Ergonomic Study on Postural Discomfort and Exertion Perceived by House Construction Workers
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Date
2014
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Publisher
MPUAT, Udaipur
Abstract
The construction industry in India is an integral part of the nation and can be identified
as one of the rapidly growing sector which gives employment to maximum of the workers after
agriculture. Construction workers are the backbone of the Indian economy as they create the
infrastructure necessary for industrial growth. The workers who work in construction industry
perform a large variety of duties like building, repairing, mixing sand, cement, concrete,
spreading concrete and other material etc. The work involves hard physical labour as the
workers work under difficult conditions including hot, cold, and wet weather. The workplace,
work, environment and variety of postures bring body discomfort to the workers. Ergonomics
tries to come up with solution to make sure that the workers stay safe, comfortable and
productive. Thus, the present study was done with the objectives to analyze various postures
used by construction workers in selected manually performed construction activities, to find the
musculoskeletal risks and to assess the exertion perceived by construction workers while
undertaking manual construction work. The study was conducted in Udaipur city. A sample of
60 male workers 30 skilled and 30 unskilled were purposively selected. The results of the study
show that more than half i.e. 58.30 percent of respondents were in the younger age group and
were able to read and write. About two third of the respondents were from schedule tribe.
Majority of the respondents had nuclear and small family. More than half respondents were
married. Approximately 23.33 percent of the respondents were in this occupation from last 16-
20 years. The findings further show that the respondent were in the category of low weight
normal and only one-forth had normal Body Mass Index (BMI). Sixty percent had mesomorph
body type. Regarding VO2 max more than 60 percent of the total respondents were in the
category of good to excellent. Time spent on work by the respondents was 9 hours/day with
break of one hour for lunch. Continuous sitting and bending postures were adopted by the
construction workers and more than half of the respondents carried load in hand. Regarding
feeling of pain during and after work it was found that more than half of the respondents
reported pain after work. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) was used to assess risk to the
workers due to work and also to analyze posture of various body parts. It was observed that the
majority of respondents were at very high risk of body discomfort and change in work method
and posture was immediately required. The ergonomic guideline for improving the change in
work process and equipment, use of personal protective equipment was suggested by the
investigator so that health and efficiency of the house construction workers could be enhanced.
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Description
Ergonomic Study on Postural Discomfort and Exertion Perceived by House Construction Workers
Keywords
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Citation
Bairwa and Vyas, 2014