Ergonomic Assessment of Risk Factors among Farmworkers in Vegetable Production System Pundhir Kamna1, Singh Divya2 1Research Scholar, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Uttarakhand, 263145 2Assistant Professor, G.G. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Uttarakhand, 263145 *Corresponding Author: Email– @gmail.com
Online Published on 22 June, 2023. Abstract Vegetable production activities are very high labor demanding, during various activitiesworkers adopted different postures like bending, twisting, standing, and sitting which aredirectly associated with drudgery and occupational health hazards.The purpose of combiningergonomics with farm workers who are engaged in the vegetable production system is to reducedrudgery and provide an appropriate working environment that enhances their workingcapacity as well as productivity. The present study was carried out in vegetable research centerPantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand to study activity profile and to assess work-related health hazards among farm workers by analyzing their work postures, duringland preparation, nursery preparation, sowing, transplanting, weeding, irrigation, spreading ofmanure and harvesting of tomato, broccoli, and garlic vegetable production. The totalpopulation sample of respondents (N=30) was selected for descriptive data on differentactivities from land preparation to harvesting vegetables. The descriptive data was collectedwith the help of an interview schedule and postural analysis methods such as REBA, RULA,and OWAS. The RULA, REBA, and OWAS scores were analyzed with the help of ERGO FELLOWsoftware, whereas SPSS version 26.0 software was used for statistical analysis such asfrequency, percentages, mean, and multiple linear regression). The analysis of data revealedthat farm workers suffered from various health hazards during the various activities of thetomato, broccoli, and garlic vegetable production system.It was found that joint pain is a causeof concern in harvesting, transplanting, weeding, and irrigation activity. It was also found thatin multiple linear regression of work-related health hazards, the “p” value is found to be highlysignificant for the age of the respondent, which indicates that the age of the respondents has ahigh impact on work-related health hazards in the vegetable production system in tomato,broccoli, and garlic. Top Keywords RULA, REBA, OWAS, Musculoskeletal Disorders, Vegetable Production system. Top |