Assessment of Musculoskeletal Problems of Polyhouse Workers Through Subjective Analysis Techniques

Polyhouse technology is the technique of providing favorable environmental conditions to the plants. Polyhouse farming is done in vertical form and in all these activities workers have to stretch their body to perform activities. Most of the time, workers were also involved in several strenuous activities like land preparation, manuring, planting, irrigation, picking, pruning, tying, packing and storage. In some activities, working requires bending posture for prolonged period of time and excessively requires rotation of the lower spine and hence, this study offered as a contribution towards assessing the musculoskeletal disorders from long duration of exposure at unfavorable environmental conditions and occupational health problems in different types polyhouses (i.e. Naturally Ventilated Polyhouse (NVPH), Anti- Insect Net-shed House (AINSH), Hi- Tech (High Technology Polyhouse) by using Subjective Analysis Techniques i.e. Postural Discomfort Scale, Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale. The results revealed that respondents from different polyhouses felt moderate to mild pain in shoulders, buttocks, mid back, lower back and neck as they got ranks I, II, III and IV and V respectively. Whereas, from NVPH, respondents felt ’heavy’ exertion in lower back (mean score=3.78), on the other hand, respondents felt ’moderate’ to ’mild’ exertion in shoulder (mean score= 3.03), upper back (mean score=2.80) followed by, AINSH, respondents felt ’heavy’ exertion in lower back (mean score=3.78), whereas, respondents felt ’moderate’ to ’mild’ exertion in shoulder and neck (mean score= 3.01), upper back (mean score=2.80) and from Hi-tech respondents felt ’heavy’ exertion in neck (mean score=3.14), however, respondents felt ’moderate’ to ’mild’ exertion in shoulder joint (mean score= 3.00), upper back (mean score=2.40).