Assessment Of Worker Posture In Herbicides Production And Break Time Determination Using OCRA Index Method

Abstract

Workers in the packaging process of pesticide factories constantly do repetitive jobs on belt conveyors, eight hours per shift. Results of preliminary observations used Nordic Body Map (NBM) questionnaire shown that there was the severity of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) on the upper body of the workers. The purpose of this research was to analyzing and evaluating the risk of exposure of those repetitive tasks, determining rest time and also determining suitable work posture. Occupational Repetitive Actions (OCRA) index used to determine the risk level of musculoskeletal disorders and rest time. The occupational repetitive actions (OCRA) index is the most precise method for analyzing and evaluating the risk of exposure to repetitive tasks. There were six activities observed in the packaging process. The highest OCRA index result was inserted cardboard sheet with 17,55 right-hand risk value and 16,51 left-hand risk value. Improvement proposed in this study was the design of the work method with rest time calculation and posture correction. Decreasing of OCRA index after improvement result was at 11,11% to 76,37%.

A mathematical model for optimal switching problem of production line based on the OCRA method for ergonomics

“…An algorithm has been provided that implements various ergonomic criteria to identify the best solution among all feasible job rotations in the group of operators requiring lower risk exposure (Boenzi et al, 2016). The risk of repetitive work in the packaging process at a pesticide plant was assessed using the OCRA index and design improvements were proposed using rest time calculation and posture correction (Dhadhari et al, 2019).…”