Designing Work Chairs at the Filling Workstations with Fixed Machine Layout

Abstract

Awkward posture at work, as observed in filling section operators due to their sitting position was much higher from the filling area, can result in fatigue and less efficient muscle work. Redesign of work facilities, although required to improve the comfort of worker was frequently constrained by existing fixed equipment layout. Therefore, this study aims to redesign work chairs that can improve workers comfort without significantly change the existing layout and workspace. Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), with the use of CATIA software, was used to assess the workers posture before and after the redesign of the new work chair. Rodgers Muscle Fatigue Assessment (RMFA) and Nordic Body Map (NBM), respectively, were used to assess the level of muscle fatigue and the level of pain felt by workers. In order to fit the needs of the workers, Value Analysis (VA) was used to select the design concepts from various alternatives. As a result, concept A was chosen as the preferred concept by workers, with a decrease in RULA scores from high to medium, decreasing levels of pain from high to low, and moderate levels of muscle fatigue on the back and hands of the workers.