Abstract
Workers at the CFA level in the pharmaceutical supply chain are involved in the packing and dispatch of medicines. Their work requires them to do repetitive body movements such as bending and twisting of back and legs while sitting and standing, and adopt postures such as squatting and kneeling on the floor, which can lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The purpose of this study was to examine the postures of CFA workers and propose a workstation that eliminates the hazardous ones. Using task analysis, this study analyzed the work pattern and postures adopted by CFA workers, and OWAS and QEC methods analyzed those postures. Results indicated the presence of harmful postures and a need for ergonomic intervention. A new workstation was designed to reduce the number of repetitive awkward postures. There is a scope for the reassessment of work postures after the ergonomic intervention.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Pharmaceutical Distribution in India. https://www.bioplanassociates.com
Vegala, P., Telaprolu, N.: Work posture and prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among women in packing activities of pharmaceutical industry. Int. J. Cur. Res. Rev. 5(17), 57–64 (2013)
Gardiner, M.D.: The Principles of Exercise Therapy. G. Bell and Sons, London (1957)
Corlett, E.N.: Stress, Work Design and Productivity. Wiley, London (1981)
Definition of MSD. https://ergo-plus.com
Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders. https://www.ccohs.ca
Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders & Ergonomics. https://www.cdc.gov
The Definition, Domains, and Applications of Ergonomics. https://ergo-plus.com/ergonomics-definition-domains-applications/
Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs): How to prevent WMSD: Workplace design. https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/rmirsi.html
Singh, L.P.: Work posture assessment in forging industry: an exploratory study in India. Int. J. Adv. Eng. Technol. 1(3), 356–366 (2010)
Varmazyar, S., Varyani, A.S., Zeidi, M., Hashemi, H.J.: Evaluation of working posture and musculoskeletal disorders prevalence in pharmacy packaging workers. Eur. J. Sci. Res. 29(1), 82–88 (2009)
Etemadinezhad, S., Ranjbar, F., Gorji, M.: Posture analysis by OWAS method and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among workers of Sourak Tobacco Factory in 2013. Iran. J. Health Sci. 1(2), 89–94 (2013)
Wahyudi, M.A., Dania, W., Silalahi, R.: Work posture analysis of manual material handling using OWAS method. Agric. Agric. Sci. Procedia 3, 195–199 (2015)
Pandey, K., Vats, A.: An OWAS based analysis of workers engaged in brickmaking factories, Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, India. J. Ergon. 2(2), 1–6 (2012)
Naeini, H.S.: Occupational health promotion throughout an interventional ergonomic design (case study: an ergonomic cart design at a food manufacturing company in Iran). Int. J. Occup. Hyg. 7(4), 172–176 (2015)
Li, G., Buckle, P.: A practical method for the assessment of work-related musculoskeletal risks - quick exposure check (QEC). Proc. Hum. Factors Ergon. Soc. Annu. Meet. 42(16), 1351–1355 (1998)
Ayu Bidiawati, J.R., Suryani, E.: Improving the work position of worker’s based on quick exposure check method to reduce the risk of work related musculoskeletal disorders. Procedia Manuf. 4, 496–503 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.11.068
Kirwan, B., Ainsworth, L.K.: A Guide of Task Analysis. Taylor and Francis, London (1992)
Gómez-Bull, K.G., Hernández-Arellano, J.L., Ibarra-Mejía, G.: A proposed methodology for task analysis in ergonomic evaluations. Procedia Manuf. 3, 4756–4760 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.573
Lowe, B.D., Weir, P.L., Andrews, D.M.: Observation-based posture assessment: review of current practice and recommendations for improvement. NIOSH Publication No. 2014-131 (2014)
Grooten, W.J.A., Johanssons, E.: Observational methods for assessing ergonomic risks for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. A scoping review. Rev. Cienc. Salud. 16, 8–38 (2018)
Karhu, O., Kansi, P., Kuorinka, I., Karhuetal, O.: Correcting working postures in industry: a practical method for analysis. Appl. Ergon. 8(4), 199–201 (1977)
David, G., Woods, V., Li, G., Buckle, P.: The development of the quick exposure check (QEC) for assessing exposure to risk factors for work-related disorders. Appl. Ergon. 39(1), 57–69 (2008)
Mirmohamadi, M., Seraji, J.N., Shahtaheri, J., Lahmi, M., Ghasemkhani, M.: Evaluation of risk factors causing musculoskeletal disorders using QEC method in a furniture producing unite. Iran. J. Publ. Health 33(2), 24–27 (2004)
Jahangiri, M., et al.: Ergonomics intervention to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders in a lead mine. Health Scope 4(4), 5–7 (2015). https://doi.org/10.17795/jhealthscope-29507
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Murarka, P., Chauhan, M.K. (2021). Assessment of Work Posture of CFA Workers and Designing a New Workstation. In: Shin, C.S., Di Bucchianico, G., Fukuda, S., Ghim , YG., Montagna, G., Carvalho, C. (eds) Advances in Industrial Design. AHFE 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 260. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80829-7_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80829-7_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-80828-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80829-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)