Assessment Of Worker Posture In Herbicides Production And Break Time Determination Using OCRA Index Method

Workers in the packaging process of pesticide factories constantly do repetitive jobs on belt conveyors, eight hours per shift. Results of preliminary observations used Nordic Body Map (NBM) questionnaire shown that there was the severity of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) on the upper body of the workers. The purpose of this research was to analyzing and evaluating the risk of exposure of those repetitive tasks, determining rest time and also determining suitable work posture. Occupational Repetitive Actions (OCRA) index used to determine the risk level of musculoskeletal disorders and rest time. The occupational repetitive actions (OCRA) index is the most precise method for analyzing and evaluating the risk of exposure to repetitive tasks. There were six activities observed in the packaging process. The highest OCRA index result was inserted cardboard sheet with 17,55 right-hand risk value and 16,51 left-hand risk value. Improvement proposed in this study was the design of the work method with rest time calculation and posture correction. Decreasing of OCRA index after improvement result was at 11,11% to 76,37%. Introduction The packaging process in Herbicides producer company required many workers, those parts are arranging bottles, check aluminum seals, check the bottle cap, insert cardboard sheets, arrange the dosing cap, and move finished product. Results of preliminary observations used Nordic Body Map (NBM) questionnaire shown that there was the severity of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) on the upper body of the workers. Previous studies in the packaging process have been carried out. Evaluation of working posture and musculoskeletal disorders prevalence in packaging workers used the RULA method. The result from that research showed a non-significant relation between body parts scores and self – reported pains in the regions in all subjects [1]. Ovako Working Analysis System (OWAS) was used to check the risk level of working posture in the packaging section. CATIA was used to design the new working facility [2]. To assess the exposure of upper limbs to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD's) in the sequential packaging of a product, and the analysis of risk factors used the OCRA checklist method [3]. Workers in the packaging section worked repetitively and continuously for eight hours per shift. Among the most relevant safety issues in terms of workload and working environment is the presence of repetitive tasks [4]. The ISO 11228-3:2007 explain about the ergonomic standard committed to handling low loads at high frequency in the working environment, and defines the repetitive task, as the task characterized by repeated work cycles. High repetition of movements in manual tasks can lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with specific regard to the upper limb. Musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common occupational problems [5]. Important typical effects of time-on-task during tedious monitoring tasks or other repetitive tasks can be vigilance decrement, slowing in the reaction times or an increase in error rates [6]. According to the World Health Organization, musculoskeletal disorders are the leading cause of workplace disability in developed countries [7]. For detailed risk assessment, the ISO 11228-3:2007 provides a specific method named OCRA (Occupational Repetitive Action). OCRA has been introduced by [8] and later completed, developed and updated from his research group [9]. It is generally used for the design or in-depth 1st International Conference on Engineering and Management in Industrial System (ICOEMIS 2019) Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Advances in Intelligent Systems Research, volume 171