Workstation Assessment For Packaging Department: A Case Study
Workstation Assessment For Packaging Department: A Case Study
Workstation Assessment For Packaging Department: A Case Study
ISSN: 2395-7476
IJHS 2018; 4(1): 227-235
© 2018 IJHS
www.homesciencejournal.com Workstation assessment for packaging department: a
Received: 09-11-2017
Accepted: 11-12-2017 case study
Hemani Malhotra
Department of Resource Hemani Malhotra, Archana Bhatnagar and Manjit Kaur Chauhan
Management, Sir Vithaldas
Thackersey College of Home
Science (Autonomous), SNDT Abstract
Women’s University, Juhu, Introduction: A study was carried out in the packing department of Juhu Sahakari Bhandar for assessing
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. the work station design and postures adopted during work.
Methodology: A questionnaire furnished the general information on medical history, specific and
Archana Bhatnagar
environmental aspects. The questionnaire also revealed the health problems among the workers.
University Department of
Resource Management, SNDT Results: The results of the time study revealed that the workers spend maximum time in weighing
Women’s University, Juhu, activity (115 mins.) as compared to other sub-activities like sieving (32 mins.), filling (107 mins.),
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. sealing (67 mins.), labeling (32 mins.), and cleaning the area (13 mins.). The different workstations
dimensions were measured to design and plan the layout in the space available to perform all the
activities. The findings of the study were analyzed and recommendations were made for redesigning the
Manjit Kaur Chauhan workstation to make it safe, healthy and to improve human efficiency and productivity.
University Department of
Resource Management, SNDT Keywords: workstation, posture, packers, design, foodgrains
Women’s University, Juhu,
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Introduction
Man, now-a-days is more or less confined into a specific built environment and spends a
considerable amount of his life span, with various installed equipments, instruments, machines
and live within it. Due to rapid urban development, the judicious use of land and space in
terms of human comfort requirement draws our attention.
In the last few years, it has been increasingly recognized that human tasks and work situations
should be in accordance with the needs, capacities and abilities of the performers of the tasks.
This recognition of the significance of taking into account human factors has led - with
varying success - to the re-design of a number of tasks and work situations which were felt to
be unsatisfactory.
Generally, as per convenience, either work equipment or machines are purchased first and
installed in a pre-built area which generally lacks proper planning and organization and where
the people are forced to work in a given setup.
The basic design criteria of workplace and workspace are very much interdependent.
Workplace could be defined as the immediate optimum work area required for a specific task
using a machine and other work accessories, whereas workspace is a large surrounding of the
workplace. It is multiple of the same type of different types of workplaces and free spaces in
between together to serve a single purpose.
The design of the workplace is a very broad topic. Workplace design has been approached as
an entire process and activity which leads to the birth of the workplace. The designing of a
workplace is a complex and multi-dimensional task. Of course, it covers the situations where
Correspondence people are working. Most workplaces and jobs demonstrate a mismatch in relation to the
Hemani
Malhotra
workers involved with them (Corlett, 1988) [6].
Department of Resource It is important to have a workplace that is designed to accommodate the human user. The
Management, Sir Vithaldas application of anthropometric data will allow the designer to “fit” the user into the design
Thackersey College of Home (Alexender, 1986) [1]. As the workplace design is a complex process and involves a large
Science (Autonomous), SNDT
Women’s University, Juhu,
number of people, this can reasonably and effectively be done only as a whole process and
Mumbai, Maharashtra, together with these people (Launis et al, 1996) [13].
India. The task of assembling many components and putting them together into the integrated whole
called as the “ergonomic workstation” is very much like solving a ‘Jigsaw puzzle,
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all the pieces must fit with each other. posture which places an undue stress on musculo-skeletal
The objective of ergonomics in workspace design is to system and sensitive body tissues which in turn are hazardous
achieve a “Transparent” interface between the user and the to health and affect productivity. Discomforts arising from
task such that the users are not distracted by the equipment postures and workplace would be precursors of disease.
they are using. Distractions may be due to discomfort or due A reduction of postural stress is fundamental to workstation
to workstation usability problems i.e., the elbow rests of chair design in ergonomics. A multi approach is needed to arrive at
sometimes hit the leading edge of the desk if they are too appropriate workstation design for different workers. The
long, thus restricting access to the desk. In the workstations requirement of tasks and the characteristic of users need to be
for standing workers, lack of clear space for the feet may considered in relation to the option for workstation design.
impede task related postural movements. Also, poorly Alireza Choobineh et al (2004) studied development of
designed sitting environment can result in poor sitting habits. guidelines for workstation design of Iranian hand-woven
Therefore, the well-designed workstations should be carpet industry. The results of multivariate analyses showed
unobtrusive with respect to the task performance. The design that major ergonomic factors associated with musculoskeletal
of the workplace may subject the worker’s anatomy and symptoms were loom type, working posture, daily working
physiology to excessive and highly concentrated stresses and time and seat type. Based on the results, some general
strains. Persistence of the stresses may lead to health disorders guidelines for designing weaving workstations were
and deformities of the anatomy. Designers therefore need to developed. A prototype test showed that the new workstation
consider task requirements as well as anatomical, was acceptable for subject tests and that it improved working
physiological and anthropometric characteristics of users. posture.
Despite rapid strides of mechanization and automation, The ideal design should bear the performance capability and
manual work is still predominant in many occupations which the limitation of the user in mind and should ensure that the
are repetitive in nature. Such repetitive type of work can be operator is able to work in the working area clearly. Posture
seen in jobs like assembly-line work, electronic industry, must be adequate and comfortable, and control must be within
diamond processing, packaging etc. reach to minimize error. To accomplish this, the designer
Although the energy demands of these tasks may be quite must take into consideration the physiological, psychological,
low, the repetitive use of small muscle groups and rotation environmental and dimensional factors which will affect
around the wrist, elbow and shoulder joint may be associated operator performance and well-being. Due consideration must
with symptoms of inflammation and soreness, collectively be given to environmental factors i.e., illumination,
grouped as repetitive-motion disorder (Kodak, 1986). temperature, noise and vibration Working dimension should
Modification of the workstation design is an alternative be compatible with anthropometric characteristic of the
approach that can be used to overcome MSDs problems faced anticipated user (Kvalseth, 1983) [12].
by standing workers. (Baba Deros et al, 2011) [4] Alireza Choobineh et al (2004) investigated that head, neck
One of the most important occupations involving repetitive and shoulder postures were influenced by weaving height.
work is packaging. Packaging may be defined as a means of Both design parameters influenced trunk and elbows postures.
protecting a product to ensure the safe delivery of the product The determinant factor for weavers’ perception on the neck,
to consumer in a sound condition at a minimum cost incurred shoulders and elbows was found to be weaving height, and on
in production (Kothari, 1977) [4]. the back and knees it was seat type. Based on the results, the
Many researchers believe that repetitive tasks produce following guidelines were developed: (a) weaving height
adverse effects on the health and well-being of the workers should be adjusted to 20 cm above elbow height; (b) a
(Grandjean, 1973; Nag et al, 1986; Christensen, 1986; 10°forward-sloping high seat is to be used at weaving
Rahman, 1986; Punnett et al, 1991). The most common workstations. The workstation may not be able to function
adverse effects found by researchers can be categorized into effectively, if there are mismatches between the users’
physiological, psychological and performance effects. anthropometric data and workstation dimensions (Deros et al.,
Monotony, boredom and adverse effects on the worker’s life 2009; Ghazilla et al., 2010) [4, 10].
outside the workplace are also common among those involved Considering the above facts, it was necessary to perform an in
in repetitive type of work. - depth ergonomic study of foodgrain packers with the
Corlett’s (1998) [6] investigation on repetitive operations objective to study and evaluate the existing workstation layout
revealed that particular postures were required to do the work and recommend a new layout based on ergonomic principles.
and these postures were maintained over many hours with
small periods of relaxation. Rationale
Mossink (1990) [14] in his study on packaging workstation The study was focused on the problem faced by foodgrain
observed some unfavorable working postures which were packaging workers. Foodgrain packers work for nine long
frequently adopted by the workers with recurring movements. hours with one hour lunch- break. The main task of the
It also indicated that there was relationship between posture, worker is to pack the foodgrains. All the activities filling,
movement, as well as the arrangement of the workstation. weighing, sealing and labeling are performed at one place
The adopted posture without much movement stationed in a which lack a proper organization, the movement place is less
work-demanding position, without feeling muscular fatigue, if due to which bodily movement are restricted. Also there is no
a person can perform its task, can be said a ‘good posture’. A proper circulation area which creates danger for accidents
good Posture is a basic requirement in workplace design. between food grain packers and the loader who load the
Today, the sitting position is the most frequent body posture godown with food grains. All these aspects necessitated a
in industrialized countries. It can be stated without thorough evaluation of the existing workspace organization
exaggeration that the sitting position is characteristic for and develop a proper workplace which will be appropriate
modern times. As people spend great of their working hours and natural for man- machine- environment system and which
sitting on chair and using furniture that is poorly designed or will also allow comfortable posture and greater efficiency by
improperly adjusted, they tend to adopt awkward or abnormal human being. This study proposed to redesign the packaging
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workstation for packers illustrated in Fig.1.
General Information:
considering their
A well administered
physiological units and
questionnaire was
nature of job to minimize
used as a tool for the
any accidental situation.
study. The
questionnaire was
Limitation of the study
designed to elicit
The proposed layout is
accurate responses
designed only for Juhu
from the workers. It
Sahakari Bhandar.
consisted of two broad
aspects namely,
M
general information
e and specific
t
information. The
h general information
o
included age, weight,
d language spoken,
o
education, marital F
l status, health problems i
o
etc. The specific g
g information included .
y
length of service,
duration of work, type 1
S
of work, psychological :
a problems etc.
m
Body Dimensions: L
p a
Anthropometry is the
l y
science of human body
e o
dimensions in both
All the samples were u
static and dynamic t
selected from Juhu
conditions which are
Sahakari Bhandar from
essential for work o
Mumbai city. The study
station design f
was conducted on female
(Alexender, 1986) [1].
workers only.
The different t
anthropometric h
Sampling Method
measurements relevant e
Since the research is a case
to the design of
study, purposive sampling
workstation were E
method was used for
taken using the x
detailed study. The i
anthropometric kit.
foodgrain packaging s
Thirty three
department of the Juhu area t
measurements were
was selected from eleven i
taken of eleven
foodgrain packaging n
subjects belonging to g
departments from Mumbai
Juhu Sahakari
Sahakari Bhandars.
Bhandar for the study. W
Sample Size Workstation: o
Workstation design r
Eleven female foodgrain
reflects the design for k
packers from Juhu Sahakari s
multiple users and/or
Bhandar were considered t
movement around and
for workstation design a
Research design about the workplace.
t
The workstation is
Worker: All the i
more than the o
aspects related to the
immediate work area n
workers were dealt
because it includes:
under this section.
access to and from the (
work area, movement S
in work area and c
provisions for multiple a
persons at one work l
area. The existing e
:
workstation for the
foodgrain packers is
1
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: l
5 e
0
) 1
:
There are more factors to approach that potential
deal with and these factors hazards leading to T
interact in more ways and accidents may be due i
in more complex ways. m
to the interaction of e
They are as follows: the task, the human,
Equipments and the environment
Required: Foodgrain s
(Dale, 1981). Since p
packers perform safety has long been e
various activities the focus of attention n
which requires in any workplace t
different design it is very
tools/equipments i.e., necessary to know the b
measuring can, siever, occupational safety y
cutter/blade, electric and health hazardas at
sealing iron, weighing the place of work. In s
machine, rubber stamp order to seek u
and stamp pad. To information whether b
understand the use of j
there were any safety
these equipments/tools e
system provided to the c
they were observed so foodgrain packers a t
that the workspace for questionnaire was s
them could be administered so that
designed. safety measures could d
Dimensional Issue: be recommended. u
Foodgrain packaging r
involves many sub Analysis of Data i
activities and each From the data collected the n
activity requires g
information was analysed
specific work area in by using standard
order to perform the o
statistical methods which
activity without c
included mean, standard c
hindering the workers deviation, standard error, u
performance. With a 5th and 95th percentiles. p
view to optimize the a
number of Results and Discussions t
workstations which The main objective of the i
could be study was to redesign the o
accommodated within workstation for foodgrain n
the given floor space, a
packaging department
the dimensions of the l
where the job is considered
workstations were as repetitive.
taken with a measuring w
tape. A questionnaire o
r
technique was used to k
identify the worker’s .
problems with the
existing workstation. Subject Code Active (mins) Non-Act
001 330 2
Systems Safety: Safety 002 365 1
engineering typically 003 370 1
takes the 004 385 1
Time Study: The time 005 380 1
studied. The active and non- 006 390 1
spent by the workers on active period is summarized 007 395 1
different activities involved in table 1. 008 375 1
in foodgrain packing was 009 360 1
studied in detail. Total time 010 320 2
spent on nine hours 011 360 1
occupational work was Mean + S.E. 366.4 + 6.77 173.6
Values are mean + S.E.
T
a The results of the table show that the worker spent
b
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about six hours in t
could be seen from the i
occupational activities and figure that maximum time
three hours in non- e
is spent in weighing activity s
occupational activities like while minimum time in
resting, personal needs cleaning activity. The i
having tea, lunch, etc. reason for more time being n
Fig 2. Represents the time spent in weighing activity v
spent on different activities. could be that they have to o
In weigh accurately so that the l
item does not weigh more v
e
or less.
d
i
n
F
o
o
d
g
r
a
i
n
P
a
c
k
a
g
i
F n
i g
g
Body Dimensions: As maximum number of
2
mentioned in the people having higher
:
methodology thirty three values, where easy reach
measurements were taken of was concerned. Higher
T
i the workers working in Juhu percentile values were
m Sahakari Bhandar for considered when the
e redesigning of workstation. maximum number of
These dimensions are given population having lower
S in table 2. values did not wish to get
p Low percentile values were reach for ensuring safety
e considered for
n
and easiness of operation
accommodating
t without any hindrance.
i T
n a
b
l
d e
i
f
f 2
e :
r
e A
n n
t t
h
a r
c o
t p
i o
v m
i e
t
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r
i
c
m
e
a
s
u
r
e
m
e
n
t
s
o
f
f
o
o
d
g
r
a
i
n
p
a
c
k
e
r
s
No. Anthropometric Measurements (cms) Mean (x)
1 Body Weight (Kg) 49.09
Standing
2 Body Stature 150.45
3 Eye Height 138.95
4 Acromial Height (Shoulder) 124.46
5 Vertical Reach 189.57
6 Total Arm Span 153.95
7 Forward Arm Reach 78.07
Sitting
8 Sitting Height 75.75
9 Eye Height 65.37
10 Shoulder Height 51.05
11 Elbow Height 19.35
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12 Upper Lumbar 22.9 2.11 0.636 19.42 26.38
13 Lower Lumbar 12.7 1.46 0.440 10.29 15.11
14 Popliteal Height 37.33 1.38 0.416 35.05 39.61
15 Knee Height 45.55 1.69 0.509 42.76 48.34
16 Subscapular Height 29.05 2.18 0.657 25.45 32.65
17 Thigh Clearance 10.65 1.12 0.337 8.80 12.50
18 Shoulder Breadth 34.20 1.80 0.542 31.23 37.17
19 Shoulder Elbow Length 31.37 1.81 0.545 28.38 34.36
20 Forearm Length 40.58 1.88 0.566 37.48 43.68
21 Maximum Arm Grasp 65.34 4.08 1.229 58.61 72.07
22 Buttock Popliteal 43.27 2.35 0.708 39.39 47.15
23 Hip Breadth 30.93 3.80 1.145 24.66 37.20
24 Elbow Breadth 37.78 5.21 1.569 29.18 46.38
25 Buttock Knee Length 50.4 2.77 0.834 45.83 54.97
26 Waist Level Width 23.83 3.79 1.142 17.58 30.08
27 Thigh to Thigh 30.73 3.46 1.042 25.02 36.44
Squatting
28 Squatting Height 75.85 1.83 0.551 72.83 78.87
29. Knee to Knee Length 53.93 6.51 1.961 43.19 64.67
30 Squatting Height 75.85 1.83 0.551 72.83 78.87
31 Hip Breadth 32.09 3.10 0.934 26.98 37.21
32 Maximum Arm Group 59.55 3.56 1.072 53.68 65.42
33 Knee to Floor 42.45 2.37 0.714 38.54 46.36
Workstation Evaluation: As mentioned n the methodology, and other too common entrance. Also, the room was provided
the food grain packaging involves various sub-activities i.e. with weighing scale, electrical sealing iron and siever.
cleaning the area, sieving, filling, weighing, sealing, and The space was also provided for the supervisors table and
labeling which requires specific area to perform them. Fig 1. chair. There was a common built-in wall unit (75cms x 40
Shows the layout of the existing workstation of the godown cms) for the workers to keep their glasses, food, water and
where the study had been carried out. There were eleven belongings.
workers working in this area. The area was provided with one The dimensions of different items belonging to different
exhaust fan and two doors one of which led to the security workplaces are presented in table 3.
Problems related to the existing workstation: For carried out in Sahakari Bhandar where the study was done
redesigning the workstation knowledge about the along with brief description of each posture and the problems
requirements of the different sub-activities performed in the expected to be related to the working posture in different
workstation becomes important. Table 4 summarizes the operations.
postures adopted in different stages of food grain packaging
To overcome these postural problems, the dimensions of to reduce shoulder fatigue. The top surface of the hand
existing workstation were studied and analyzed in order to rest and the seat can be covered with soft PU foam
organize the work area. The analysis of workstation was done covering and upholstery. The height of the elbow rest can
in relation to different activities performed and the changes vary from 0-10 cms from the table surface level. The seat
made in dimensions are given below. should be provided with the back rest to support the
Labelling: This activity was performed in sitting posture lumbar region of the body to avoid the stress on the
using chair and table. As mentioned above these workers muscles of the back. Also no facility for storage of labels,
faced the problems of neck, back and shoulder pain stamps and stamp pads was provided. Hence it was
which was due to improper work surface height and seat necessary to provide a storage cabinet adjacent to the
height. The existing dimensions of chair and table were work-area. The top of the cabinet could be adaptable as
40 x 30 x 31 cms and 80 x 30 x 63 cms respectively. an additional work surface for placing the work
Which on analysis of anthropometric dimensions the accessories.
recommendations made for chair and table were 40 x 40 Sieving: This activity was performed sitting on floor in
x 40 cms and 90 x 50 x 67.5 cms respectively. Also the squatting position. Here the worker should be provided
chair could be provided with a proper hand rest so that with a patla (40 x 30 x 7 cms), so that they can stretch
the forearm region of both the hands can be placed on it their legs and sit erect / straight to avoid muscular cramps
and fatigue. This activity was performed occasionally and platform-cum-storage could be provided to keep packets
for short duration. after weighing which would be a common platform for
Filling: This operation was carried out in four different sealing and weighting.
postures i.e., standing, standing-cum-stooping, sitting on Sealing: This is the last activity to be performed and it
a stool and sitting-cum-stooping. These types of postures was carried in sitting posture on table and chair. Here
put undue pressure on back and neck muscles. To avoid table edge was used for sealing purpose and table top for
this, an adjustable trolley should be provided which keeping sealing iron. In existing workstation plank of size
would work on the principle of pulley. A platform-cum 76 x 13.5 cms is first placed on the lap on which two or
storage should also be provided next to filling place three packets depending upon the weight are kept
where the sloping platform (7.5cms) could be used to together for sealing at the edge of the table in front of the
pass the filled bags to the weighing workstation and the worker. But to avoid different plank to be used, the table
storage underneath the platform could be used for storing itself should be provided with a flap which could be
of polythene bags and filling cans by the subjects. pulled when sealing is done and which can be replaced
Weighing: In the existing workstation design this activity back when not in use. The modified dimension of the
was performed sitting on patla of size 40 x30 x 7 cms, sealing table is 90 x 30 x 67.5cms according to the
which puts pressure on abdominal region as there is anthropometric dimensions of the worker.
forward bending to weigh the food grains. In order to Based on the changes suggested above, the two layouts (I and
avoid this, a chair (40 x 40 x 35 cms) could be provided II) were proposed which are presented in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4.
and the weighing scale pan should be raised by keeping it
on a stool with pull out storage to keep spoons (to be
used to add/remove food grains from packets). A