituted for would be a worthwhile contribution in the developing country context, particularly Nigeria. With such a mathematical model, information about the amount of funds to be invested into the project by the investor, environmental conditions of the area where the cybercaf is to be located (i.e. temperature, humidity, wind, etc) and other parameters could be substituted and compared with the acceptable average. This would provide a go or no go quality check for the establishment of the cybercaf.
References
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Korhomen, T., Ketola, R., Toivonen, R., Luukkomen, R., Hakkamen, M. and ViikariJuntura E., 2003, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 60, pp. 475-482. Lane, A. N., Stewart, K. K., 1980. Typical chairs 1949-1968, An analysis of style and evolution, Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 36-44. Lindegard A., Karlberg C., Wigaeus-Tornqvist E., Toomingas A., Hagberg M., 2005, Concordance between VDU-users ratings of comfort and perceived exertion with experts observations of workplace layout and working postures, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 36, pp. 319-325. Mandal, A. C., 1995. Investigation of the lumber flexion of office workers, in Contemporary Ergonomics, Proceedings of the Ergonomics Societys Conference, Nottingham, UK, P. 233. Mehta, C. R., Gite, L. P., Pharade, S. C., Majumder, J., and Pandey, M. M., 2008. Review of anthropometric considerations for tractor seat design, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Vol. 38, No. 5/6, pp. 546-554. Mehta, C. R., and Tewari, V. K., 2000. Seating discomfort for tractor operators: A critical review, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 661674. Nag, P. K., Pal. S., Kotadiya, S. M., Nag, A., and Gosa, K., 2008. Human-seat interface analysis of upper and lower body weight distribution, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Vol. 38, No. 5-6, pp. 539-545. Nevala-Puranen N., Pakarinen K., Louhevaara V., 2003). Ergonomic intervention on neck, shoulder and arm symptoms of newspaper employees in work with visual display units, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Vol. 31, pp. 1-10. Oborne, D. J., 1995. Investigation of the lumber flexion of officer workers in Contemporary ergonomics, Proceedings of the Ergonomics Societys Conference, Nottingham, UK, 27 29 March, p. 233. Parsons, C. A., 1991. Use of wrist rests by data input VDU operators, in E.J. Lovesey (ed). Contemporary Ergonomics, pp. 319 321. Paul, R and Menon, K. K., 1994. Evaluation of wrist pads, in Proceedings of the 12th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, pp. 204 207. Parmod, K., Chandna, V. K., and Thomas, M. S.,2006. Ergonomics in control center design for power system, Power India Conference 2006 IEEE, 10-12 April 2006, p. 7. Pillastrini, P., Mugnal, R., Farneti, C., Bertozz, L., Bonfiglioli, R., Curti, S., Mattioli ,S., and Violante, F. S., 2007. Evaluation of two preventive interventions for reducing musculoskeletal complaints in operators of Video Display Terminals, ptjournal, Vol. 87, pp. 536-544.
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Radwin, R. G., 1994. Development of a relative discomfort profile for repetitive wrist motions exertions, Proceedings of the 12th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomic Association (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada). The Human factors Society of Canada), 219 221. Snook, S. H., 1993. The practical application of ergonomics principles, Journal of Occupational Health and Safety, Australia and New Zealand, pp. 559 563. Smith, W.,J. and Cronin, D.,T., 1993. Ergonomics test of the kinesis keyboard, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, pp. 31 322. Shikdar, A.,A., and A. l.-Hadhrami, M. A.. 2007. Smart workstation design: an ergonomics and methods engineering approach, International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 363-374. Toomingas, A., Gavhed D. 2008. Workstation layout and work postures at call centers in Sweden in relation to national law, EU directives and ISO-standards, and to operators comfort and symptoms, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Vol. 38, pp. 1051 1061. Vos, G. A., Congleton, J. J., Moore, J. S., Amendola, A. A., and Ringer, L., 2006. Postural versus chair design impacts upon interface pressure, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 619-628.
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Small & medium Scale Casting and Forging Industry in India: an ergonomic study
L P Singh1*, A Bhardwaj1 Department of Industrial & Production Engineering Dr B R Ambedkar national Institute of Technology, Jalandhar Punjab, India. lakhi_16@yahoo.com, singhl@nitj.ac.in,
* Corresponding author. 1
K K Deepak2 and S Sahu3 Department of Physiology All India Institute of Medical Science New Delhi, India. 3 Department of Physiology University of Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India.
2
Abstract
The industrial developmental potential for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the growth prospects of the national economy of a country cannot be achieved without health and safety practices in the work place (Ahasan, 2002). The casting and forging sectors of the country constitute a considerable proportion of employment (Singh. et. al, 2010, www.indiaprwire.com). The present study explores the occupational health and safety and ergonomics issues in small and medium scale casting and forging units of northern India. In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 572 male workers of casting and forging units were involved in assessing the level of occupational health, safety and ergonomics practices in different processes. A comprehensive questionnaire was used to collect the qualitative data regarding work exposure, work schedules, posture, noise reaction, health complaints and addictions, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). The questionnaire was pretested before it was used. The ambient noise, temperature and dust exposure were assessed at different sections like; casting, moulding, forging, grinding, machining, and barreling. The results of the study revealed that 78% of the workers are not using PPE. Hence, the workers are exposed to high noise, temperature and dust. Occupational safety and ergonomics practices are almost missing in most of the processes. The majority of the workers reported musculoskeletal disorders, NIHL and overall health weakness. The study concluded that occupational health and safety is being ignored in these SMEs. Keywords: Occupational Safety, Ergonomics, Casting & Forging SMEs.
Introduction
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are mostly privately owned companies and more profitable than the state run enterprises due to an efficient utilisation of labour force and other resources (Ahasan, 2002). The management of small scale units are mainly emphasized on production targets and fetching more orders from the customers, at the same time ignores the occupational health and safety practices (Singh et al., 2010). Small scale segments have always remained outside the ambit of organised industries. However, this sector influences the national economy. The casting and forging sectors of the country constitute a considerable amount of employment (Singh et al., 2010,
36
www.indiaprwire.com). But, the industrial development potential for SMEs and the growth prospects of the national economy cannot be achieved without health and safety. Traditionally, labour oriented markets are changing towards more automation and mechanization, at the same time general awareness about the occupational safety, and the occupational and environmental health hazards are missing. India being a developing nation is facing traditional public health problems. However, globalization and rapid industrial growth in the last few years has resulted in the emergence of occupational health related issues. 1.1 Indian scenario of the Casting and Forging Industry The Indian Institute of Foundry men (IIFM) represents the foundry industry and has more than 3500 members. The foundries support automobile, machine building, sanitary needs, households needs, and related industries. Forty percent of the outputs of the foundries are for the automobile sector. The foundry industry has 4500 foundries in India producing around 7 million tons of castings; many of them are small or medium scale. The industry gives employment to more than 5 million people directly and three times that number indirectly. The Association of Indian forging industries (AIFI) represents the composition of the Indian forging industry and has been categorized into four sectors - large, medium, small and tiny. As is the case the world over, a major portion of this industry is made up of small and medium units/enterprises (SMEs). About 200 organized and 1,000 unorganized forging units in the country are spread across Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Ludhiana and Jalandhar (Singh et al., 2010, www.indiaprwire.com). Steel forgings are an integral part of the automobile industry (Singh et al., 2010, www.indiaprwire.com). As per estimates, the industry provides direct employment to about 2 million people, contributing directly to the livelihood of more than three quarters of a million people (Singh et al., 2010). The employer of small scale units are totally lagging behind in providing occupational health and safety to the workers (Singh et al., 2009.) Therefore the manpower employed in small scale casting and forging units are more exposed to occupational noise, heat stress, musculoskeletal strain and dust. The major occupational diseases of concern in these units are silicosis, musculoskeletal injuries, pneumoconiosis, chronic obstructive lung diseases, and NIHL. There are short falls of data regarding the working condition and health problems of the workers working in small and medium scale casting in India (Singh et al., 2008, Singh et al., 2009). Workrelated health problems should be studied thoroughly for formulating ergonomic measures to increase the standard of living while working in these industries. The major occupational diseases of concern in India are silicosis, musculoskeletal injuries, pneumoconiosis, chronic obstructive lung diseases, and NIHL (Habibullah et al., 2004). A cross-sectional study carried out in Malaysia, assessed the compliance to a Hearing Conservation Programme (HCP) launched by the Malaysian Government, results revealed that percentage of industries complying with the norms of HCP need to be improved in order to prevent the hearing problems amongst workers (Ibrahim et al., 2006.). Another study evaluating the noise exposure level of industrial workers in five selected processing and manufacturing firms in Ilorin, reported that the majority of machines produced noise which exceeded occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) recommendations (Oyedepo et al., 2009.). A study conducted in Japan reported
37
that working hours of workers were significantly associated with their fatigue and reduced concentration. High levels of instrumental support and positive reframing were significantly associated with low levels of negative emotions, fatigue, and reduced concentration/activity levels (Otsuka et al., 2009). High levels of self-blame, denial, substance use, venting, self-distraction, religion, and behavioral disengagement were significantly associated with high levels of negative emotions, fatigue, and concentration/activity levels (Otsuka et al., 2009). This study suggested that improving coping skills such as using instrumental support or positive reframing may reduce the adverse health effects of long working hours (Otsuka et al., 2009). Hyesook et al., 2002 reported that the Korean government has started providing financial subsidy programs for Occupational Health Services (OHSs) in small scale enterprises (SSEs) from the occupational injury prevention fund. To identify the health care status in SSEs in Korea, authors surveyed 5,080 factories, which had participated in the government-funded subsidy program in 1997 (Hyesook et al., 2002). The overall morbidity of the workers in these SSEs was higher than the national average for both general and occupational diseases. The study recommended that it is desirable for this program to be continued in Korea, in addition, the same program may be a good model for rapidly developing countries. Another study reported that workers in informal small-scale industries (SSI) in developing countries involved in welding, spray painting, woodwork and metalwork are exposed to various hazards with consequent risk to health and high levels of exposure to multiple health hazards and that use of protective equipment is poor (Rongo et al., 2004). The same study revealed that workers and employers were both aware of occupational and environmental health hazards, but absence of a clear policy on the informal sector and the lack of permanent workplaces did not encourage investment in occupational health and safety (Rongo et al., 2004). The whole literature reveals that developing countries like India lag far behind in implementing occupational health and safety programmes in their industries. As far as Indian SMEs are concerned, very few studies on occupational health and safety issues are available, especially in the casting and forging industry. The present study has been undertaken to reveal occupational health and safety practices in SMEs and addresses some important issues such as; what is the status of health and safety practices in casting and forging SMEs, what is the level of use of PPEs, what is the level of occupational exposure to hazards conditions.
Method
2.1 Subjects The present cross-sectional study included randomly selected 572 blue collar male workers engaged in casting and forging SME, three from each type; i.e. in total twelve units, located in a Northern state of India (Table 4). Oral consent was received from these subjects who volunteered for the study. The workers were performing different jobs in various sections like moulding; molten metal pouring, grinding, forging, punching, blanking, welding, gas cutting, electroplating and painting etc. (see Table-. 1 to 4 for more details). Around 95% of these workers were performing their jobs manually except a few material handling. 2.2 Questionnaire study A comprehensive questionnaire was formulated to assess the information regarding various hazards like noise, high temperatures and dusts/fumes. The questionnaire
38
included demographic descriptors, the nature of job/process, exposure (in years) to the hazardous conditions like noise, temperature, dust/fumes/gasses, and chemicals, working hours, shifts and over times, personal information of the worker regarding work posture, physical load, reaction to noise, temperature and dust, sleep disturbances, water intake, diseases, alcohol tobacco consumption, use of PPEs, work time injuries, auditory, visual and overall health and job satisfaction. Observations were taken regarding the use of PPEs at the shop floor and the responses of the workers regarding the same issues were asked in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was pretested on a few subjects to know the trend in the quality of life of the workers and then a standard questionnaire was constructed and applied to the full sample. The workers of these companies were mostly illiterate or less educated therefore statements of the questionnaire were translated in both local languages of the state i.e. Punjabi and Hindi. 2.3 Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) survey The MSD survey was carried out following the modified Nordic questionnaire based on the socio-cultural and the working pattern of the workers of these industries, in a developing country like India. Originally the Nordic questionnaire consisted of analysis regarding pain of the neck, shoulder, low back and wrist or hand trouble. But there were no detailed analysis of the pain felt by these workers, on different leg parts such as buttocks, knees, ankles and feet. Thus, the Nordic questionnaire was modified by the authors according to the situation of the demand. The questionnaire was conveyed into the local dialects or languages (Kuorinka et al., 1987). 2.4 Noise assessment The ambient and noise dose was assessed by using a Quest sound level meter ANSI SI. 43-1997(R 2002) Type-1, model SOUNDPRO SE/DL and noise dosimeter respectively. OSHA norms for hearing conservation were incorporated including an exchange rate of 5dB (A), criterion level at 90dB (A), criterion time of 8 hours, threshold level = 80dB (A), upper limit = 140dB (A) and with F/S response rate. The measurements of sound pressure were done to determine a weighted (Leq) sound pressure level. The sound pressure was recorded for 15 minutes each time on each work station and one long term recording for 8 hrs was done. At each section sound pressure was recorded at least 4 to 5 times at different locations where the movement of the workers was most frequent. There was hardly a difference of 0.5 to 1.0 dB (A) between long term recoding and short term recording. 2.5 Heat stress assessment The ambient temperature was measured using a Quest Temp 36o Heat stress monitor. The heat exposure was measured by using the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index. A long term (8 hours) recording was done in each section followed by a short term recoding for 15 minutes each. The ambient temperature was recorded for 15 minutes each time on each work station and one long term recording for 8 hours was done. At each section temperature was recorded at least five times at different locations where the movement of the workers was most frequent.
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2.6 Postural Analysis Working posture of the workers working in casting and forging industries and performing different tasks like casting, grinding, and transporting materials were evaluated with the help of a camera by the Ovako Working Postures Assessment System (OWAS) method (Karhu et al., 1977). 2.7 Statistical analysis The data were expressed as mean standard error. The descriptive statistics for the male samples and mean and standard error of mean were calculated (Das and Das, 1998).
Results and Discussion
3.1 Demographic data The demographic features have been represented in the Tables 1 to 2, 3 and in Figures 1(A), (B). The age distribution of the workers has been tabulated in the table 1. Table 1.
Age Range (Yrs) Frequency
The age distribution of the workers

18-22 62 (10.84%) 22-26 91 (15.91%) 26-30 92 (16.08%) 30-34 108 (18.88%) 34-38 105 (18.36%) 38-42 62 (10.84%) 42-48 52 (9.09%)
It is seen from the table that most of the workers (~19 %) are of the age group of 30 to 34 years. With the increase in age the number of workers steadily decreases. The physical parameters of the workers showing the weight (Kg) and the height (meters) of the workers are presented in Figure 1 (A) and (B) respectively.
40
Figure 1 (A). Weight of the workers (Kg)
% of Workers
Height (meters)
Figure 1 (B). Height of the workers (m)
41
Educational level and the marital status of the workers have been presented in table 2 and 3 respectively. Table 2.
Level of Education Frequency
Educational level of the workers

Uneducated 146 (25.53%) Primary 163 (28.50%) Middle 130 (22.73%) Matric 81 (14.16%) Senior Secondary 40 (6.99%) >Senior Secondary 12 (2.10%)
Table 3.
Marital status and exposure in years of the workers.

High Noise N (%) 68 (11.89) 102(17.83) 120(20.98) 28(4.89) 90(15.73) 12(2.1) 96(16.8) 0(0) 56(9.79) 0(0) 430 (75.17%) 142 (24.83%) High Temperature N (%) 54(9.441) 107(18.71) 128(22.38) 25(4.371) 110(19.23) 10(1.75) 84(14.7) 0(0) 54(9.44) 0(0) 430 (75.17%) 142 (24.83%) High Dust/ Fumes N (%) 50 (8.741) 110(19.23) 130(22.73) 28(4.89) 104(18.18) 4(0.7) 96(16.8) 0(0) 50(8.74) 0(0) 430 (75.17%) 142 (24.83%)
Exposures to ambient conditions (Years) Married 1-4 yr Unmarried Married 5-9 yr Unmarried Married 10-14 yr Unmarried Married 15-19 yr Unmarried 20 yr Married Unmarried Total Married Unmarried Workers marital status
From table 2, it can be concluded that most of the workers either have primary education (28.50 %) or are uneducated (25.53 %). Thus they have no such formal training and they are unaware of the safe working practice within the industry (Singh et al., 2008). It can be observed from Table 3, that the majority of the subjects were married (75.17%). The data also revealed that married subjects were working for more years than the unmarried subjects and thus they have more exposure to high noise, high temperature, high dust, and awkward postures in these firms. So, they are more prone to have NIHL, respiratory symptoms and MSDs for prolonged working in such industries. 3.2 Results of the questionnaire study The distribution of workers interviewed from various sections is tabulated in Table 4.
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Table 4.
Frequency of workers interviewed in each section of SMEs, N (%)

Three casting units of Each type Small scale (3) Medium scale (3)
170 (29.72) 80 (13.98) 25 (4.37) NA NA NA 34 (5.94) NA 11 (1.92) 13 (1.27) 7 (1.22) 170 (29.72) 450 37.80
Total No. of Units (12)
Total Casting Units (6)

224 (39.16) 102 (17.83) 34 (5.94) NA NA NA 43 (7.52) NA 16 (2.79) 18(3.15) 11 (1.92) 224 (39.16) 600 37.33
Three Forging units of Each type Small scale (3)

116 (20.28) NA NA 20 (3.50) 29 (5.07) 16 (2.79) 24 (4.20) 8 (1.40) 6 (1.05) 6 (1.05) 7 (1.23) 116 (20.28) 200 58.00
Medium scale (3)

232 (40.56) NA NA 36 (6.291) 55 (9.62) 35 (6.12) 59 (10.31) 15 (2.63) 12 (2.45) 8 (2.09) 12 (1.40) 232 (40.56) 700 33.10
Total Forging units (6)

348 (60.84) NA NA 56 (9.79) 84 (14.69) 51 (8.92) 83 (14.12) 23 (4.02) 18 (3.15) 14 (2.45) 19 (3.32) 348 (60.84) 900 38.13
Workers Interviewed in Sections Moulding/Casting Gas Cutting/Welding Blank cut/Trimming/Punching Drop Forging Broaching/machining Grinding Barrelling Quality Check Inspection Nickel Plating/Painting Tool room/maintenance Total workers interviewed Total Employees in firms Percent Response rate (%)
*Overall response rate =
Total N (%)
102 (17.83) 34 (5.94) 56 (9.79) 84 (14.68) 51 (8.92) 126 (22.03) 23 (4.02) 34 (5.94) 32 (5.59) 30 (5.24) 572 (100) 1500 38.13* = 38.13
54 (9.44) 22 (3.85) 9 (1.57) NA NA NA 9 (1.57) NA 5 (0.87) 5 (0.87) 4 (0.70) 54 (9.44) 150 36.00
Occupational exposures to noise, temperature and dust have been surveyed amongst the workers and have been tabulated in Table 5.
Table 5.
Workers occupational exposure to noise, temperature and dust N (%)

Total 572 572 572 1-4 yr 170 (29.72) 150(26.23) 160 (27.97) 5-9 yr 148 (25.87) 164 (28.67) 158 (27.62) 10-14 yr 102 (17.83) 120 (20.98) 108 (18.88) 15-19 yr 96 (16.78) 84 (14.68) 96 (16.78) 20 yr 56 (9.79) 54 (9.44) 50 (8.74)
Exposures High Noise High Temperature High Dust/ Fumes
As far as the noise effects are concerned speech interference was experienced by 95% of the workers out of which 42% of the workers mostly engaged in forging, blanking, punching, trimming, barrelling and grinding sections reported speech interference always. Twenty seven percent of the workers of machine moulding, shot blasting, sizing gauging reported often speech interference and rest of the workers in the tool room, nickel plating, quality and cupola/induction furnace operators reported low interference. As far as noise annoyance is concerned 7% of the workers reported always being annoyed, 10% often, 18% sometime, 23% of the workers feel seldom annoyed and 41% never felt annoyed with high noise levels (Figure 2). 43
Figure 2.
Exertions and Fatigue due to Work Posture N (%)
The lower proportion of high annoyance is attributed to two reasons. First, workers have accepted the noise as a part of their job. Second, the workers have adapted to the increasing exposure to high noise levels. The majority of workers who reported noise annoyance have 5 years of work exposure. Concurrent to the increased adaptability workers also undergo NIHL which is also one major factor that workers experience less noise annoyance (Singh et al., 2009). The temperature near the workers place of work and at 5 to 10 feet away from the head differed by 0.5 to 1.5 degree at the cupola furnace, induction furnace and oil fired furnace and 0.5 to 1.0 degree at the drop forge section. The WBGTin (inside the shop under the roof) index has been measured in various sections of these plants. The temperature level at various sections like drop hammer, grinding and barrelling sections was found to be > 28.5 degree for medium work and > 27.5 degree for heavy work within permissible limits as prescribed by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH, 2001).
Table 6.
Work Schedule Shift Rotation
Work schedule and shifts of the forging workers

Total 572 161 Shift 161 (28.15) Forward 126 (78.26) 8 hours 92 (16.08) Day Time 411 (71.85) Backward 35 (21.74) > 8 hours 480 (83.92)
Working Time /Day 572
44
As far as the work schedule is concerned, only 28% of the workers reported working in shifts. This mainly included workers from the forging, grinding and moulding sections. Around 84% of the workers reported that, they were working more than 8 hours /day. Out of these 85% of the workers reported additional over time of 12-24 hrs/week. Such long working hours may increase the risk for cardiovascular, respiratory and hearing impairments along with musculoskeletal disorders and injuries (Dembe, 2008). The casting and forging industry workers work overtime not because they love the occupation but due to their poor economic status, hence they work more to earn more. The workers working overtime per week has been shown graphically in Figure 3.
50% 45% 40% 35% Workers 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 6-10 Hrs 11-15 Hrs 16-20 Hrs Tim e 21-24 Hrs > 24 Hrs
Figure 3.
Over time per week
The prevailing performance standards in SMEs generally do not include sufficient rest allowances. This is because most of the firms hire contractual labour, and the targets given to the workers are not based upon a time and motion study (work study) analysis. Thus the work-rest schedule of the workers must be changed and rescheduled. Responses on different types of behavioural coping mechanisms of the workers are shown in Figure 4 below.
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Figure 4.
Different types of behavioural coping mechanisms of the workers
In the case of smoking; alcohol drinking and other habits, approximately 25% of the workers admitted that they smoke (cigarettes and biddies1), about 30% workers reported that they are habitual tobacco consumers, 11% of workers were habitual of having gutkha2 and chutki3, 6% of workers reported the habit of beetle leaf chewing. However 47% of the workers consume about 40 ml to 750 ml of alcohol per month, most of these workers were engaged in grinding, forging and moulding sections.
1 2, 3
Biddi is a locally manufactured substitute of cigarettes, which is smoked by very low income group population in India. Gutkha and Chutki are chewable flavoured products made from tobacco.
3.2 Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and other Health problems The MSD complaints of the workers in their different body parts have been questioned and the responses have been shown graphically. Pain felt and MSDs of the workers in their different body parts is shown below in Figure 5.
46
Figure 5.
Musculoskeletal complaints by the workers N (%)
Fifty seven percent of the workers reported neck/shoulder stiffness, 58% of the workers reported low back pain where as 56% of the workers had reported wrist stiffness and forearms pain/ stiffness. As far as lower body parts are concerned, a large proportion of workers (42%) complained about pain in leg muscle, whereas 25 % workers were experiencing knee/ankle stiffness. The reason behind such problems may be that the workers work for long hours without any appropriate work-rest schedule. Moreover, the heavy workload and the awkward work postures may cause such disorders. Apart from the pain felt or the MSDs the workers also experience other types of health problems, which are shown graphically in Figure 6.
100
80
%of w orkers
60
Yes No
40
20
0
D isa bi lit y Br ea th le ss ne ss W he ez in g A sth m a Pr es su re Bl oo d Co ug h Ph le gm
Symptoms
Figure 6.
Various symptoms seen among the workers
47
H ea rin g
In case of the respiratory symptoms, overall 49% of the workers reported coughing, 44% reported frequent phlegm, 38% reported wheezing, 40% reported breathlessness, where as asthma was reported by 7% of the workers only. These workers were mainly from casting/moulding, gas cutting and welding, forging, grinding, and painting/nickel plating sections. As far as the hearing disability was concerned, 70% workers reported hearing disability due to work place noise; these workers were mainly from moulding, forging, punching, blanking and barrelling sections. Problem of blood pressure (BP) was reported by 17 % workers only and most of them were suffering from low BP. This is due to the higher sweat losses from excessive heat stress. 3.3 Postural analysis and subjective responses Photographs of the workers at work were taken and then assessed in the laboratory by the Ovako Working postures Assessment System (OWAS). This has been depicted in Table 7. From the postural analysis, it is observed that posture numbers 1, 4 and 6 have major strain and ergonomic interventions are required as soon as possible to decrease the strain or pain rising from the awkward working postures. For this the workplace may also be changed if necessary.
Table 7.
Serial No. 1.
OWAS Postural analysis of the workers at work in the forging industry

Posture Type of work Casting 1 OWAS code 2,1,3,2 Risk Major strain Actions to be taken As soon as possible
2.
Casting 2
2,1,4,2
Not harmful
No action
3.
Casting 3
2,1,4,2
Not harmful
No action
4.
Grinding work 1
2,1,3,3
Major strain
As soon as possible
5.
Grinding work 2
4,1,2,3
Some strain
Near future
6.
Grinding work 3
2,1,5,2
Major strain
As soon as possible
7.
Transporting materials
2,1,6,3
Not harmful
No action
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The subjective responses of the workers due to different types of postural movements at work are given below in Figure 7.
Sweat Bend Work Postures Always Lift heavy load Walk Stand Sit
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Often Sometimes Seldom Never
% of Workers
Figure 7.
Workers subjective responses regarding work posture N (%)
In the case of work posture, 85% workers reported heavy lifting while working. The frequency of load lifting was much higher in workers engaged in moulding, casting, grinding and gas cutting sections. Fatigue arising from the awkward work posture is shown in Figure 2. About 90% of workers have reported heavy sweating and almost the same proportion of workers reported 3 to 9 litres/day of water intake. Around 82% workers revealed that they were taking plain water where as only 18% workers were taking lemon/salt with water. Nearly the same proportion of workers had also reported tiredness and weakness in daily routine life. For the same reason it is very obvious that mere a plain water intake is not sufficient to compensate the sweat losses. Management of some units have also revealed that, they had offered lemon/glucose/salt water as a substitute for tea, but the workers had preferred to take tea instead of lemon-salt water. This is due to the reason that workers are not aware of sweat losses and its consequences. 3.4 Personal protective devices (PPEs) The safety measures and the work place injuries are tabulated below in Table 8.
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Table 8.
Level of health /safety measures (use of PPEs and its awareness) and work place injuries N (%)
Total 572 572 572 572 572 572 572 572 572 573 572 572 572 572 572 572 332 Yes 281 (49.13) 260 (45.45) 250 (43.71) 123 (21.51) 141 (24.65) 180 (31.50) 222 (38.80) 211 (36.90) 199 (34.80) 153(26.80) 184 (32.20) 103 (18.01) 86 (15.04) 337 (58.92) 96 (16.78) 332 (58.04) 104 (31.33) No 291 (50.87) 312 (54.55) 322 (56.29) 449 (78.49) 431 (75.35) 392 (68.50) 350 (61.20) 361 (63.10) 373 (65.20) 419 (73.20) 388 (67.80) 469 (81.99) 486 (84.96) 235 (41.08) 476 (83.22) 240 (41.96) 228 (68.67)
Parameter Awareness of Benefits of PPE Do Management Explains the Benefits of PPE Do Management Enforce You to Wear PPE Use of PPE at the work Place Dungaree Gloves Goggles Gum Shoes/Boots Nose /Mouth Mask Ear Plugs/muffs Helmet Others Major Injury at work place Minor Injury at work place Do Company Conduct regular medical checkups Do Company Provide Medicine or medical facility like ESI etc.? Satisfaction with medical facility
Table 9.
Details of score at five point scale of use of PPEs by the workers

i) Always ii) Often 10% 12% 15% 12% 14% 12% 15% 35% iii) iv) Sometime Seldom 8% 10% 13% 15% 12% 10% 11% 15% 5% 9% 10% 10% 9% 9% 5% 5% v) Never 70% 60% 50% 53% 56% 64% 62% 25% Score on scale (0-4) 0.79* 1.01 1.29 1.16 1.11 0.85 1.00 2.20**
Use of PPE at work Place Dungaree Gloves Goggles Gum Shoes/Boots Nose /Mouth Mask Ear Plugs/muffs Helmet Others (turban/Safa/cap)
Total 572 572 572 572 572 573 572 572
7% 9% 12% 10% 9% 5% 7% 20%
Scale Ranges: always = 4, Often = 3, Sometime = 2, Seldom = 1, Never = 0 *Dungaree = **Others (turban/Safa/cap) = = 0.70 = 2.20
In the case of injuries at the work place there were 15% workers who reported major injury at the work place however minor injury was reported by 59% workers (this includes; hand or foot burns due to hot metal, crushing of fingers and foot under heavy jobs, small cuts etc.). The reasons for injury may be lack of concentration. At the same 50
time, it was also observed that the all sizes of PPEs are not provided to the workers, thus they have to wear improper PPEs increasing the chances of injury. As far as the use of occupational protective equipments is concerned, about 51% of workers were not aware of the benefits of using the personal protective equipments. Around 55% workers revealed that management do not explain the benefits of using PPEs and 56% workers reported that management do not enforce wearing PPEs. In the case of the use of PPEs at work place, overall 78% workers did not wear PPEs while working. Data also revealed that most of workers were not wearing PPEs in both casting and forging units only as 25% of the workers were wearing dungarees, 68% of the workers were not using gloves and 61% of the workers were not using eye protection (goggles). As far as the use of gum shoes or boots is concerned, only 37% workers were using them, at the same time nose masks were used by 34% workers. The ear protection was found to be the least preferred PPE, and only 26% workers were using it. The detail of level of use of PPEs at a five point scale is shown in Table 9. The different reasons as to why the workers did not use the PPEs are tabulated in Table 10. Table 10. Reasons for not using PPEs
Frequency N (%) 185 (32.34) 67 (11.71) 125 (21.85) 195 (34.09)
Reason for not using PPE Feel Uncomfortable Do not have habit Due to negligence Management do not provide
The reasons for not using PPE at work places were also reported by the workers and revealed that 32 % of workers felt uncomfortable, 12% of workers were not habitual of using PPE, and around 22% of worker admitted their own negligence and 34% of worker revealed that management do not provide PPE.
Conclusions
From the study it is concluded that the majority of the workers did not wear PPEs. This is due to the fact that workers being illiterate are either unaware about the health hazards resulting from the work environment or they feel uncomfortable after wearing PPEs provided by the management. The study also reveals that the management of different SMEs lack in the will to enforce the health and safety norms. Undoubtedly it is their responsibility to implement the health and safety norms and provide counselling to the workers to educate them regarding the benefits of wearing PPEs. The study validates findings of international labour office (ILO) which estimate that in year 2001, there were 2.2 million deaths due to work-related injuries and diseases (www.ilo.org/safework). There is a strong need to implement the occupational exposure norms related to working hours, heat stress and noise control (www.ilo.org/safework). It is also recommended that hearing conservation should be implemented under the supervision and associations of
51
some non-governmental organisations (NGOs). About 70 % of the workers reported hearing disability due to the work place noise and 83 % of them were suffering from decreased blood pressure which may be due to the higher sweat losses from the excessive heat stress. Moreover, the OWAS method of postural analysis classifies that the postures adopted by the workers while performing the tasks of casting and grinding are very awkward. The frequency of load lifting in these workers is much more and thus it further puts the workers into more stressed conditions of work. Occupational work is indeed an essential component of human society. It provides basics needs (food shelter and clothes) satisfaction to families and communities (Singh et al., 2010). But it is very important to safeguard the interests of industrial workers in terms of their health and safe environment. And lets not forget that health is nonnegotiable. The SMEs should be encouraged to implement heat stress management and hearing conservation programmes. The workers should be motivated to use PPEs. Last but not least, ergonomic interventions are necessary to prevent the complaints of pain and MSDs of the forging industry workers so that they work in a hazard free and friendly environment.
Limitations
The Limitations of this study are as follows: Subjective bias still remains in the questionnaire study even if we have tried to overcome it. As it is an unorganized sector, no official injury, morbidity record was available. So postural strain cannot be co-related with it. Due to the lack of availability of similar studies in Indian context, it was difficult to compare the findings of this study with the available results in the literature especially in Indian casting and forging SMEs. Small sample size (12 out of 4000 similar organisations) still makes it difficult to generalise the results.
Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge the co-operation and help extended by the management and the workers of the casting and forging units for conducting personal interviews, measuring heat stress index and noise levels at each section very thoroughly.
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Information for contributors

ERGONOMICS SA is a biennial publication of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa aimed at promoting scholarly and professional interest in the domain of humans at work. Six categories of contribution are recognised: Research Papers; Review Articles; Methodological Reports; Case Studies and Observational Records; Research Notes/Updates; News and Views.
Specific instruction to authors

Please contact j.mcdougall@ru.ac.za and request the Ergonomics SA publishing requirements and submission guidelines template.
Manuscript submissions
Authors should submit their full papers (using the abovementioned template) as an attachment via email to the journal email address j.mcdougall@ru.ac.za. All submitted papers should be sent in .doc or .rtf formats. No other formats will be accepted.
Editors
Editor-in-Chief: Ergonomics SA Dr Candice Christie Ergonomics Unit Department of Human Kinetics and Ergonomics Rhodes University P O Box 94, Grahamstown 6140 SOUTH AFRICA j.mcdougall@ru.ac.za
Papers will be reviewed by two independent referees who will remain anonymous. The editor will pass on referees comments and general recommendations to the author.
Only accept email contact to j.mcdougall@ru.ac.za
57

ESSA Vol 22 1 2010

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ESSA Vol 22 1 2010

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June 2010

ISSN NUMBER: 10 10 2728

Journal of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa

EDITORIAL BOARD (South African and International)

REPRO AND PRINTING

AIMS AND SCOPE

ISSN NUMBER: 10 10 2728

Journal of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa.

Information for contributors...................................................................................

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Results and Discussions

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

The physical characteristics and experience of the female workers

144.15 5.67 (138-152)

40.83 4.9 (35-50)

22.3 3.13 (18-27)

(Values: Mean SEM, Figures in parentheses indicate the range)

Brick moulding (6.9 .45 mins/ Cycle)

5.85 .25 6.07 .31 5.37 .39

3.46 .55 9.50 1.33 3.95 .67

76.28 .9 68.33 .37 80.12 .33

Brick carrying (9.37 1.13 mins/trip)

(Values: Mean SEM)

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Different methods of postural analysis of the female brick moulder

Major strain Not harmful

Major strain Some strain Some strain

Very High, High

c 2, 1, 3, 1 7 4 10 13 III Low back 8.2 .45

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Different methods of postural analysis of the female brick carrier

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Brick moulders (N=60) Brick carriers (N=84)

Different body parts

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Body Part Discomfort Scale

Brick moulders (N=60) Brick carriers (N=84)

Different body parts

Types of discomfort Pain Numbness Swelling Stiffness

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

An ergonomic evaluation of workstations in small-scale cybercafes in Nigeria

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Partial view of Cybercafe XY

Partial view of Cybercafe XYA

Ergonomics SA, 2010, 22(1) ISSN Number : 10-10-2728

Partial view of Cybercafe XYB

Partial view of Cybercafe XYC