Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Physiological Stress Among Adult, Male Potato Cultivators of West Bengal, India

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. NP1669-NP1682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Banibrata Das ◽  
Somnath Gangopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Physiological Stress

The effects of using an ergonomic aid on the physical workload and body discomfort reported by pre-adolescent farmers in West Bengal, India

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Banibrata Das ◽  
Somnath Gangopadhyay ◽  
Tirthankar Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Physical Workload ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Work Related

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the major health hazards among farmers. Pre-adolescents are mainly associated with agricultural work due to poor socioeconomic conditions. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to implement a new ergonomics aid for the betterment of job procedures and improvement of productivity, health, and safety of the preadolescent farmers. METHODS: 100 male and 100 female preadolescent farmers were randomly selected from the villages of Tarakeswar, West Bengal, India, to evaluate and reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders, physiological stress. Modified Nordic questionnaires, Body Part Discomfort (BPD) scale, and handgrip strength were assessed before and after using the ergonomics aid. RESULTS: The results of the study show that there was a significant change (decrease) in discomfort in the lower back, wrists, shoulder, and hands among preadolescent farmers when using the newly designed ergonomic aid. Handgrip strength increased and physiological stress was decreased among preadolescent farmers in post-intervention than pre-intervention in just after work conditions. Productivity has been increased in farming by decreasing absenteeism from work with the use of ergonomic aid. CONCLUSION: This study concludes that productivity has been increased in farming by decreasing absenteeism from work as well as by using the ergonomic aid the discomfort feeling has been decreased markedly.

scholarly journals Ergonomic Evaluation of Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders and Postural Stress among Male Potato Cultivators of West Bengal, India

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amitava Pal ◽  
Sujaya De ◽  
Piyali Sengupta ◽  
Payel Maity ◽  
Prakash C. Dhara
Keyword(s):  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Postural Stress ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Postural Analysis ◽  
Vegetable Cultivation

Background: Apart from cereal production (rice, wheat, etc.) agricultural labourers are engaged in vegetable cultivation in West Bengal, India. Potato cultivation is one of the important vegetable cultivation in India. The potato cultivation tasks are repetitive in nature and those are carried out mainly by manual efforts. Most of the tasks of potato cultivation are monotonous, strenuous, physiologically demanding as well as time-consuming.Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and postural stress among male workers engaged in different potato cultivation jobs. Methods: The study was conducted on 163 male potato cultivators in different districts of West Bengal state. A modified Nordic Questionnaire and Body Part Discomfort scale were applied to identify MSDs in different body parts. The postural pattern was assessed by direct observation method. The postural stress was analyzed by OWAS, REBA and QEC methods. Result: The results show that the prevalence of MSDs was very high among the workers and the most affected areas were back and upper extremity. Postural analysis indicated that the subjects had to adopt different stressful postures during performing different potato cultivation jobs. During potato harvesting operation the workers were subjected to greater postural stress than that of other tasks.Conclusion: Postural stress might be the reason of the occurrence of MSDs. From this study it has been recommended that workers should avoid bad work postures as far as possible during work for reducing job related health hazards.International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, Vol 4 No 2 (2014) 05 – 14

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document