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Prevalence of Awkward Working Posture and Consequent Discomforts in Body

Parts Among Workers of Cashew Nut Processing Factories in Coastal Regions
of Eastern India

Conference Paper · December 2014

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International Ergonomics Conference HWWE 2014

Prevalence of Awkward Working Posture and Consequent

Discomforts in Body Parts Among Workers of Cashew Nut
Processing Factories in Coastal Regions of Eastern India
Peddinti Naresh Kumar*, J Sanjog **, Sougata Karmakar***
Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India.
* nareshkumarpeddinti@gmail.com; ** jsanjog@yahoo.com; *** karmakar.sougata@gmail.com

Abstract
India is the second largest producer of cashew nuts in the world. This large production is mostly contributed by
coastal regions of eastern India. In Indian context, cashew nut factories employ lot of man power (female workers
are predominant) in their production. Although ergonomic evaluation and subsequent interventions have been
reported in various micro-small scale industries in India, investigation towards identification of physical
ergonomic risk factors in cashew nut factories has rarely been studied. Hence, present paper aims to investigate
occurrence of awkward working posture and consequent body part discomfort among workers of cashew nut
processing factories.
Direct observations, subjective assessment, interview with workers were used for determining regions of
discomfort in various body parts and occurrence of awkward posture among workers/volunteers under study.
Following the study, it was found that majority of the workers were suffering from lower and upper back pain.
Moreover, awkward working posture was prevalent. This uncomfortable posture might be the reason for
prevalence of body parts discomfort among workers of cashew nut factory. Awkward working posture in the long
run might lead to musculoskeletal disorders. Immediate ergonomic interventions in terms of improvement of
workstation design, avoiding awkward postures, change/modification in work schedule etc. are needed to be
implemented in cashew nut shelling factories to ensure occupational well-being of the people involved in this
sector.
Keywords – Cashew Nut; Ergonomic Issues; Subjective Assessment;

1. INTRODUCTION cashew nut factories has rarely been studied. Present

In present scenario, efforts are being made to consider
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) aspects in
every sector. Occupational health deals with all aspects
of health and safety in the workplace and has a strong
focus on primary prevention of hazards [1]. Only 5%
to 10% of the workers in developing countries and 20%
to 50% in industrialized countries have access to
adequate occupational health services [1].
Occupational health and safety aspects play an
important role in small scale manual labor based
industries, especially in the agriculture sector. Most of
the farmers suffer from health dis-orders [2]. In food
and drink manufacturing sector, about 60% of
occupational ill health is due to musculoskeletal injury
[3]. Cashew nut processing is one of the important
segments among the food processing industries. In the
year 2010, India stood second with respect to the
production of cashew nuts in the world [4]. This large
production is mostly contributed by the coastal regions
of eastern India. In Indian context, cashew nut factories
employ a lot of man power (predominantly female
workers) in the production process. Several studies
conclude that OHS plays an important role in women
health at work [5].
Although ergonomic evaluation and subsequent
interventions have been reported in various micro
small scale industries in India, investigation towards
identification of physical ergonomic risk factors in
paper aims to investigate occurrence of awkward
working posture and consequent body part discomfort
among workers of cashew nut processing factories.
Results obtained in present study highlight the need for
ergonomics design interventions in workstations of
cashew nut processing industry.
2. METHODOLOGY
Among all surveyed factories female workers were
employed in cashew nut processing activities. Only
healthy (not having any chronic diseases) female
workers of similar age were selected as participants in
the present study. Standardized Nordic Questionnaire
[6] is used to identify the body parts with
musculoskeletal troubles. The process involved
showing a body map (Fig. 1) to the workers and
recording the responses. Thirty female workers
involved in cashew nut processing activities from four
factories located in the outskirts of Paralakhemundi
Gajapati district of Odisha and a group of fifteen
females of similar age group from same locality
involved in various other activities volunteered for the
study. Cashew nut processing workers (30 female
workers) is considered as experimental group while the
other 15 people is considered as control group for
comparing discomfort in body parts. None of the
participants had body part discomfort due to accident
or other injuries in the past.
International Ergonomics Conference HWWE 2014
Figure 1 Body part discomfort map (adapted from Kourinka
et al., 1987) [6]
Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) was used
to determine the risk level and the necessary action to
be taken (Table 1).
Table: 1 REBA Action Categories
(adopted from Hignett, S and McAtamney,2000 ) [7]
Appropriate statistical techniques were employed
to analyze and interpret collected data using SPSS
(version20)software.
3. RESULTS
Table 2. Comparisons of demographic characteristics
between experimental and control group
NS – Not Significant (p ≥ 0.05); SD - Standard deviation; yrs. - Years
Figure 2. Working posture in cashew nut shelling
workstation
Table 3. Comparisons of body parts discomfort
between Experimental Group and Control Group
4. DISCUSSION
There is no significant difference of the demographic
characteristics (age, experience) between the
experimental group and the control group workers
(Table 2) when analyzed using Man Whitney U test.
Discomfort in body parts also significantly
differentiated the experimental group and the control
group (Table 3). The number of workers suffering from
musculoskeletal troubles in the experimental group
was 29. The number of volunteers having
musculoskeletal troubles in the control group was
observed to be 8. Incidence of body part discomfort
also significantly differentiated the experimental group
and the control group (χ2 10.053; p ≤ 0.05). Hence the
body part discomfort experienced by the experimental
 International Ergonomics Conference HWWE 2014
group workers may be due to their work activities.
Majority of the workers were suffering from pains in
hips, lower and upper back. REBA score for the
working posture shown in Fig. 2 is 11.
Occupational health studies highlighting
prevalence of risk factors have been performed in
various other sectors like textile work [8], brick
manufacturing [9] hand loom units [10] construction
industry [11] etc. in India. Many activities in cashew
nut processing are characterized by presence of
uncomfortable working postures as also seen in Fig 3.
Figure 3 Cashew Nut Processing Activities
Occurrence of occupational risk factors like
awkward working posture and body part discomfort
among cashew nut workers may lead musculoskeletal
disorders in due course of time.
5. CONCLUSION
Present study highlighted the incidence of body part
discomfort and occurrence of risky working postures
among workers in cashew nut processing industry.
Suitable ergonomics design interventions may be
implemented to downgrade risk perception of working
postures. Humanizing work and work environment will
definitely help in improving the occupational well-
being of the workers.
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