An expanding body of literature recognises the importance of assessing coordinated postures to overcome the possibility of under/over-assessing in the available posture’s assessment checklists. In addition, the interaction between the upper and lower limbs has yet to be considered. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of the main and combination of shoulder, trunk and leg support postures in a horizontal drilling task on the rating of perceived exertion (RPE). A total of 10 male participants with a mean age of 23.3 ±0.7 were selected for the experiment. The general linear model (ANOVA) was used to analyse the data. Results show that shoulder flexion, trunk bending forward and leg support have significant effects on RPE (P < 0.01). Moreover, leg support reduces the discomfort for all postures with an approximate value of 1 on the Borg’s scale. The difference in RPE at a shoulder flexion angle of 45°– 90° was likewise determined to be twice of 0°–45° for all coordinated postures. These findings can be beneficial in designing tasks based on trunk, shoulder and leg support to decrease musculoskeletal disorders, save energy, and increase efficiency.
This paper is to investigate the current status of organizational culture variables in Libyan manufacturing companies to furnish a base for TQM framework design. In order to achieve the objectives, an extensive literature review has been carried out, this was followed by a survey questionnaire conducted in major manufacturing companies (Oil & Gas Sector and Industrial Sector). SPSS software was used for performing the analysis, we found that Libyan manufacturing culture operates within hierarchy culture quadrant. The findings will be compared with other studies and suggested for future improvement of the Libyan companies.
Uncomfortable posture may not contribute only to the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) but also to the loss of energy and the decrease in work efficiency (WE). Measuring WE based on activity energy expenditure (AEE) have not got much attention in work places. The study aims to develop a model of work efficiency (WE) based on body posture for performing horizontal drilling tasks. Ten subjects, all men with an average age of 23.3 ± 0. 67, participated in the experiment. Six coordinated postures of shoulder and trunk flexion were tested. Activity Energy Expenditure (AEE) and Work Efficiency (WE) were the dependent variables. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that statistically significant trends (P <0.01) of increasing AEE while the trunk and shoulder move away from the neutral posture. Overall, these results provide valuable insights into assessing WE on the basis of the AEE and the activity wasted energy (AWE) due to unproductive movements while standing in difficult postures, taking the neutral posture as a zero reference of wasted energy.
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