Human Factors and Ergonomics Journal (HFEJ)

Volume 4, No. 2 (2019)

Published online on 1 December 2019

Articles

Fazilah ABDUL AZIZ1, Zakri GHAZALLI2 and Nik Mohd Zuki NIK MOHAMED3

Page 1 – 14   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

There is a need to support the occupational safety and health (OSH) practitioners defining their priorities action for improving working environment condition and minimizing the risk factors in the early stage of development. This paper aims to identify the critical risk factors of occupational ergonomics among production workers in an automotive component manufacturer. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was utilized to prioritize the level of four ergonomics risk main factors and 26 sub-factors. The linear interpolation and a probability value were given by the practitioner to identify the magnitude of risk. In conclusion, physical factors (0.3143) and psychosocial factors (0.2920) were ranked as the two most important risks of occupational ergonomics. The main effective sub-factors initiating occupational ergonomics risk were found that include force exertion in job task (15), carrying and lifting the heavy load (13.91), high workload (13.04) and work stress (11.89)….

Mohd Zubairy SHAMSUDIN1,2 and Nurshahirah MOHD SHAHID1

Page 15 – 21   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

Workers in the automotive industry are exposed to various manual material handling activities that lead to Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSDs). Lifting and lowering loads are the main activities in the development of low back pain among the workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted to calculate Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) and Lifting Index (LI) for the selected lifting and lowering activities and to determine the prevalence of WRMSDs symptom among the workers. 120 male subjects were selected through purposive sampling. Standard Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ) was applied to identify WRMSDs. Meanwhile, NIOSH Revised Lifting Equation (NRLE) was used to evaluate job activities. Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) and Lifting Index (LI) for lifting and lowering tire were 11.78 kg (RWL origin) and 13.32 kg (RWL destination); 0.67 (LI origin) and 0.60 (LI destination) respectively. Meanwhile, RWL and LI for lifting front car bumper were 4.13 kg (RWL origin) and 3.72 kg (RWL destination); 1.40 (LI origin) and 1.08 (LI destination) respectively. The highest musculoskeletal disorder prevalence was lower back (39%), followed by shoulder (14%), upper back (11%), elbow (11%), neck (7%), wrist/hand (7%), ankle/feet (7%) and knees (7%)…

Muhammad Riza Setiawan1,2,  Hari Krishnan Tamil Selvan2

Page 22 – 28   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

Many studies have been conducted on job performance among nurses. However, limited studies have been found in Indonesia, particularly relationship between job performance and job characteristic among nurses in hospital. The objective of the study is to study the relationship between job characteristic and nurse performance in Islamic Hospital of Kendal, especially in emergency unit, intensive care unit and ward unit. Cross-sectional study design was used in this study. Total nurse at this hospital was 150 nurses, and 20 nurses became the sample.

Method: Questionnaire and observation tools were used to collect the data. The result of the study is nurses performance was affected by job autonomy, job variety, job significance, job identity and feedback. The strongest factors that affected nurse’s performance respectively were autonomy, feedback, task variety, task significance and task identity.

Ezrin Hani SUKADARIN1*, Sudaratt Pet TONG1, Balqis Syahirah JAMALUDIN1, Junaidah ZAKARIA1 and Nur Syazwani Mohd NAWI2

Page 29 – 34   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

Rubber tapping involves repetitive and high paced work, static muscle loading, non-neutral body postures, forceful physical exertion, and many other potential risk factors for development of work-related musculoskeletal problems (WRMP). In this research, a cross-sectional study was carried out to identify the prevalence of WRMP among rubber tappers, to determine the psychosocial factors that contribute to WRMP, and to explore the relationship between psychosocial factors and physical factors among rubber tappers. Data collection was done using three instruments, namely Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment Tools (RULA). In total, 70 rubber tappers participated in this study. Results obtained in study revealed that majority of the rubber tappers suffering from lower back pain whereas in terms of psychosocial factors they have low social support and high job and physical demand. WRMP among rubber tappers are cannot be doubtable, however the risk can be reduced if the management of occupational safety and health risk is managed properly.

Nurainaa ABILMIHARBI1*, Syed N.S. KHAIRANI2

Page 35 – 40   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

Number of accident cases reported to the Malaysian Social Security Organization (SOCSO) which are related to the number of diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue is increasing rapidly since 2013 to 2017 where most of the accident cases reported comes from the manufacturing industry. Work related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) often happens among the workers due to manual material handling (MMH) while performing their everyday working task. The workers in printing and publishing industries especially in distribution section are exposed to risk of getting WMSD diseases. This is because every worker in the distribution section needs to perform MMH tasks such as lifting, bending, twisting, pulling, and pushing which involves repetitive motion. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders diseases among the distribution workers by using multiple ergonomic assessment analysis such as Nordic Discomfort Questionnaire, Quick Exposure Check (QEC) Questionnaire and REBA Analysis. The results….

Abdul Halim Bin AHMAD ZAKI1,Nor Kamaliana Binti KHAMIS1,Roslizawati Binti NAWAWI2, Muhammad Aizat Bin SHAMSUDIN1

Page 41 – 47   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is one of the most common injuries to the physiotherapists at the treatment center. There are many factors leading to this problem, such as repeated movement, manual handling of heavy equipment, and inappropriate posture. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify the risk of MSDs among physiotherapist and investigate the specific treatment designs. This study used questionnaire method that has been distributed to patients and physiotherapist at one of the treatment center in Peninsular Malaysia. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) was performed also on the physiotherapist to evaluate the effectiveness of the equipment before and after improvements. There were three equipment that have been considered in this study; hydro collator pack, luminous and non-luminous infrared machine. Based on the questionnaire, majority of the physiotherapists were exposed to the risk of MSDs in their occupational task. The REBA’s finding shows there is a decrement of the score after improvement have been made on the luminous machine. Based on paired sample tests on the REBA score before and after improvements, the P value (significance<0.05). It proves that there is a big different in the REBA score after the tools was modified. In conclusion, this study was related to assessments and improvements that can be performed on treatment equipment and the tasks among physiotherapist.

Stephen T.F. POON

Page 48 – 52   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

The discussion in this research is about how the utopian ideology that emerged from designing ordinary products demanded by mass consumer markets triggered the plastic monobloc pandemic and influenced social reformation, both in aesthetics aspects of industrial design applications, and in equalising the global post-World-War II economy. Modernism through mass production processes provides a platform for social response by urban designers, who strive for more sustainable ways to achieve idealised utopian conditions by introducing characteristics of durability, cheapness and sturdiness, while developing mass production techniques. The ubiquitous monobloc chair is an example of social activism in design thinking, as mass manufacturing enables society to afford less costly, everyday furnishing materials such as injection-moulded plastic chairs. From the creative standpoint, many in design fields may disqualify and disclaim the value of homogenous plastic furniture as a tangible expression of social reformation. Nevertheless, monoblocs ride on the mass-consumer utility factor and is promoted from economic benefit rather than aesthetics standpoint. What should we make of this, and how does design modernism fit into the 21st-century ideals of “utopian” society today?

Mohd Afzal MAT KIAR 1, Mohd Nazri AHMAD SABAR 1, Mohamad Fitri Abdul Halim1, Dian D.I. DARUIS *2

Page 53 – 56   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) for the activity of unrolling and rolling fire hose with manual handling before and after the fire-fighting operation and make an initial assessment to determine the level of ergonomic risk exposure faced by the firefighters in the cause of their work. A total of thirty (30) respondents comprising firefighters at the Putrajaya Fire and Rescue Station were involved in this study. Data were collected through interviews using the Cornell Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (CMQ), individual posture assessment using an Initial Ergonomic Risk Assessment Form as stated in the Workplace Ergonomic Risk Assessment Guidelines 2017, and field observation by recording the videos and pictures with some inputs added from the management. The results of the study revealed that 70% of the respondents suffered discomfort at the shoulder, 70% at the upper arm, 63% at the thigh, 76% at the knee, and 90% at the lower back. This result also shows that the ergonomic risk for that activity is contributing to the discomfort and pain of the firefighters….

Hanif Aqil AZHAR1, Ahmad Firdaus ABDULLAH1, Mohd Raziff MAT HASSAN2, Ammar ADNAN3, Radin Zaid RADIN UMAR4, Siby SAMUEL5, Mohd Hanafi ANI1, Malek HAMID1, *

Page 57 – 63   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

The application of video tutorial as educational pedagogy is a great learning method, especially for engineering students. Currently, in engineering field, there is no specific instruction on types of command used for machinery video tutorial. Hence, for this study the aim is to obtain the preferable type of command of instruction for learning engineering machinery. In order to achieve the aim, the following objectives need to be met: (i) To evaluate the effect of active and passive voice as the command of instruction of machine’s video tutorial on overall hands-on learning performance and; (ii) To evaluate the effect of active and passive voice as the command of instruction of machine’s video tutorial on hands-on learning performance on specific criteria – safety, equipment, procedure, and housekeeping. Thirty-two undergraduate students were recruited and randomly assigned into two groups – Active and Passive. Eight video tutorials embedded with active and passive voice were developed for the participants to watch and then four set of assessment test were designed to assess participant hands-on learning performance based on the tutorials…

Mohd Mustaqim HASHIM1, Muhamad Fakhruddin NOOR ZAINAN1, Mohd Raziff MAT HASSAN2, Ammar ADNAN3, Radin Zaid RADIN UMAR4, Siby SAMUEL5,Mohd Hanafi ANI1, Malek HAMID1, *

Page 64 – 70   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

Tutorial is a medium instruction to transfer knowledge and one of its applications is to provide instruction on how to use appliances, devices, or systems. Currently, only a few studies have been done on which type of medium of instruction is better for engineering machinery. Thus, for this study, the aim is to obtain a suitable type of tutorial instructions for engineering machinery. In order to achieve it, the following objectives need to be met; (i) to evaluate the effects of different types of medium of instructions for machines – manual handbook and video tutorial – on hands-on learning performance in overall and; (ii) to evaluate the effects of medium of instructions for machines on hands-on learning performance based on – safety, equipment, procedure and housekeeping. 

Thirty-two participants ranging between 19-20 years of age were randomly assigned into two groups – Video tutorial and Manual handbook. The video tutorial groups were exposed to four video tutorials while the Manual handbook groups were given a manual handbook….

Mohd Raziff MAT HASSAN1, Muhamad Husaini HARIS2, Muhammad Naqib OSMAN3, Ammar ADNAN4, Radin Zaid RADIN UMAR5, Siby SAMUEL6, Mohd Hanafi ANI2, Malek HAMID2, *

Page 71 – 76   |   Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)   |    Available online on 1 Dec 2019

Cleaners are suffering from musculoskeletal disorders symptoms, which is contributed mainly by awkward postures, forceful exertion, and repetitive tasks. However, very few studies have been done on cleaners at college workplace. Thus, the objectives of the study are: (i) to evaluate working postures among the cleaners using REBA analysis; (ii) to evaluate discomfort level among cleaners using MSS body symptoms; (iii) to compare working postures among cleaners by task; (iv) to compare working postures among cleaners by workplace setting; and (v) to evaluate the relationship between REBA score and MSS body symptoms survey. Thirty IIUM cleaners between 27 to 63 years old of age [mean = 45.64; SD = 9.7] participated in this study. Four video clips were taken while the participants were doing four different tasks (one clip per task). From each video clip, three postures were selected and analyzed by using REBA analysis. In total, twelve postures were analyzed for each participant. In addition, participants were also asked to rate their discomfort level by using MSS body symptoms survey. The results showed that…

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