Revolving stool: A drudgery reducing ergonomic intervention

Dairy farming has always been a traditional component of rural life in India. Sixty percent (60%) of the farm women in western Uttar Pradesh (UP) perform the dairy activity every day. Amongst frequently performed dairy activities, milking animal in squatting posture is one of them. It causes pain in lower back, legs, knees & feet. Present study was conducted in an adopted village Sankrod of District Baghpat with an aim to collect the feedback from the respondents regarding opinion about introduced technology of revolving stool and to find out the acceptability o f drudgery reducing tool in the field. Percentage distribution of the respondents to measure their opinion on the improved technology was calculated. It was found that with the use of revolving stool, 80% farm women were able to maintain comfortable posture whereas in 60% cases they synchronized the movement of animal. It is highly acceptable among farm women. It also reduced physical stress by minimizing pain in lower back, legs, knees & feet. An increase in efficiency was found as milking process took 6.5 minutes per animal using revolving stool as compared to 9 minute per animal in squatting posture. Overall revolving stool helped in reducing drudgery and enhancing efficiency.