Cleaning of grains and filling of gunny bags - an ergonomic study

The present study was undertaken to work out the ergonomic cost of two commonly performed activities by rural women of Punjab viz. cleaning of grains and filling of gunny bags. Thirty rural women who were in average state of health were involved in the experiment. The activity of cleaning of grains was performed in the traditional way using the sitting and squatting postures. Heart rate of the women was recorded during the entire activity. Rated perceived exertion (RPE) was measured on 5-point scale. Total cardiac cost of work, physiological cost of work and energy expenditure were also calculated with the standard Techniques. Results of the study showed that the Ergonomic cost of cleaning wheat grains and filling of gunny bags with the cleaned grains in terms of heart rate (111.96 beats/min) and energy expenditure (9.08 kj/min.) was high and above the acceptable limits of the women leading to their drudgeries. Muscular stresses were also found very high due to the faulty designs and dimensions of the traditional equipments used for the selected activities. It was therefore recommended that some suitable women friendly tools should be devised for performing the selected activities in order to minimize their drudgeries in work.