Human Factors and Ergonomics Journal (HFEJ)
Volume 5, No. 2 (2020)
Published online on 1 December 2020
Articles
Sustainable and Connected: Challenges of Adopting Design Approach for Workplaces
Stephen T.F. POON¹
Page 1 – 9 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
This paper presents contextual factors that drive integration of sustainable design practices in the workplace. The objective is to study pro-environmental principles in the management of energy, resources, and interior designing to examine the advantages of sustainable workspace designs in enhancing health, productivity, and social engagement. Research scopes the conceptual definitions of sustainability to understand how human behaviours are linked to the
problem. Insights on workplace design strategies are discussed in a case study of American networking and tech conglomerate, Cisco Systems, Inc., to evaluate the potential of sustainable design applications in developing connected work cultures. Findings signify that beneficial aspects of environmental and social wellbeing are key motivations to adopt sustainable designs. In doing so, however, architectural and interior designers must surmount stakeholder perceptions in accepting and adopting workplace sustainability and implementation costs. To overcome these barriers, recommendations will focus on changing perceptions, educational and social responsibility initiatives.
Preliminary Study on Effect of Handedness in Unilateral and Bilateral Typing Task Towards Muscle Activity of Upper Arm and Shoulder Muscles
Mohd Saiful MOHD NASRI¹, Nursalbiah NASIR¹ and Helmi RASHID¹
Page 10 – 14 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
The smartphone has been used widely in daily life for communication, business, security and writing. Nevertheless, studies of smartphone product design influences on handedness are quite limited. The objective of this study is to investigate the handedness effect of unilateral (right hand) and bilateral (both hands) typing task using a smartphone on hand muscle activities. Six participants ranging from 23 – 26 years old with minimum of 2 years of experience using the smartphone performed typing task. The surface electromyogram (sEMG) signal of External Carpi Radialis (ECR), Biceps Brachii (BB) And Trapezius (UT) from both right and left hands were recorded during the typing task of 3 minutes with 10 seconds rest interval. The percentage of Maximum Voluntary Contraction (%MVC) of unilateral typing method is higher as compared to both hands typing method. The comparison of left and right hand when both hands typing showed that the left-handed (LH) participants having high muscle activities on the left hand while for righthanded (RH) participant, all muscle activities were higher on the hand. In conclusion, the study confirms that the usage of a smartphone using one hand is prone to more fatigue compare using both hands. Besides, non-dominant hand user also showed higher muscle activation of the same muscle with dominant hand users. This means faster fatigue condition for the non-dominant users in the one-handed typing method.
Health Risks Among Waste Collectors in Pahang
Nur Hidayati MOHD RAMLI¹, Nur Syafiqah FAUZAN², Hilma Raimona ZADRY³ and Mohd Faisal FAUZI³
Page 15 – 21 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
Waste collectors were involved with a variety of health risks and health symptoms. Furthermore, they were exposed to various occupational health hazards. This study aimed to assess the correlation between workers’ practices on personal protective equipment (PPE) towards the workers’ health risks and health symptoms. Data were collected on the health risks and health symptoms among waste collectors working at waste management services in Pahang. Ninety-seven respondents were selected to participate and complete the questionnaires. The study shows that the ergonomic health risk was the critical health risk among waste collectors. This study also shows that there is a significant positive correlation between workers practices on PPE and health risks (r = 0.209, p = 0.040). However, there is no significant correlation between workers practices on PPE and health symptoms (r = 0.015, p = 0.884). Good work practice is very important in minimizing the risks exposed to workers at the workplace. Then, the practice and use on right protective gear would help in reducing and minimizing the health risks and health symptoms. The outcome of this study can assist the company in improving the quality of worker care in the waste management industry.
The Effect of Employability on inter-Organizational Mobility by Women Technologist: Mediation by Psychological Well-Being
Osman KADIR¹, Mohd Zaidi OMAR², Mohamad Sattar RASUL³ and Azami ZAHARIM³
Page 22 – 29 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
Today’s phenomenon shown that female graduates began to dominate the technical division in local industries in the country. However, inter-organizational mobility often occurs among the technical women that lead to the loss of valuable human resources to the organization and thereby create a product safety confidentiality issue. In this regard, this study was conducted to identify factors affecting the mobility of industry among graduates of female engineering
technology. Based on the previous study, the proportion of female graduates aged 23 to 30 who made interorganizational mobility was higher than men. Therefore, based on the boundaryless career theory, this study was conducted to examine the relationship between employability, psychological well-being and inter-organizational mobility among 114 women’s engineering technology graduates who are working in the industry in Malaysia. A model has been developed and tested using SEM techniques using SmartPLS software. The findings show that there is a
negative relationship between employability and inter-organizational mobility, as well as psychological well-being toward inter-organizational mobility. Employer and higher learning institutions should cooperate with each other in term of policies and regulations development as well as engineering technology curriculum. Besides that, employers should provide adequate training to women’s engineering technology graduates who are new to their workplace so that they can increase employability skill in their new workplace.
The Association Between Psychosocial Factors and Musculoskeletal Discomfort Among Administrative Staff
THULASHINI¹, Mirta WIDIA¹
Page 30 – 35 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
Administration entails a high level of computerization and many other tasks with multiple risk factors (including psychosocial), affecting workers health and well-being. This study aims to determine the association between psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal discomfort among administrative staff. About 144 participants were involved in this study. Socio-demographic, musculoskeletal health and psychosocial data were collected from a composite
questionnaire; Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ). The result showed that the highest prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort for shoulders followed by neck and upper back for both male and female. The significant psychosocial factors were insecurity at work followed by influence at work. The highlighted result was a significant association between social support and job satisfaction with associated musculoskeletal pain region. In conclusion, proper organizational management and culture should be implemented to reduce the risk of psychosocial factor and musculoskeletal pain.
Evaluation of Different Automotive Maintenance Activities on The Worker Postures: An Objective Assessment
Shukriah ABDULLAH¹∗, Nor Kamaliana KHAMIS¹ and Jaharah AB GHANI¹
Page 36 – 41 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
Vehicle maintenance workers are exposed to a variety of hazards and risks in the workplace, including physical hazards, excessive heat, heavy workload, awkward movements and also a poor psycho-social environment. These conditions can result in musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and injuries. In Malaysia, MSDs is among the highest occupational injury problem, accounting for 87.4%. The objective of this paper is to identify the different type of working posture which can become problematic to the workers due to ache of muscle, which can be a high risk in developing musculoskeletal disorder, due to high repetitiveness task associated with long work durations and weight force. By using electromyography method, several activities while repairing the vehicle have been chosen, based on the workers feedback.
Integration of Psychological Capital in a Conceptual Work Productivity Model
Iqra JAVED¹∗, Siti Zawiah Md DAWAL¹, Yusoff NUKMAN¹ and Ashfaq AHMAD³
Page 42 – 52 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is a positive construct that deals with the strengths of workers. It has a positive impact on worker performance, psychological well-being, and happiness. It is negatively related to job stress, turnover, burnout, and counterproductive work behaviours. There is a need to consider PsyCap while measuring the working performance of the workers working in a highly interactive hazardous environment. The objective of this study is to
propose a work productivity model that not only include work-related risk factors that result in acute or chronic responses to the development of WMSDs but also the positive variables (PsyCap) that may support the worker to abate the associated risks. A review of 11 conceptual work productivity models was conducted to identify the gaps and the relationships between the components of work productivity model. This study introduced a conceptual work productivity model, that not only integrates PsyCap as positive construct, but also highlights the positive and negative association between management system, work environment and the worker that results in either maximizing or minimizing productivity, performance and employee health / well-being. This study will be helpful to understand the importance of PsyCap in the working environment and to explore the mechanism associated with the management system, work-related risk factors, psychological capital, and work productivity.
Physical Ergonomic Application Preferences in The Design Development Process Among Malaysian Designers
Muhamad Ezran ZAINAL ABDULLAH¹∗, Khairul Aidil Azlin ABD RAHMAN², Ruhaizin SULAIMAN³, Mohd Yazid MOHD YUNOS³ and Nor Hamizah ABDUL HAMID³
Page 53 – 57 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
The industrial designer holds a crucial part in the cycle of consumer culture by making new technology pleasant to be owned. The enjoyment of having an object falls within the aesthetic and ergonomic concept, where user preferences are given precedence. This research aims to see present practices among Malaysians who are specialized in the field of design, applying one of the physical ergonomic sub-criteria. A collection of information from 603 participants was acquired through 32 organizations that exercise design-related practices using a non-probability purposive sampling study. An overall understanding of Malaysian designers’ tendency for physical ergonomics during the design development phase has been structured in line with the physical ergonomic sub-domain. The primary finding of this study is the amount of precedence segregation within the physical ergonomic component, helping designers to determine the most significant values during the design process. This will significantly assist the designer in performing the design development task by improving its effectiveness. This tabulation on the preference of the designer will also support in developing a new design structure comprised of the improved element in the physical ergonomic domain. Furthermore, it will positively assist the university in Malaysia to search for the loophole in their curriculum construct to improve the performance of their design-related students further.
A Preliminary Study on Driver’s Mental Workload in Urban and Rural Environmen
Nurainaa KABILMIHARBI¹, Nor Kamaliana KHAMIS¹∗, Madihah MUJAINI²
Page 58 – 62 | Vol. 5 No. 2 2020 | Available online on 1 December 2020
Statistics showed that mental workload is among the top 10 causes of accident in Malaysia which leads to more than a thousand deaths from 2011 to 2018. Driving distraction forces the driver to focus on causes other than driving thus, this condition will increase the mental workload among the drivers. Factors that can contribute to the increment of driver’s workload includes vehicle, human-related and external factors. This study aims to assess the driver’s mental workload using two types of subjective evaluation namely the NASA TLX and Karolinska Sleeping Scale (KSS) on different types of road environment complexity.
Methods: Six healthy participants performed a simulated driving task for two different road scenes which are urban and rural road where the NASA-TLX and KSS score were recorded.
Results: Results show that the different road environment complexity affects the driver’s mental workload differently where NASA-TLX average score for urban road is higher compared to the score for rural road. On the other hand, KSS level indicates a higher score on sleepiness level when driving on the rural road compared to driving on the urban road.
Conclusion: These findings might be useful as a reference to further understanding of driver’s mental workload when driving on different type of road environment complexity.