RULA Analysis Research Articles

Analisa Perbaikan Sistem Kerja Menggunakan Metode RULA dan REBA di Pabrik Tahu Sumedang ABC

Health problems related to an operator's posture while working can have a major impact on productivity and efficiency levels. To minimize the possibility of disturbances in posture and injury to operators, improvements are made to work methods, adjustments to machines or work aids, rearrangement of machine positions, and changes to work movements in accordance with suggestions from the RULA analysis. At ABC's Sumedang Tofu Factory, which consists of six work stations (washing, converting, pressing, grinding, molding, and packaging), ergonomic analysis indicated that incorrect working postures could cause discomfort and fatigue in the upper body of workers. After making improvements to the working posture, the final RULA value for the milling section was reduced from 7 to 2, and for the packing section from 5 to 3, indicating that the risk had decreased to an acceptable level. The REBA method also shows a decrease in scores in the milling section from 8 to 2, and in the packing section from 5 to 3, which indicates an improvement in working posture which is better and more acceptable

A Novel IMU-Based System for Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Risk Assessment.

This study introduces a novel wearable Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)-based system for an objective and comprehensive assessment of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs), thus enhancing workplace safety. The system integrates wearable technology with a user-friendly interface, providing magnetometer-free orientation estimation, joint angle measurements, and WMSDs risk evaluation. Tested in a cable manufacturing facility, the system was evaluated with ten female employees. The evaluation involved work cycle identification, inter-subject comparisons, and benchmarking against standard WMSD risk assessments like RULA, REBA, Strain Index, and Rodgers Muscle Fatigue Analysis. The evaluation demonstrated uniform joint patterns across participants (ICC=0.72±0.23) and revealed a higher occurrence of postures warranting further investigation, which is not easily detected by traditional methods such as RULA. The experimental results showed that the proposed system's risk assessments closely aligned with the established methods and enabled detailed and targeted risk assessments, pinpointing specific bodily areas for immediate ergonomic interventions. This approach not only enhances the detection of ergonomic risks but also supports the development of personalized intervention strategies, addressing common workplace issues such as tendinitis, low back pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome. The outcomes highlight the system's sensitivity and specificity in identifying ergonomic hazards. Future efforts should focus on broader validation and exploring the relative influence of various WMSDs risk factors to refine risk assessment and intervention strategies for improved applicability in occupational health.

Analisa Risiko Postur Tubuh Pekerja dengan Metode NBM, REBA dan RULA di Unit Usaha Jamur Tiram Putih Fungo Pride

Fungo Pride is a business unit engaged in the cultivation of white oyster mushrooms. Unhealthy environmental conditions and work stations certainly create a work environment that is less comfortable, unsafe, unhealthy and inefficient. So that the condition of the work station can reduce performance and cause risks. This study aims to analyze the work risks of the Fungo Pride Business Unit associated with non-ergonomic work positions using the NBM, REBA & RULA methods. From the results of this study, it was found that the NBM analysis found 50% low risk and 50% moderate risk. For REBA analysis, it is found that the work risk of employees is in a very high category with a final REBA score of 13 so it requires corrective action as soon as possible. And based on the RULA analysis, the results were in the very high category, namely the grand score of RULA 8, so it is necessary to have an investigation and repair as soon as possible. With the results of these studies, it is hoped that there will be further research that discusses ergonomic factors with productivity in the oyster mushroom cultivation business unit.

Converting laundry work of women in underdeveloped countries from risk of musculoskeletal disorders to a sustainable intervention: A design with holistic approach

AbstractMore than half of the population in impoverished areas around the world, which lack sufficient energy and water, do not have washing machines. Due to a lack of resources and economic reasons, the mechanical task of modern washing machines requiring electrical energy can only be done through hand washing. Additionally, water fetching and laundry work are predominately assigned to women due to socio‐cultural dynamics in disadvantaged areas. The repetitive motions involved in washing over extended periods of time, coupled with awkward body positions, often lead to musculoskeletal disorders in women. This study aims to improve women's work safety and living conditions through a product design for laundry washing. First, the ergonomic risk associated with women's body postures while washing clothes on the floor was evaluated to better understand the impact of the intervention and rapid upper extremity assessment (RULA) method was used for this purpose. Subsequently, the design process for a manual washing product, which operates without electricity, can handle bulk laundry and facilitates easier and more ergonomic work instead of directly scrubbing clothes, was initiated as a remedial intervention. Recognizing that laundry work is a multidimensional experience in women's lives beyond its ergonomic aspects, a holistic design methodology was adopted, incorporating various design approaches to create concepts that better integrate with the lives of woman users. Insights gained from these design approaches were then combined with the conceptual design method to generate design proposals. At the end of the study, the developed manual washing machine design performed improved RULA analysis scores and biomechanical loading outcomes compared to hand washing.

Postural Assessment of Indian Excavation Workers and Prototype Design of Virtual Iron-Pan

The study was conducted among excavation labourers of the construction sites for five different tasks. Five postures were selected from the video recorded at the time of data collection. Analysis of static/dynamic working postures and loads on the various body parts are being done using computer software's which is not possible manually nowadays. In this study, the postures of excavation labourers were assessed using CATIA software during five various excavation operations. Digital Human Analysis (DHM) was developed in the CATIA software for study. RULA, REBA, biomechanical and lifting analysis were performed to detect body risk and loads on the L4/L5 segment of the vertebral column. CATIA software reveals that the excavation labourers are working at high risk. The result evaluated by RULA and REBA for all five working postures indicates that all postures require investigation and need immediate change. The result shows that biomechanical loads at the L4/L5 segments are higher than the NIOSH recommended limit for the task of throwing soil and receiving the pan by some outside labourers. Almost the same effect was observed when lifting of iron-pan where the labourers work in the flexion position. New prototype iron-pan was developed and re-analysis to compare the results with new working techniques in CATIA. This showed that the prototype iron-pan proposed helps to reduce the ergonomic risk during excavation and related work. The CATIA software also provides better results by better evaluation of working postures of labourers at excavation sites.

Design of an Ergonomic Rotating Steering System on an Electric Cart Based on RULA Analysis (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) and Using Solidworks Software

Design of an Ergonomic Rotating Steering System on an Electric Cart Based on RULA Analysis (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) and Using Solidworks Software

Digital human modeling (dhm) for computer-aided ergonomics analysis in the horticulture industry

In Indonesia, the production of water spinach increased by 9,24% from the last year, which was reasonable because water spinach was one of the most sought-after and popular types of vegetables. The farmers have exposure risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) owing to poor watering of plant workstations using manual methods. This journal aims to explore the application of computer-aided ergonomic analysis and digital human modeling techniques in optimizing the workstations of farmers in water spinach plantations. This paper compares ergonomic scores for body posture farmers before and after improvement. Improvement was done by replacing the manual ball valve with motor operated valve (MOV), controlled (opens and closes) by farmers’ phones. Before and after improvement, body posture farmers are converted to digital human modeling and analyzed by CATIA and RULA analysis tools. The result of this paper comparing before and after improvement results in a percentage reduction in RULA Scores of 75% from a 4 to 1 value.

Manual Shelling of Preconditioned Cashew Nut Using Handtool and Its Impact on Occupational Health of Workers

India is the second-leading country in production of cashew nut. Cashew nut are roasted or steamed before shelling. The study was conducted in cashew nut processing industries situated in Selsella and Mankachar blocks of Meghalaya and Assam. The purpose of this study was to compare the cutting strength of cashew nut shells influenced by roasting and steaming. The impact of manual shelling of cashew nut on occupational health of workers was also assessed by using ergonomic tools. The moisture content, colour, and hardness of cashew nut shell were measured. The processing of cashew nut influenced the cutting strength of cashew nut significantly. Steamed cashew nut shell was stronger than the roasted cashew nut shell. Hence, manually shelling of steamed cashew nut shell required more force compared to with that of roasted cashew nut shell. Four cashew nut processing industries, two each from Selsella and Mankachar block of Meghalaya and Assam, respectively were selected purposively. A group of 10 female workers from each industry were selected randomly as sample for this study. Ergonomic parameters: working Heart Rate, energy expenditure, rated perceived exertion, hand grip measurements, RULA and REBA analysis were used to assess occupational health of workers. The results of the study showed that the workers of cashew nut industries were exposed to high occupational health and safety risk due to poor working environment, awkward working posture, repetitive and tedious job.

Comparison of the Results of Various Methodologies for Evaluating the Ergonomic Workload of a Worker During the Performance of a Work Task

The article describes the analysis of a work operation on a virtual model of a production workplace. In order for the virtual workplace to correspond to reality as much as possible, 3D scanning was used to create a digital model of the part that the worker is manipulating. Tecnomatix Jack software was used to create a virtual workplace model and simulate worker movements. The operation was analyzed by four different methods, namely RULA analysis, OWAS analysis, Comfort Assessment analysis and Lower Back analysis. The results of all analyzes for the same task show that the job is not properly designed and it is necessary to propose workplace changes to eliminate the identified problems.

A novel platform to enable the future human-centered factory

This paper introduces a web-platform system that performs semi-automatic compute of several risk indexes, based on the considered evaluation method (e.g., RULA—Rapid Upper Limb Assessment, REBA—Rapid Entire Body Assessment, OCRA—OCcupational Repetitive Action) to support ergonomics risk estimation, and provides augmented analytics to proactively improve ergonomic risk monitoring based on the characteristics of workers (e.g., age, gender), working tasks, and environment. It implements a body detection system, marker-less and low cost, based on the use of RGB cameras, which exploits the open-source deep learning model CMU (Carnegie Mellon University), from the tf-pose-estimation project, assuring worker privacy and data protection, which has been already successfully assessed in standard laboratory conditions. The paper provides a full description of the proposed platform and reports the results of validation in a real industrial case study regarding a washing machine assembly line composed by 5 workstations. A total of 15 workers have been involved. Results suggest how the proposed system is able to significantly speed up the ergonomic assessment and to predict angles and perform a RULA and OCRA analysis, with an accuracy comparable to that obtainable from a manual analysis, even under the unpredictable conditions that can be found in a real working environment.

Ergonomic Analysis Based on Digital Human Modelling: Adjustable School Furniture Design for Secondary School Students

There are many reasons that affect students' academic achievement and health. One of the reasons is that school furniture is not ergonomic. Designed in this paper are student chairs and desks, which are height adjustable and inclinable, are suitable for the anthropometric characteristics of the students and which would ensure that students maintain their ideal body postures in design oriented classes, especially while making drawings. The student desk and the chair were designed in consideration of the anthropometric data obtained from the students. The height-adjustable seat can be used at three different heights according to the leg length of the students and the designed table can be used inclined. Ergonomically evaluation of the school furniture designed was carried out through RULA – Rapid Upper Limb Analysis. During the tests and the analyses, Digital Human Models (DHM) matching the anthropometric measures determined within the study were used. Risk assessments were conducted in this study with the help of the ergonomics analyses carried out with DHMs. In the RULA analysis, the limbs positioned in the ergonomic position were colored from green to red. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the designed furniture had a better RULA score than the known school furniture.

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ERGONOMIC TABLE AND ANALYZE USING RULA ANALYSIS

Ergonomics and design have made the greatest relation in producing an artifact or creating a workplace. A computer table is widely used in classrooms in universities. However, the problems of the current computer table have been detected through the results of RULA analysis. In this project, a survey of the questionnaire was done and the anthropometric data have also been collected. The dimensions of the current computer table are then collected and the deficiencies of the current computer table have been focused on RULA analysis. A new structural design of the computer table has been designed, in order to meet the requirements of ergonomics. A product of the new design of ergonomics computer table is made and has been focused on RULA analysis to define the improvement between both tables. The paper showed a comparison between the current computer table and the new ergonomics computer table were analyzed. The improvement of the new ergonomics computer table was identified and reduced the injuries and disorders. A further investigation on better working posture when using a computer table is required, while further improvement for the product design of a new ergonomics computer table is needed, as well as the application of the ergonomics design aspect in our life.

Muscle Fatigue and Head Flexion Angle Analysis while using Smartphone

With the introduction of smartphones, the frequency of usage gradually increased when compared with keypad phones. The statistics show that the number of smartphone users in India alone increased from 200 million to 400 million in 2015–2019. In general, most of the young adults spend an average of 3 to 4 hours daily. The extensive usage of a smartphone causes various disorders, including cervical/neck pain, shoulder pain. The objective is to measure and correlate the relationship between muscle fatigue and the head flexion angle. Also, to analyze the posture using RULA analysis. By utilizing both subjective evaluations through web-based survey and objective evaluation by using both mechanical sensors such as Gyroscope for neck angle measurement and biomedical sensors such as EMG sensor for muscle activity for 14 subjects of age 17 to 26. Head posture, including flexion angle, will be measured, and muscle activity will be observed while using a smartphone in a sitting posture for 1 hour. Expected to understand the correlation between head angle and muscle fatigue while using a smartphone.

RISK FACTOR ANALYSIS ON FIRE FIGHTER’S POSTURE WITH SCUTUM-SHAPED SHIELD INCLUDING LOAD AND THERMAL EXERTION

Great evolution of armours went on and this led to progressive development and improvement on the design of shield, for example shields used by law enforcements. However, a flexible shield for firefighting purpose is yet to be designed and developed. The suitability of interaction between the shield and user also remained questionable. The objective of this paper is to propose a conceptual design of a shield for fire resisting purpose, considering the ergonomics factors and behavior under load exertion. The methodology used are customer survey, house of quality, morphological chart, pugh method, rula-analysis, and simulation using finite element analysis. Scutum-shaped shield has been selected with aluminium alloy 6061-T6 as the inner body material of shield, and is wrapped by the standard elastic modulus type carbon fiber. The final score of 3 in RULA analysis indicated the shield possess only low risk of Musculoskeletal Disorder. Under load exertion, von mises stress of shield reach 320Mpa once load of more than 8kN is given to the shield.

A Systematic Ergonomics Approach of Maintenance Workstation

The transportation systems contribute very vital role in growth of country, either it may private, public or own transportation system, and to keep the automobiles or machine in good condition without any interruption consistent corrective or preventive maintenance has to be done, and this maintenance activities should take the least time and cost of maintenance along with good quality, and to achieve this it is preferred to design a good maintenance workstation with a systematic ergonomic consideration which has a great influence on time, service, comfort, quality, productivity. For the design of a maintenance workstation, systematic ergonomic procedures are considered these procedures should concern for good ergonomically design of workstation. In an actual design of workstation ergonomically approach is needed concern of the worker anthropometric data with the various parameter of the workstation like adequate posture, work table or chair height, position of the operating nobs and levers comfortable sufficient working areas that help to reduce MSD (Musculoskeletal disorder) and prevent injuries of worker along with enhancing productivity. The main objective of this paper is to propose a systematic ergonomically designed maintenance workstation. Existing workstation of Maintenance in MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) Solapur workshop, is not designed with consideration of Ergonomic principle, so the ergonomic analysis has been made for different posture of maintenance activity, and modifications in workstation has been suggested. For analysis CATIA software is used, Manikin (simulated posture of worker) has been developed based on the anthropometric data collected from MSRTC for RULA analysis under quasi-static loading and dynamic loading conditions.

Design and Ergonomic Analysis of an Assistive Commode

in this paper, an assistive commode is for elderly knee and thigh weakness. Linear actuators of the commode lift the person while standing and can also assist while sitting. The toilet seat itself lifts the person to standing. Ergonomics, with digital RULA analysis, optimizes the design. The paper also shows the circuit diagram for the actuators. The RULA analysis showed the model was suitable for people with different physic.

Rula and Reba Analysis on Work Postures: A Case Study at Poultry Feed Manufacturing Industry

Ergonomics in working industries play an important role which make any task being done easier, thus improving the company production quality. By applying the ergonomics systematically in working life, the work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) can be reduced. WMSDs generally affect human body by working in awkward posture which gives discomfort and pain. The main objective of this study is to analyze the working postures. Next is to suggest the good working position for workers at poultry feed manufacturing industry by proposing standard operating procedure (SOP). The purpose is to reduce fatigue among workers with repetitive tasks. This study is carried out at poultry feed company located in Tanjung Langsat, Johor. Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) are the methodologies used to analyze the working postures of the workers. Videos and figures of the working postures will be recorded and being analyzed. Three selected workers are divided into three different tasks. From the analysis had been done, the score obtain for RULA method is 7, 6 and 7 for Workers 1, Workers 2 and Workers 3 respectively. Meanwhile for REBA method, the score is 12, 6 and 5 for workers respectively. Results show that the working postures is in high-risk level, which need to be considered. It is expected that this research will help by proposing proper SOP and work position for reducing the risk of WMSDs in industry. In regards, this research is expected to increase the awareness regarding on the good working postures among workers.

Ergonomic Analisis postur kerja pekerja di pabrik teh hijau Pusat Penelitian Teh dan Kina, Gambung

Uncomfortable work postures will cause ergonomic problems such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) so that workers feel uncomfortable and work becomes risky and unproductive. This study aims to 1) analyze MSDs complaints of workers at the Green Tea Plant; 2) analyze work posture in green tea processing which has the highest complaints of MSDs; 3) analyze the relationship of individual worker characteristics and MSDs complaints. This study uses a descriptive method with a quantitative approach. This research was conducted at the PPTK Gambung Green Tea Factory. Data collection was carried out by observation and interview techniques using the Nordic Body Map (NBM) questionnaire. Data analysis includes 1) analysis of work posture using the OWAS and RULA methods, and 2) analysis of the correlation with Rank Spearman correlation. The results showed that 1) the highest MSDs complaints occurred at packing stations, 2) from the OWAS and RULA analysis, the work posture that had a very high risk level and needed immediate repairs was the position when putting tea in sacks, leveling tea in sacks, raising sacks to top of the trolly, push the trolly, pull the trolly, lift the sack from the top of the trolly and put the sack on the lowest and top arrangement; 3) there is a relationship between the working period with the type of work, and between the length effective work time with complaints MSDs.

Ergonomics design and evaluation of the stitching workstation for the hand-crafted Kolhapuri footwear using a digital human modeling approach

ABSTRACTKolhapuri footwear manufacturing is craft-based profession. Female workers are involved in stitching and preparation of various parts during Kolhapuri footwear manufacturing. This study focuses on the design of footwear stitching station with objectives of reducing postural stress which improve workers’ productivity’. From the findings, it was clear that postural load among female workers was one of the critical aspects while working in the stitching of the footwear. In this study, RULA analysis was used to investigate postural load. To overcome the identified postural load which was maybe the reason for the development of reported WRMSD (Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorder), new design was proposed. The new design was assessed for vision, thigh clearances and RULA scores using virtual Digital Human modeling. The assessment of new design reveals that vision, thigh clearances and RULA score are good at certain adjustment. The result of new workstation satisfies ergonomics aspects and user requirement of artisans.

Postural Analysis Through RULA, REBA And QEC Of Vendors Selling Edible Items At Railway Stations And In The Trains

An ergonomic study is conducted on postural analysis of the vendors selling edible items at various railway stations and in trains in Northern India. It has been observed that they attain a definite posture infinite number of times to perform a particular task for whole life. It depends upon the number of passengers whom they interact for selling edible products in the trains and at the railway stations. It has been observed that about 20-25 vendors are working at one railway station and +7000 railway stations in Indian railway network therefore at national level these are large in numbers. The RULA and REBA analysis are performed on the eight different vendors who were selling various types of eatable products at the railway stations and in the trains. The results of RULA analysis score is 100% score (7-high risk) was obtained for each vendor which indicates that there is a very high risk and further investigation is required on their working postures and implement change soon. On the other hand REBA analysis showed that 50% score (5- has medium risk, further investigate and change soon and remaining 50% score (8-9), pointed out that these postures have high risk, further investigate and implement change. The average of REBA score of all 8 vendors is 6.75 which showed that the working postures have high risk, further investigate and implement change soon. Further, QEC analysis also revealed that there is a high risk as per the assessment scores. Almost every vendor‘s shoulder score lies (31-40) which means high risk, also back score, wrist score and neck score showed high risk in QEC assessment scores. On the basis of results and succeeding discussions conclusions has been drawn.