Validation of a Comprehensive Ergonomic Risk Assessment Technique for Tea Harvesting Farmers and Comparison with some Techniques.

Abstract

Background: We aimed to validate a thorough ergonomic risk assessment method for tea harvesting farmers. A comparative analysis with established methods such as OWAS (Ovako Working Posture Assessment System), RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment), and REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) was also conducted.

Methods: The research was carried out in 2023 in Guilan Province. The research consisted of three phases: identifying risk factors influencing Musculoskeletal Disorders, validating these factors using the fuzzy Delphi technique (FDT) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) methods, and developing a method that included a customized posture evaluation technique and questionnaire design. The criteria were categorized into personal, task-related, tools and equipment, environmental, and organizational factors. A team of experts evaluated the validity and reliability of the developed method.

Results: Out of 60 identified risk factors, 43 were approved. Task-related factors were deemed the most important, while organizational factors were considered the least important by experts. A comparison of evaluator agreement across different tasks using various evaluation methods revealed good agreement in the developed method and REBA, but low agreement in the other two methods. Kappa coefficients for reliability assessment ranged from 0.61 to 0.80 among expert groups.

Conclusion: The proposed developed technique had acceptable validity and reliability. In addition to posture evaluation, this technique evaluates personal, environmental, and organizational items using a questionnaire. Comparisons with established methods, including OWAS, RULA, and REBA, revealed that the developed method demonstrates a stronger correlation with disorders due to shared characteristics.