Work Posture Analyses for Ergonomics Working Condition Improvement of Concrete Work Practices

Abstract

The aimed of the research is to improve the working condition of concrete work practices at Politeknik Negeri Bali Indonesia. Occupational accidents in concrete construction in Indonesia have recently increased and the cause is always claimed as human error. This is true, but behind human error, there is another root cause, which is the awkward posture causes by the unsafe working condition. This research was conducted at the concrete workshop, Civil Engineering Department Politeknik Negeri Bali. As the vocational higher education, it is important to build a healthy and safe work culture for students as prospective construction industry practitioners that expected to contribute in creating healthy and safe working conditions, so that work accidents can be avoided. This stage of research focused on the analyzing of the work body posture as a basis of recommendation in creating healthy, safe, comfortable and productive working conditions. The work body posture assessment was based on the principal of RULA Software. The body posture analyses were divided into two groups, group A (arm and wrist postures analyses) and group B (neck, body, and leg postures analyses). The study found out that the most awkward postures in concrete work practices were during concrete steel reinforcement fabrication, concrete mixing, and pouring concrete. RULA analyses showed that all of the work body postures were in the high-risk category with the grand score more than 6. In conclusion, the work condition needs improvement immediately, and it is recommended to create the ergonomics working conditions by harmonizing the man-tools or man-machine interaction.