REBA evaluation on garage worker: a case study

Garage workers always involve with awkward posture as their task being carried out manually in most small scale vehicle maintenance industries. Therefore it is crucial to identify the problems causing awkward posture because it can result to the development of Musculoskeletal Disorder Symptoms (MSDs), which may gone unnoticed and might cause higher compensation cost later. Postural analysis tool using Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) were applied and conducted on nine workers engaging in maintaining three types of vehicle namely car, Multi-purpose vehicle and bus. The evaluation of working postures in different activities is carried out using worksheet of scoring system. Result shows that most of the tasks involved awkward posture and most at high risk level. There is lack of ergonomic awareness and knowledge which contribute more towards high risk of MSDs problem.Keywords: garage worker; assessment tools; musculoskeletal disorder; REBA; ergonomi

Prevalence and factors contributing to musculoskeletal disorder among garage worker in Malaysia

Maintenance involves task that is performed occasionally with exceptional conditions. This paper focused on Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSDs) among garage worker. The objective is to analyze the prevalence of Musculoskeletal symptoms among garage workers as well as the risk factors that contributed to the symptoms. Method used in this study is standard Nordic questionnaire (SNQ) Malay version for 150 garage workers who performed maintenance work on vehicle. The result of biomechanical evaluation indicated that three risk namely psychological, ergonomic and demographic play important role in contributing to MSDs. Shoulder, neck, wrist/hand, feet, low back and waist were among the body parts that recorded high percentage of developing bellow, pain and discomfort. Data gaps include lack of information regarding the prevalence of MSDs in garage workerKeywords: vehicle maintenance; musculoskeletal disorder; ache, pain, discomfort; prevalenc

Posture evaluation of the automotive maintenance workers: a case study

Automotive maintenance workers or commonly known as mechanics are exposed to numerous work stressors while performing their works. Maintenance activities required worker to be in different type of working posture, which mostly awkward posture and in high risk to developed musculoskeletal disorder. Statistics data disclosed that musculoskeletal disorder among maintenance workers is quite high compared to the other types of job sectors. Therefore, this study aims to examine the working posture amongst the mechanics based on their job activities. By using an ergonomic assessment sheet for posture known as Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), ten common vehicle maintenance activities with ten mechanic in the maintenance jobs have been evaluated based on their feedback. The findings showed that, nine out of ten activities are in the high risk and necessary action need to be taken soon. Awkward posture such as excessive bending and twisting for several body parts with heavy parts as well as poor coupling design on the automotive parts or tools are the factors that influence the risk of injury in this maintenance activities. This study is very useful for automotive industry to evaluate their worker’s condition in maintenance activities. This should be an employer and employee essential knowledge to understand that vehicle maintenance work will include awkward posture. Self-awareness regarding the high risk in developing musculoskeletal disorder will reduce the worker chance to be in discomfort while working

An approach to work design: in-depth audit to determine the modifiers of musculoskeletal disorder symptom among vehicle maintenance personnel

Vehicle maintenance personnel maintain, install, dismantle and repair as well as use hand tools in the nature of their job. A study in this domain has its complexities as there are not many research regarding the vehicle maintenance industry. The purpose of this paper was to identify the factors and their relationships towards the development of musculoskeletal disorder (MSDs) among vehicle maintenance workers. Using a self-reported questionnaire, 150 participants from workshops in Malaysia were involved in this study. They consisted of 50 workers maintain cars, 50 workers maintain four-wheel vehicles, and 50 workers maintain buses. The exclusion criterion was the participant has not been involved in accidents that caused injuries such as bone fractures as well as tears in joints, ligaments, and muscles for the past 12 months. Statistical analysis was performed to assess the impact of risk factors on MSD prevalence. Through regression analysis, it was revealed that psychosocial, temperature, and posture factors were associated with symptoms of MSD prevalence with p < 0.05. Age, working hours, type of vehicle repair and body mass index also showed a significant relationship with MSD prevalence. Concerning the sources of risk, related factors, mechanism of injury, and potential intervention strategies to reduce the risk, this paper will focus on the causes, nature, severity, and degree of work-relatedness of MSDs. This identification of risk factors among vehicle maintenance workers can be used to better characterise the magnitude of the problem and formulate targeted prevention strategies with improved surveillance and more accurate data collection