Abstract
Several studies globally have highlighted musculoskeletal risk factors associated with the garment making jobs because of highly repetitive work in awkward work postures. The purpose of the research is to identify possible ergonomic deficiencies in the standing modular workstation of sewing machine operators in a lean environment garment industry . The discomfort analysis by Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) and also the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) was carried out among a sample of experienced female operators in a garment industry located in Sri Lanka. From this study, compared to other parts, foot, knee, lower leg, neck, shoulders, thigh, and lower back are experiencing ache highly. It is concluded that the shoulder, upper back, upper arm, neck, forearm, and wrist are experiencing aches due to the machine is not ergonomically fit with the operator’s body dimensions, and ache in the leg and lower back due to prolonged standing and working. The ergonomic solutions like fixing the proper height of sewing machine, inclined work table, providing anti-fatigue mats, job rotation, stretching exercises, and short-break approach are suggested for minimizing the absenteeism and turnover due to bodyache and to increase the efficiency and quality of the product and process.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aase GR, Olson JR, Schniederjans MJ (2004) U-shaped assembly line layouts and their impact on labor productivity: an experimental study. Eur J Oper Res 156:698–711
Andersson ER (1992) Economic evaluation of ergonomic solutions: Part I—Guidelines for the practitioner. Int J Ind Ergon 10:161–171
Bhamu J, Sangwan KS, Singh Sangwan K (2014) Lean manufacturing: literature review and research issues. Int J Oper Prod Manag 34:876–940
Brisson C, Vinet A, Vezina M (1989) Disability among female garment workers: a comparison with a national sample. Scand J Work Environ Heal 15:323–328
Buckle PW, Jason Devereux J (2002) The nature of work-related neck and upper limb musculoskeletal disorders. Appl Ergon 33:207–217
Choobineh A, Sani GP, Rohani MS, Pour MG, Neghab M (2009) Perceived demands and musculoskeletal symptoms among employees of an Iranian petrochemical industry. Int J Ind Ergon 39:766–770
Dahlberg R, Karlqvist L, Bildt C, Nykvist K (2004) Do work technique and musculoskeletal symptoms differ between men and women performing the same type of work tasks? Appl Ergon 35:521–529
David GC (2005) Ergonomic methods for assessing exposure to risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Occup Med (Lond) 55:190–199
Denis D, St-Vincent M, Imbeau D, Jetté C, Nastasia I (2008) Intervention practices in musculoskeletal disorder prevention: a critical literature review. Appl Ergon 39:1–14
Dianat I, Kord M, Yahyazade P, Karimi MA, Stedmon AW (2015) Association of individual and work-related risk factors with musculoskeletal symptoms among Iranian sewing machine operators. Appl Ergon 51:180–188
Gallagher S, Schall MC Jr (2016) Musculoskeletal disorders as a fatigue failure process: evidence, implications and research needs. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2016.1208848. 139, 0
Hignett S, McAtamney L (2000) Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). Appl Ergon 31:201–205
Jansen K, Luik M, Reinvee M, Viljasoo V, Ereline J, Gapeyeva H, Pääsuke M (2012) Musculoskeletal discomfort in production assembly workers. Acta Kinesiol Univ Tartu 18:102–110
Kaergaard A, Andersen JH (2000) Musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and shoulders in female sewing machine operators: prevalence, incidence, and prognosis. Occup Environ Med 57:528–534
Kilroy N, Dockrell S (2000) Ergonomic intervention: Its effect on working posture and musculoskeletal symptoms in female biomedical scientists
Kogi K, Kawakami T, Itani T, Batino JM (2003) Low-cost work improvements that can reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Int J Ind Ergon 31:179–184
Krijenen RM, De Bore E, Ader H, Bruynzeel D (1997) Venous insufficiency in male workers with a standing profession. Part: 1 Epidemiology. Dermatology 194:111–120
Li G, Haslegrave CM, Corlett EN (1995) Factors affecting posture for machine sewing tasks. The need for changes in sewing machine design. Appl Ergon 26:35–46
Lombardo SR, Vijitha de Silva P, Lipscomb HJ, Østbye T (2012) Musculoskeletal symptoms among female garment factory workers in Sri Lanka. Int J Occup Environ Health 18:210–219
Nazari J, Mahmoudi N, Dianat I, Graveling R (2012) Working conditions in carpet weaving workshops and Muscu-loskeletal complaints among workers in Tabriz-Iran. Heal Promot Perspect 2:265–273
Oh I-H, Yoon S-J, Seo H-Y, Kim E-J, Kim YA (2011) The economic burden of musculoskeletal disease in Korea: a cross sectional study. BMC Musculoskelet. Disord. 12:157
Oksa J, Ducharme MB, Rintamäki H (2002) Combined effect of repetitive work and cold on muscle function and fatigue. J Appl Physiol 92:354–361
Öztürk N, Esin MN (2011) Investigation of musculoskeletal symptoms and ergonomic risk factors among female sewing machine operators in Turkey. Int J Ind Ergon 41:585–591
PiedrahÃta H, Punnett L, Shahnavaz H (2004) Musculoskeletal symptoms in cold exposed and non-cold exposed workers. Int J Ind Ergon 34:271–278
Piranveyseh P, Motamedzade M, Osatuke K, Mohammadfam I, Moghimbeigi A, Soltanzadeh A, Mohammadi H (2016) Association between psychosocial, organizational and personal factors and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in office workers. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 22:267–273
REBA-Worksheet-v-2.0.pdf, http://ergo-plus.com/wpcontent/uploads/REBA.pdf
Roquelaure Y, Mariel J, Fanello S, Boissière J-C, Chiron H, Dano C, Bureau D, Penneau-Fontbonne D (2002) Active epidemiological surveillance of musculoskeletal disorders in a shoe factory. Occup Environ Med 59:452–458
Sealetsa OJ, Thatcher A (2011) Ergonomics issues among sewing machine operators in the textile manufacturing industry in Botswana. Work 38:279–289
Shah R, Ward PT (2007) Defining and developing measures of lean production. J Oper Manag 25:785–805
Spasojević Brkić VK, Klarin MM, Brkić AD (2015) Ergonomic design of crane cabin interior: the path to improved safety. Saf Sci 73:43–51
Widanarko B, Legg S, Devereux J, Stevenson M (2014) The combined effect of physical, psychosocial/organisational and/or environmental risk factors on the presence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms and its consequences. Appl Ergon 45:1610–1621
Zander JE, King PM, Ezenwa BN (2004) Influence of flooring conditions on lower leg volume following prolonged standing. Int J Ind Ergon 34:279–288
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sakthi Nagaraj, T., Jeyapaul, R. (2018). Ergonomic Study on Work Postures of Sewing Machine Operators in Government Industry: A Case in Lean Environment Garment Industry. In: Ray, P., Maiti, J. (eds) Ergonomic Design of Products and Worksystems - 21st Century Perspectives of Asia. Managing the Asian Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5457-0_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5457-0_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5456-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5457-0
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)