Volume : III, Issue : X, October - 2014

Ergonomic Study on Postural Discomfort and Exertion Perceived by House Construction Workers

Kiran Bairwa, Rekha Vyas

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. 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 ing 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 the workers in selected manually performed construction activities, to find the musculoskeletal risks and to assess the exertion perceived by them. 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 approximately 23.33 percent of the respondents were in this occupation from last 16–20 years. The respondent were in the category of low weight normal and only one–forth had normal Body Mass Index (BMI). 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 eak 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 musculoskeletal risks to the workers due to work. 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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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijsr  

Cite This Article:

Kiran Bairwa, Rekha Vyas Ergonomic Study on Postural Discomfort and Exertion Perceived by House Construction Workers International Journal of Scientific Research, Vol : 3, Issue : 10 October 2014

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