Ergonomic intervention for preventing musculoskeletal problems among farm women during harvesting

Harvesting of vegetables is a female-dominated job and during peak season, women do harvesting even for 8-10 hours a day. They use conventional tools and methods of harvesting which add to their exertions. An excessive physical burden is associated with incidences of injury to women workers. The farm women adopt different uncomfortable postures and perform repetitive movements during harvesting activity which causes musculoskeletal problems. Harvesting of peas is a painstaking process and involves different awkward postures while working. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to design and evaluate an ergonomic intervention to prevent musculoskeletal problems among women involved in peas harvesting. Ergonomic evaluation of the interventional tool and improved practices in comparison to the existing practices was done in terms of reduction in musculoskeletal pain and improved posture while harvesting of peas. Musculoskeletal pains were assessed by using Body part discomfort scale. Analysis of working posture of the women was done using low cost ergonomic tools such as Workplace Ergonomic Risk Assessment (WERA) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). The results revealed that harvesting of peas by women was done by adopting uncomfortable postures which needed to be changed. The investigation given to the subjects reduced their overall discomfort from severe to moderate and mild pain thus improving their working posture and helped in reducing musculoskeletal problems.