Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft: A Laypersons Approach 9819910625, 9789819910625

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Design Science and Innovation

Prabir Mukhopadhyay

Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft A Laypersons Approach

Design Science and Innovation Series Editor Amaresh Chakrabarti, Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

The book series is intended to provide a platform for disseminating knowledge in all areas of design science and innovation, and is intended for all stakeholders in design and innovation, e.g. educators, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and students of design and innovation. With leading international experts as members of its editorial board, the series aims to disseminate knowledge that combines academic rigour and practical relevance in this area of crucial importance to the society.

Prabir Mukhopadhyay

Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft A Laypersons Approach

Prabir Mukhopadhyay Design Discipline PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

ISSN 2509-5986 ISSN 2509-5994 (electronic) Design Science and Innovation ISBN 978-981-99-1062-5 ISBN 978-981-99-1063-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1063-2 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

To the Lotus Feet of Shri Ramakrisha Paramhanhsa Dev, My Pronam Gurudev… Late Dhirendranath Mukhopadhyay (My Father), Miss You… and Mrs. Meena Mukhopadhyay (Mother), Dada, Mamoni, Duggi and Leto…

Preface

This book explains the application of ergonomics in the handicraft sector with specific focus on two aspects: the manufacturing of craft and the design of handcrafted products. The book is written in a layperson’s language without the usage of any technical jargon. Any one irrespective of their background whether it be science, arts, technology or simply craft will be able to understand this book and its language. The purpose of this book is to help all those working in the handicraft sector to apply the principles of ergonomics both in manufacturing and designing of handcrafted products. There are books in the market on craft, but this one is different from all in three different ways. Firstly the book explains the application of ergonomics in craft manufacturing, secondly it explains the application of ergonomics in designing craft products from the customers perspective (those buying them), and thirdly it explains the subject ergonomics in a simple layperson and technical jargon free language so that anyone even without any knowledge of ergonomics, science and technology can read and apply them in their profession related to craft. The book has only six chapters, and each chapter starts with an overview which gives the readers a snapshot of what the chapter contains. At the end of every chapter, there is a section on “key points” which is the salient features of the particular chapter. These are then followed by some assignments on ergonomics with ergonomic directions to solve them. The chapters are sequenced in a manner that it starts with the simple concepts in ergonomics and then gradually takes the reader to relatively complex areas of ergonomics in handicraft. The last chapter is dedicated to exercises in ergonomics related to craft along with ergonomic design directions. The readers should attempt chapter six only after going through all the five chapters in detail. Unlike any other traditional textbook, this book is very concise, written in an easyto-understand language even for those who have never studied the subject ergonomic before. There are large number of photographs and line diagrams to augment the text. The book has stories all through to make the text interesting to the readers and help them contextualise them as they practise this age-old profession. The very style and volume of the book should not make the subject ergonomics “jittery” for the readers

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and should rather encourage them to read it as it is written in the language of the layperson. Any suggestions on the improvement of the book will be highly appreciated. Dr. Prabir Mukhopadhyay Associate Professor and Head Design Discipline PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing Jabalpur Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India [email protected]

Acknowledgements Some of the photographs have been clicked by my former colleague Shri Saurabh Srivastava, Faculty, Postgraduate Campus, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar. My sincere thanks to Saurabh. Some of the photographs/images have been taken from royalty free sites, and I sincerely thank all the contributors for allowing me to use their images. The line diagrams have been made using Google AutoDraw online free software. I deeply acknowledge Google AutoDraw for this.

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Genesis of Craft as a Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Humans and Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 Change of Purpose of Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Human Elements in Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 Craft and Economy of the Developed and Developing World . . . . . 1.7 Benefits of the Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8 The Humane Touch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9 Craft as a Tradition and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.10 The Craft as a System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.11 Overall Reliability of the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.12 The Craft as a Human-Product and Space-System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.13 How to Make the Weak Links Robust? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.14 The Different Components Affecting Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.15 The Softer Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.16 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.17 Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 1 3 4 5 7 7 7 9 10 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15

2 Traditional Ways of Working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Different Position of the Body and the Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Problems Associated with Body Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Productivity at Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Using the Limbs Prudently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 Working Close to the Ground and Its Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 The Bare Body and the Work Wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 Should Tradition Prevail Over Modernisation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 Types of Hand Tools in Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10 Dimensional Aspects of Tools and Their Control and Feedback . . .

17 17 17 20 22 22 23 23 24 25 26

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2.11 Use of Hand and Head in Tool Usage in Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.12 Accidents and Errors with Hand Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.13 The Weight of the Tools and Their Optimisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.14 Right- and Left-handed Tool Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.15 Unified Detail of Tool or Detachable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.16 Do not Forget Your Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.17 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.18 Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

27 27 28 28 28 29 29 30 31

3 The World of Dimensions in Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 The Importance of Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Human Body Dimensions in Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Selecting Appropriate Values from the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 The Need for Dynamicity in Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 Common Mistakes to Avoid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7 How to Go About Mapping the Anthropometric Dimensions on a Product? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8 The Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9 At What Height Should Work Be Done? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.10 The Work Surface Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.11 Sitting, Standing or Squatting? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.12 Static Load Its Natural Reduction by Using the Knees as Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.13 How Many People in a Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.14 Working While Standing/Sitting on the Task: Sculpture . . . . . . . . . . 3.15 Your Customers! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.16 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.17 Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

33 33 33 34 35 37 37

4 Larger Context of Craft Ergonomics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Illumination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Outdoors and Indoors Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Working Under Extreme Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 Hazards and Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Workspace Ergonomic Issues in Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 Work-rest Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 Use of Left Hand in Right-handed Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.10 Method for Counting After Task and Not at the End . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11 Toning of Body Muscles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.12 Reverse Bending Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.13 Role of Solar Exposure and Nutrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

53 53 53 54 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 59 59

39 39 41 42 45 45 46 47 48 50 51 52

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4.14 Different Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.15 Prudent Usage of Technology and Mental Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.16 The Look and Feel Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.17 Craft Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.18 Selling of Craft Products and the Personal Grooming . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.19 Display of Craft Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.20 The Business in Craft Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.21 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.22 Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

60 60 60 61 61 61 62 63 64 65

5 Application of Ergonomics in Different Craft Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 The Range of Craft-based Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Craft-based Products Which Are Portable and Hand-held . . . . . . . . 5.4 Craft-based Products Which Are Wearable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Craft-based Products Used as Home Décor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Craft Products Which Augment the Beauty and Utility of Digital Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 The Way Forward for Craft Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

67 67 67 68 68 69 70 71 72 72 73

6 Exercises in Craft Ergonomics with Ergonomic Design Directions . . . 75

About the Author

Dr. Prabir Mukhopadhyay He holds a B.Sc. Honours Degree in Physiology and an M.Sc. Degree in Physiology with specialization in Ergonomics and Work Physiology both from the Calcutta University, India. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Ergonomics from the University of Limerick, Ireland. Prabir started working with noted ergonomist Prof. R. N. Sen, at the Calcutta University both for his Master’s Thesis and later on a project sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. It was during this time Prabir developed a keen interest in the subject and wanted to build his career in ergonomics. He joined the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India as an Ergonomist for one of the projects for the Indian Railways. He then joined the same institute as a faculty in ergonomics. During his tenure at Ahmedabad, he worked on many consultancy projects related to ergonomics. Some of his clients there included the Indian Railways, Self Employed Women’s Association and the United Nation Industrial Development Organization. After working there for two years Prabir left for the University of Limerick, Ireland, on a European Union Funded Project under the supervision of Prof. T. J. Gallwey. He completed his Ph.D. in Industrial Ergonomics from the same University and decided to return to India to apply his acquired knowledge. He joined the National Institute of Design, Post Graduate Campus at Gandhinagar, India as a faculty in ergonomics. There he headed the Software and User interface Design discipline. He started teaching ergonomics and practicing the same across different xiii

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design disciplines at other campuses of the institute like Ahmedabad and Bangalore as well. After working there for around five years, Prabir joined his present Institute as an Assistant Professor in Design Discipline. He was later promoted to an Associate Professor and later became the Discipline head. He teaches practices and researches in different areas of ergonomics and its application in design. He has authored four books till date: Ergonomics for the Layman: Application in Design, published by CRC Press in 2019, Ergonomics Principles in Design: An Illustrated Fundamental Approach, published by CRC Press in 2022, Visual Ergonomics for Communication Design: A Laypersons Approach, published by CRC Press in 2022 and Ergonomics in Fashion Design: A Laypersons Approach, published by Springer in 2022. He is a bachelor, and his hobbies include watching action movies, listening to Indian and Western Music, traveling and cooking.

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Fig. 1.2 Fig. 1.3 Fig. 1.4 Fig. 1.5 Fig. 2.1 Fig. 2.2 Fig. 2.3 Fig. 2.4 Fig. 2.5 Fig. 2.6 Fig. 2.7 Fig. 2.8 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3 Fig. 3.4 Fig. 3.5 Fig. 3.6 Fig. 3.7 Fig. 3.8 Fig. 3.9 Fig. 3.10

Human evolution from four legs to standing erect on two legs . . . Challenge of bridging the gap between slow evolving human body and rapidly evolving technology and human needs . . . . . . . . Ramu producing a craft piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Entire family engaged in the craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ergonomics of systems in craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen sitting on artefacts for carving and right forearm supported on right knee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen working with arms extended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen working with right elbow at ninety degrees . . . . . . . . . Working with arms close to the midline of the body . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen using back support at an angle as a relaxing posture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen working with minimal clothing wearing a vest . . . . . . . Precision grip for painting on stone artefact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Good grip with overlapping fingers on tool for forceful exertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Journey of anthropometric data in design of craft elements . . . . . . Dynamicity considered in designing handle length . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamicity considered in designing of handcrafted footwear . . . . Mapping anthropometric dimensions on the dimension of the tumbler handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Visualisation of the craft workspace from top and from the side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen in their individual work zone with their elbows not touching one another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen extending their arm for performing the task . . . . . . . . . Precision task being performed close to the chest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Light task being performed close to the elbow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heavy task being performed close to the hip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 4 6 8 10 18 19 20 21 22 24 26 26 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 43 44

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Fig. 3.11 Fig. 3.12 Fig. 3.13 Fig. 3.14 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.3 Fig. 4.4 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 5.3 Fig. 6.1

List of Figures

Craftsmen working at awkward posture which seems unavoidable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen sitting on wooden plank while working . . . . . . . . . . . . Craftsmen performing tasks at awkward posture needs micro breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knee/thigh as support for the forearm while working . . . . . . . . . . Correct way of fixing windows to ensure wind is deflected inside the room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Large windows facilitating natural light in the workplace behind the craftsmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transparent panels in the roof facilitating natural light at the workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craft products on display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hand-held craft-based products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making holding/handling points on products obvious . . . . . . . . . . Handcrafted cover user over mobile phones for making them look different . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line diagram depicting ergonomic design intervention in crafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

46 47 48 49 54 55 56 62 68 70 71 78

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Overview This chapter introduces the readers to the basic principles of ergonomics and how they are related to the craft sector, irrespective of the type of craft. It gradually exposes the readers to the genesis of craft and most importantly the human elements in craft as a profession. The chapter also touches upon the role of ergonomics in augmenting craft as a profession in the country’s economy and the benefits this profession has so that younger generation could take this up as a lucrative career. This chapter gives an overview of the two different types of perspective of ergonomics in craft. One is the micro-perspective which deals with the details of tools and the craft product being made. The other is the macro-perspective where the context in which the work is being done like workstation, environment, physical and mental well-being of the users is considered in detail. This chapter looks at craft from ergonomics of systems and explains the different weak points in the system and how these weak points could be made robust through the application of ergonomics.

1.2 Genesis of Craft as a Profession Craft or handicraft is an important profession globally. When you are in dire need of anything, be it food, clothing, shelter or any other product, you have the capability given by Mother Nature to create that yourself with the locally available materials. Ergonomics as a subject comes to your rescue when you have to make such products with the help of humans. The human interventions might be direct with the help of different types of tools involving the different parts of the body, and it also involves the involvement of your mind as well wherein you keep on thinking and “putting” your brain so that you can create that product which your heart desires to. So what is ergonomics? Let’s imagine that you are a craftsperson who is trying to carve out a statue from stone. Can you do this with your bare hands? Why not? It’s © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 P. Mukhopadhyay, Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1063-2_1

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1 Introduction

because the impact made by the bare hand alone is not strong enough to break the hard stone. Your fingers cannot carve out the stone and give it the shape of a statue that you desire. These are the limitations of your hands. This is where hand tools like hammer and chisel come and they “amplify” the capability of your hand. The hammer helps in increasing the impact to break the stone and the chisel amplifies the fingers’ capability in carving out excess stone and creating the idol that you desire. So the hammer and chisel are in essence an extension of your arm! Now what happens if the hammer handle is so small that you cannot hold it? Or if the chisel is so big that you are unable to control it? You do not get the desired benefit out of the tools. If the place where you are working is very hot, you start sweating and your focus shifts more on the discomfort of your body rather than the task. If you are to stoop forward and work, then it leads to low back pain and your work is affected because your focus goes to your back and not the task! On the way to the workplace, you have witnessed a road accident and you cannot forget the horrible scene. As you are working, you are constantly thinking of that which is not allowing you to concentrate on your task. So we can see that your productivity at work in terms of how many pieces of statue you can make without making any mistakes is dependent on the tool dimension, your position while working, the environment around you and even “intangible” issues like your mind being disturbed due to the road accident. This is what ergonomics or the relation between user, tool, workstation and the environment and the context actually looks at. It helps you to enhance productivity at workplace by looking at different “human factors” and tries to make your task easy and enjoyable for you so that you can get that satisfaction at the end of the day and at the same time you produce more and do not suffer from any injury to your body like pain, etc. At the same time, ergonomics also ensures that the craft product which is made is able to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers and the customers are able to use it and reap the maximum benefit and satisfaction out of it. The craft profession grows as you mature and you transfer your knowledge and skills to the younger generation and subsequently they in turn transfer that to their younger generation and the profession thus sustains and also evolves in the course of time with introduction of new ways of producing new elements and products. A craft-based profession which is very much human intensive with less dependency on machine provides sizeable employment to the local youths in the Industrially Developing Countries (IDC) and the developed countries as well. Today craft is an established profession in many IDC providing significant employment to the local youths. Craft-based products are also in high demand globally because of the inherent human touch in them. Thus when the users get a craft or more precisely a handicraft product, then it’s a unique piece with distinct variation when compared to a similar product. This is one of the unique features of craft where it stands apart from any other machine-made products and it uses locally available materials which are mostly environment friendly.

1.3 Humans and Evolution

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1.3 Humans and Evolution It’s always prudent to look back from where we all came from (Fig. 1.1). This gives an idea to us where we are destined to head and our purpose on this planet. If you look very carefully at your body, then you would notice that it’s a marvellous piece of machine “designed” by Mother Nature for a specific purpose. If you look carefully at the body, it is supported by bones and spinal cord which helps it to remain erect and walks on two legs unlike other animals in the animal kingdom. Our body also has a very well-developed brain and that what makes us superior in the entire animal kingdom. A close look at the body reveals that the structure is apt for hunting and gathering food that is lot of physical activity. So humans were walking on four legs, but in the course of evolution the body gradually became erect and humans started walking on two legs. This made movement relatively easy, and different tasks could be done in a much better way as the two hands now were free and no longer needed to support the body. Humans then started to utilise hands for doing all tasks, and the legs were mainly used for locomotion and at times also assisted the hands in performing different tasks.

Fig. 1.1 Human evolution from four legs to standing erect on two legs (Photo by Max Mishin: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dinosaur-and-human-skeletons-12227297/)

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1 Introduction

1.4 Change of Purpose of Humans The body was designed for hunting and gathering food as we have seen before. The human body was very well crafted for the purpose of hunting and gathering food which is a very prudent approach by Mother Nature. But human race never stood still and always moved forward in search of perfection and better performance. What initially started with hunting and gathering food later translated into mass scale manufacturing and manufacturing for others after different inventions. But this change of human purpose was rapid and the body did not get enough time to adapt. Thus, the body is still trying to evolve too slowly to adapt to a very rapid change in the purpose of humans. This change if you look at is reflected in the crafts as well where the task involves working at awkward postures, exerting lots of force and repetitive movements involving the hands and at times the legs just to name a few. The subject ergonomics is all about the relationship between human, product and the context in which a task is performed. One cannot say that humans cannot progress because the body is still evolving. We have to design the task in a manner that the body can readily adjust to the changed context, and the adjustment is faster as there is no time for us to waste. This is where ergonomics comes to the forefront and tries to bridge the gap (Fig. 1.2) between the slowly evolving human body trying to catch up with rapidly evolving technology and human needs.

Fig. 1.2 Challenge of bridging the gap between slow evolving human body and rapidly evolving technology and human needs (Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/robot-artificial-intelligence-woman- 507811/)

1.5 Human Elements in Craft

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1.5 Human Elements in Craft Mr. Ramu is working on a craft piece (Fig. 1.3). He has an order from a country in Europe to manufacture some showpieces which are to be carved out of stone. The products are to have its details but need to be scale down as keeping a full size model in one’s house would occupy lot of space. Ramu starts working with his hand tools. Initially, he scoops out a medium size block of stone from the bigger stone bock. Then he starts carving out the same from the same block using different types of tools. Ramu was initially doing this task on the ground when he was scooping out the block. Once he got the block of wood, he kept it on a raised platform on the ground and sat in a squatting position to carve out the product. He was constantly using different types of tools for carving out different parts of the product. While doing this task, he noticed that the sun was setting and the amount of light was not enough to help him see the finer details of the products. It was hot as well and Ramu started sweating and felt a little exhausted and tired and decided to stop working. If you look carefully, the series of activities that we have just seen here are very interesting and can affect the overall performance of Ramu in producing a flawless and beautiful piece of stone model of a camel. So what could affect the productivity of Ramu? If the tools were too big or too small to hold, it would create problem in carving and thus tool dimensions were important. If the tools were very light or too heavy, then also Ramu would not be able to apply adequate force for carrying out the task. The work surface or the platform that he created for carving out the animal from the block was on the ground, and he was working on it while squatting. If the platform is too high, he would have difficulty in reaching the surface, and if too low, he would have to bend forward. Both these positions would be uncomfortable and affect his productivity. The low light and the extreme heat were also affecting the performance of Ramu as he was unable to see properly and even the heat was creating a discomfort which is why he had to stop working. So there were so many factors which comes in the way of producing a small product. Could there be anything else affecting his productivity? What if Ramu’s son is sick and is at the hospital. He is working but unable to concentrate as he is always thinking of his sick son, when will he bring him back home and how much money would be needed for his further treatment. So there are many factors which could affect the productivity of Ramu, some of them are tangible, and some are intangible as well. Thus, the relationship between Ramu and the different components plays a very important role in determining the productivity of Ramu in terms of the quality of the product that he intends to produce and the number of products he is able to make within a stipulated time frame. This relationship has a name which is termed “Ergonomics” which talks about making the task much more “humane” or “easy” for users so as to enhance productivity and at the same time ensure that the health and safety of the users are not compromised. After all, it’s the human health which is of prime importance in the society for all. Mr. Beatu goes to a tourist place and purchases a handcrafted wall hang for home. Unfortunately, the person selling the product does not tell him how the product is

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1 Introduction

Fig. 1.3 Ramu producing a craft piece

to be hung on the wall. Mr. Beatu comes home with the product and struggles a lot to find out a solution for hanging the product but is unable to find any. He takes a pliers and a knife and tries to create a loop so as to hang the product. In an attempt to do so, the product breaks! Mr. Beatu is frustrated. This situation shows that while making the craft-based product, one needs to consider the customers and whether they would be comfortable in using the product, else the sale of the product might go down.

1.8 The Humane Touch

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1.6 Craft and Economy of the Developed and Developing World In the developing world, craft employs a significant proportion of the local population, and in the developed world, craft employs a small portion of the population mainly the rural and the remote rural ones. Thus for people like Ramu, the profession acts as a major source of earning and thus the entire economy of these areas is completely craft based. This points us to the direction that boosting of craft in terms of its productivity and its marketing would play a major game changer in boosting the entire craft-based economy of the respective areas. Ergonomics as a subject could be applied in strategically placing craft-based product in the market including its branding and promotion and the ways and means of doing the same. How should one sell the products, where should one sell them and what about the packaging to make it more attractive are the areas where intervention is required. This is apart from those areas of intervention mentioned above.

1.7 Benefits of the Profession Craft is essentially a human-based profession and requires very little investment in terms of setting up of any infrastructure. Thus, people who are below the poverty line can also afford to start a career and make a decent earning out of this profession in the long run. Craft is in the blood of people like Ramu all over the globe. It has become a part and parcel of one’s life, and thus it is always prudent to enrich what is part of your life rather than going for something altogether completely different and new. Very little training is required once you are in a family-owned profession (Fig. 1.4) where you grow up seeing the elderly in a profession and thus we say that it “runs in your blood”. Anything like this thus helps you to put in your heart and soul in the profession which then becomes not only your profession but your passion as well. When profession turns into passion, the output is excellent because there is height of creativity ingrained in it as such.

1.8 The Humane Touch Home cooked food or food cooked by your mother always tastes better than that cooked in any restaurant. We all have noticed this. It’s that “mothers” touch which renders the food so tasty that we love it. When you buy a handwoven carpet or a sweater, you would notice some non-uniformity or variation in the structure or design. This variation differentiates a handmade product from a machine-made one, and thus, people have a craze for buying such products. The humane touch in the products ensures that each product has a separate identity and is unique from others.

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1 Introduction

Fig. 1.4 Entire family engaged in the craft

The humane touch and involvement are very crucial in craft, and thus, one needs to know about the human body and mind and how it can be best used for making of different craft elements in the best possible manner. The humane touch is not only in making of the craft products involving tools, but also in terms of the workspace, environment as well as the human mind in the most prudent manner. This human touch has to be accounted for from the perspective of the customers who would be buying and using the product. The context in which the product would be used by the customers is also very important. An elderly tourist purchases a handcrafted bangle for her personal use. She goes home with the product and tries to wear them.

1.9 Craft as a Tradition and Culture

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The bangles are very difficult to wear, and the sharp edges of the bangle bruise her skin. The craftsmen making the bangle should have factored in the dimensions of the customers hands and should have thought that she does not have that much of strength and dexterity for wearing the bangle by slipping them over the fingers of the palm and to the forearm region. In the subsequent chapters, we are going to see those aspects in details.

1.9 Craft as a Tradition and Culture Chotulal stays in a small village with his family, comprising his wife and two children. He is a craftsperson who is into making bangles for women out of lac. He makes some one hundred pieces of such bangles per day, and his wife also assists him in making the same. His children are young and go to school. After returning from school, they help their parents in packaging the bangles in gift wraps which is then taken by their father to the local shop for selling. Chotulal has been in this profession since his childhood, it’s his family business, and he is the fifth generation running and carrying on this “tradition” of his ancestors. Thus, crafts are not only mere artefacts, but are a tradition of a particular family which becomes a way of life and identity for the craftsperson. This is where Chotulal like person takes lot of pride in the craft that he produces which in essence acts as an identity for the entire family of Chotulal and when these products are sold they spread the length and breadth of the country and the world and thus the efforts of Chotulal are fruitful as he is able to leave a mark of his family tradition in people’s houses who buy his products. At the same time, certain cultural elements like the colour, texture, form, etc., of the product also have some meaning and justification which is a true reflection of the society to which he belongs. Thus when craft products cross geographical boundaries, they carry along with them a culture of a particular geographical location and help in spreading the culture from one part of the world to another. Mr. Walsh purchased a craft product which was a pair of red-coloured bangles with some motifs on it for his wife. When he took them to Ireland and gifted to his wife, she became ecstatic with joy as she had never seen such a beautiful product and the colour and motifs appealed to her. She wore them to different social gathering she went and caught the attention of the guests. In this way, Chotulal and his work spread the tradition of his family and the culture of his society to different parts of the world. This is the beauty of craft that it makes people realise and learn others tradition and culture without the need to give them any lecture on the same. While using ergonomic intervention, we need to see that the local culture should be preserved as much as possible. At the same time, one needs to be careful that people don’t misunderstand the local culture. For example, the colour red in some countries means it is auspicious, but in some it might mean danger or death! So you need to do a little study of the culture of the country or region where your product is going to be sold and used.

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1.10 The Craft as a System Bittu bhai is a craftsperson who always complains that the “system” is corrupt. What he means to say is that the politicians are corrupt and are not doing their job. But does system mean only politicians? If not what is a system? Anything where two or more entities interact with one another for a common goal or a common purpose can be called a system. In craft, we have the craftsperson, tools, work surface, workspace, environment and many other elements which affect the quality of the product being made. Thus, craft is also a system just like Bittu bhai believes that the political framework is also a system comprising many different people, infrastructure, service component, etc. Looking at craft through this “lens” of system has some advantages. If you have to make a change in the craft sector, you have to inculcate this habit of looking at it from the “systems” point of view. How should this visualisation be done? It’s easy to say but difficult to do it in practise isn’t it? There is a way out. Imagine that you are a bird flying in the sky. It’s close to the experience of looking at the earth beneath from a very tall building. As a bird when you are in the sky and look down, you see the earth as a complete picture beneath. As you gradually come closer to the earth, then you can only see that part where you land. Thus while in the air, you see the “bigger picture” which comprises different elements like roads, paddy field, mountains, houses, people, etc., but as you come closer to the earth, you see only one element of the bigger picture depending on where you are. If you are on the road, your focus is mainly on the road and the other elements are not visible to you, but you can see the details on the road or where you are now. When you look into craft from this perspective that is the total picture and the smaller elements that make up the total picture it’s ergonomics of systems approach to craft (Fig. 1.5).

Fig. 1.5 Ergonomics of systems in craft

1.11 Overall Reliability of the System

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If you look at craft from this perspective that is the total picture as well as the smaller components that makes up the total picture, then it would become easy for you to locate your opportunity area as to where exactly ergonomic intervention can happen and to what extent. Even after ergonomic intervention, this approach of looking at the total picture and the individual component helps a lot in going for further ergonomic intervention. An example will make this clear. Bittu bhai is working under the tree on a summer afternoon where the ambient temperature is forty degree Celsius. He is sweating profusely, and the tool used for making a small wall hanging out of bamboo is constantly slipping out from his hand. If you are to suggest an ergonomic intervention in this case, how would you approach? It is not possible to make the area where he is working air conditioned, as it is not viable. Thus while designing the tool handle, you have to factor in the fact that his hands would sweat in summer and thus some textures or special grip on the handle of the tool has to be thought of considering the larger context of use. If you only look at the tool and go for its ergonomic intervention, then you might miss out this important aspect of his problem in summer. Again let us say, in winter it’s so cold that Bittu bhai wears gloves because his fingers freeze when he works in the morning. In that case also, you need to think of the larger context of use and design the tool in a manner that it can accommodate the tools with gloved hands and at the same time ensure he gets adequate feedback from the tool. If we look at this from the customer’s point of view, then similar pattern would emerge. Mr. Bhalu purchases a handcrafted shoe from a craft market and comes home. Next morning he goes for a long walk wearing the shoes. After walking for an hour, he notices that the shoes have become very tight and he is unable to walk any more. This is a natural phenomenon that as we walk and stand for long our feet expands. The craftsperson making the product should have factored this “context of use” of the product. We are going to discuss how these are to be done in the subsequent chapters. This is the advantage of analysing an ergonomic issue from the system’s perspective.

1.11 Overall Reliability of the System In the craft sector, we have many people working, different tools, different workspace and different environmental conditions. Thus, it’s very important that we ensure that the products that are made are as per the specifications and do not have any flaws in them. Most of the craft products have a large domestic and international market, and thus, the goodwill of customers is very important. Hence while going for any ergonomic design intervention, your main task would be to ensure that the “system” comprising people, tool, space, etc., is robust and reliable to produce products which are flawless. How do you make a system as mentioned above reliable? To address this problem, you have to understand that the biggest challenge in a craft set-up is that we have different types of people or craftsperson. Even if the entire craftsperson is trained in similar craft, they are all different from one another. The difference is in

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terms of age, experience in the profession, skill level, health condition, etc. Thus even if all the people have received the same level of training in the profession, a variation among them will always exist. This variation or difference can have an impact on the products being made. In a class, everyone is taught by the same teacher, but some students perform better than the others. In the craft sector, also this difference exists and we have to make an attempt of minimising it as far as possible, else chances of error creeping in the products, like defective piece, products with missing parts, etc. This is where ergonomics comes to the picture and looks into the aspects of workstation design hand tool design, making the environment comfortable and ensuring that adequate training is provided to all at regular intervals and specially to those who are not performing well. Thus, through proper ergonomic intervention both design and non-design one can ensure that the reliability of the system increases. But after putting in so much of effort in using ergonomics in all aspects of the craft “ecosystem”, can you guarantee that there would be “zero” error in craft? The answer is no, a zero error in craft cannot be achieved due to various reasons. We can “reduce “the chances of error through ergonomic intervention. The reason why it cannot be zero and one of the reason for this is human variation. As mentioned before, every human is different from one another. The other variation is within the same individual who is different at different times of the day in terms of performance. Thus with so much of variations, achieving zero error is not possible, but we can definitely reduce it.

1.12 The Craft as a Human-Product and Space-System Craft sector is heavily dependent upon humans and that what makes the product unique. Those who purchase craft products always talk about them being “handmade”, and this is where the pride of such products is hidden. Being a humandependent profession and given the fact that humans use tools to make the products, the entire craft system becomes vulnerable to errors at the junction between human and the tools that they use in making the product along with the workstation and the environment. Ergonomics ensures that these weak links are made strong by ensuring that tools and workstations match the users (we are going to explain in the subsequent chapters), and thus, we reduce the variation among users and make the system robust. The biggest challenge is that tools and workstations are constant but what varies are the people who work at these places. This is a challenge for designers, and ergonomics comes at the rescue here.

1.13 How to Make the Weak Links Robust? So how do we make the weak links robust? It could be done in different ways. We can optimise the dimensions of the tools and the workstations by referring to the human

1.15 The Softer Issues

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body dimensions (called Anthropometry). The dimensions are fixed in a manner that the entire spectrum of the population of craftsmen with different dimensions is able to accommodate themselves (we would learn them later). Apart from dimensions, there are issues of communication between the user and the products being made. This is where we ensure that we try to map the user’s way of thinking to the task being done and thus try to bring uniformity in the task being done. We also respect user’s privacy and their belief at the workplace and thus come up with a humanised workplace making the weak links robust.

1.14 The Different Components Affecting Productivity From an ergonomic aspect, productivity in the sector is affected by many factors and we have seen some of them. The major factors are the humans who produce the products that is our craftsmen. Their health, satisfaction and overall well-being play a very important role in influencing productivity in this sector. It’s equally important to recruit people in this sector who have an inclination for such creative tasks, else it’s difficult to produce such marvellous craft-based products. After producing the craft products comes the other major part that is marketing and selling the same. While selling, the products display of the same plays a very important role and it should be displayed in a manner that it attracts the attention of the customers.

1.15 The Softer Issues There are intangible issues in craft from ergonomic perspective. We have talked about the fact that if the person is mentally disturbed, it affects productivity. Similarly no one can work continuously for hours and need a break in between. Ergonomics helps us in deciding the duration of micro-breaks in between tasks and the number of them so as to ensure that workers are not fatigued physically and mentally. Proper food and nutrition along with fluid intake play a very important role in maintaining nutritional and fluidic balance in the body and hence help the users in maintaining optimal performance. Use of music at the workplace at times may also help in boosting productivity. Sometimes you might also need to advise the workers to do a task in a particular way which would influence productivity and also delay the onset of fatigue. So the softer issues in ergonomics along with tangible issues play an equally important role in the sector. While applying ergonomic design issues in the craft cluster irrespective of the craft, you need to first learn to visualise the sector that you investigate. Your role as an ergonomist is very similar like a detective looking for clues. Your clues are those “human” element in craft and how they are linked with tools, workplace and the environment and the context. You have to be patient and vigilant as an ergonomist when you “observe” around the sector for possible opportunity areas in terms of

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ergonomic interventions. Thus, don’t just “see” but observe (pay attention to all details) this sector through the “lens” of ergonomics, and you would be able to see ergonomics all around. Developing this skill is very critical in order to successfully apply ergonomic principles in craft for enhanced productivity and better business for the craftsperson. There will be resistance in the beginning, but you need to be patient and as. You show the craftsmen the benefits of ergonomic intervention you will gain their confidence.

1.16 Key Points A. B. C. D. E. F. G.

H. I. J.

Humans are the centre of any craft-based design. It’s prudent to know from where we as a race came from. Humans are the most evolved species on the globe. The dexterous upper arms and two legs are the key tools along with the brain in designing craft products. The variation in craft products makes them attractive and unique and places them above any machine-made products. Craft as a tradition and culture needs a different ergonomic approach. It’s prudent to look at craft from a system’s perspective both in terms of manufacturing of the products and from the viewpoint of customers buying the product. We need to enhance the overall system reliability in craft. Humans the weakest link in a craft ecosystem demand maximum attention. Productivity in craft is not only related to the tangible elements but also on the intangible or the softer elements.

1.17 Assignments A. Pick up a craft product like a clay pot and list down the different human touch points in them. Directions: 1. First enter the space and observe. 2. Then try to identify how the product is made. 3. List down the ergonomic issues (good and bad). 4. Think of possible ergonomic solutions for the bad ones. 5. Identify and list down all human tool, space and artefact touch points. B. Visit a craftsperson making any craft-based product and list down the different ergonomic factors which could affect his/her productivity. Directions: 1. Observe how the task is done.

Bibliography

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2. List the most crucial part of the task requiring precision. 3. Notice the position/s in which the task is done. 4. Ask them if they suffer from pain or discomfort in any body parts. 5. Then list down the ergonomic factors. C. List down the ergonomic issues in a craft product like a wall hang starting from its manufacturing to packaging. Directions: 1. First decide upon how would you attach the product on the wall. 2. In the workplace, see how the craftsmen are sitting. 3. Notice the height at which the product is kept. 4. Are they using both their hands? 5. While packaging, how are they doing the task? 6. In all cases, identify and list different human tools/space/product touch points. D. Take a craft sector like blue pottery and identify the different subsystems in it from an ergonomic perspective. Directions: 1. Look at the craft from a macro-perspective like a bird in the sky. 2. Try to identify the different elements which makes the bigger picture including people, tools, space and products. 3. Try establishing connectivity between all of them. E. Select a craft of your choice. Identify the different weak link in the entire craft system that you study. Give ergonomic design directions for making the weak link robust. Directions: 1. To identify weak link, you need to spend at least one day in the craft of your choice. 2. Look at how different people work. 3. Try to identify how craftsmen are using makeshift arrangement for tools and workspace. 4. List down the cases of absenteeism. 5. Give your ergonomic directions for tool and space design.

Bibliography Mukhopadhyay P (2006) Global ergonomics. Ergonomics Des 14(3):4–35 Mukhopadhyay P (2019) Ergonomics for the layman: applications in design. CRC Press Nino V, Marquez M, Solar V (2021) Ergonomics in a craft brewery in chile: a case study. In: Proceedings of the 2021 IISE Annual Conference, pp 276–281. Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)

Chapter 2

Traditional Ways of Working

2.1 Overview This chapter exposes the readers to the different types of postures or positions in which craftsmen work. The craft products are of different shapes and sizes. Thus unlike other sector, one cannot always work in a particular posture. This chapter shows the prudent application of ergonomics in facilitating correct posture and ways in tandem with traditional methods so that we do not deviate markedly from the stereotypical way of working. This is important because creativity is at times hampered when workers deviate from their normal stereotype of working. This chapter introduces the readers to the ergonomic principles in hand tools design and usage in the craft sector. It discusses the issues of dimensions, usage and different types of problems faced while using hand tools. The weight of the tools and the different ergonomic issues that ensure its effective and prudent usages are discussed in this chapter. The relationship of cognitive ergonomics in hand tool design is also discussed in this chapter. The chapter reminds the readers not to forget the customers who buy and use the products.

2.2 Different Position of the Body and the Issues If you look at any craftsmen, you would notice that his working style varies. A sculpture working on marble rocks to carve out the statue at times sits on the deity for working on the face (Fig. 2.1) if it is too big in size. At other times, he needs to bend forward or bend sideways for doing his task. Sometimes you find him standing and bending forward, and at times, he is squatting and working in the forward direction. So in craft depending on the task, the position of the worker constantly changes. The question is, it’s good or bad? Body position has another name called posture. You might often hear your parents telling you to sit in a correct posture while studying. Now tell me is it possible for © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 P. Mukhopadhyay, Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1063-2_2

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Fig. 2.1 Craftsmen sitting on artefacts for carving and right forearm supported on right knee

anyone to sit in an erect position for a long time say eight hours at a stretch? No it is impossible. Then what’s the way out of this? In craft, users have to work in different types of body positions or postures and one cannot help that. The human body that we see today is a complex structure comprising bones, muscles and nerves. The bones give support to the body, else the body would have collapsed. The muscles help the body to move, and the nerve connections connect the brain which is the command and control centre of the body with different parts. So when your body moves, commands arise from the brain and are transmitted through the nerves to different muscles of the body which then contracts and relaxes thus enabling the

2.2 Different Position of the Body and the Issues

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body to move. The body remains erect with the support of the spinal cord which is again a flexible structure. So when we talk about position of the body, we mean to say any particular position for performing a specific task. It could be bending in any direction, folding of the limbs at the joints (called flexion) or extending them (extension) (Fig. 2.2). Ergonomics suggests to keep the postures at “neutral” as far as practicable. What is this neutral posture? Neutral posture means keeping the limbs at the joints at certain angles, e.g. elbow at ninety degree (Fig. 2.3), knee at ninety degree while seating in a chair and the spinal cord in an inverted S-shaped curve, etc. It is recommended that the hands while working should be as close to the “imaginary line” dividing the body into two equal halves the right and the left(Fig. 2.4). These positions are called neutral because the body can remain and work in these positions for longer period and the onset of fatigue is delayed. In other words, the body members are at an advantageous condition at these postures thus delaying fatigue. But in reality we cannot stay in any one position for long, just like in craft. So ergonomics suggests that your posture even if it’s at neutral should change at frequent interval and not remain static. So while designing tools and workspace for craftsmen, make sure you keep space for movement of the body members, so that craftsmen are able to change their body positions at frequent interval thus delaying the onset of fatigue. If they have to remain in an awkward position for working like bending forward and twisting the body, then they need to take a small break, stretch their body and again resume the work. This stretching could be for a few minutes.

Fig. 2.2 Craftsmen working with arms extended

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Fig. 2.3 Craftsmen working with right elbow at ninety degrees

2.3 Problems Associated with Body Position In the craft sector, majority of the work is never done in any fixed posture. The users have to work at times at awkward postures meaning deviating from the so-called neutral postures for long period of time. This at times leads to pain, numbness and fatigue in different body parts. At times, the task is simply done on one hand while designing very small artefacts. Other times the task is done by keeping the object on the floor and squatting on the floor the upper limbs are at work. Sometimes the user sits on top of the artefact to give it a final shape. So in all these cases, the basic principles of ergonomics that is to maintain neutral position of the body members are or cannot be adhered to. So what should you do as a designer from an ergonomic perspective? This is where your ergonomic design directions should be a little prudent. Whenever the craftsperson works in any awkward posture, first explore the possibilities of redesigning the workstation to correct this. If he is stooping forward for a task, can the task be done on a raised platform so that he does not need to bend forward? Alternately is it possible for the user to come closer to the task and thus reduce the chances of bending or twisting the body? If the back is supported at an angle, that also helps in many cases (Fig. 2.5). If none of the workspace or tool design intervention does not work, then you have only one alternative. Advise your craftsperson to work close to the task as much as possible and take micro-breaks after every forty-five minutes to one hour of work. In this break, he should stretch his different body parts and then resume his work once again.

2.3 Problems Associated with Body Position

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Fig. 2.4 Working with arms close to the midline of the body

Automation or mechanisation is always not the solution and it’s not acceptable by these people and hence one should keep it as the last resort for postural correction. Again you have to understand that though deviated postures like the ones mentioned before lead to pain, numbness and fatigue in the body but asking them to completely change the way they work might not be possible always and hence any change in work process should be exercised with extreme caution.

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Fig. 2.5 Craftsmen using back support at an angle as a relaxing posture

2.4 Productivity at Work Productivity at the craft workplace is dependent on how well the tools and workplace along with the environment suit the workers. At times as mentioned before instead of drastic change in the work process, some minor changes could be suggested. For example, when small craft artefacts are produced and need to be packed after counting them in small packets, it has been observed that instead of doing the counting and packaging at the end of the day after all the artefacts are made, it’s prudent to do them simultaneously after each artefact is produced. That is once the specified number of artefacts is produced, they are counted, packed and set aside, instead of keeping the task to be done at the end of the day. This was the productivity that has been found to increase. For those craftsperson who are elderly, it is recommended that they be given the task of fine-tuning of craft products rather than making them from scratch. This could also speed up the production in a family or a unit where users of different age groups both young and elderly are working.

2.5 Using the Limbs Prudently The hands and the legs are the greatest gift of Mother Nature. The muscles in the body fatigue less if they are supported comparted to when they are not. Just try lifting a chair away from your body and keep holding it in air just by extending your arms.

2.7 The Bare Body and the Work Wear

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After some time, you would notice that your arms start aching and it trembles and you drop the chair from the hand. This is because when you extend the arm to hold the chair without any support, it is just like a cantilever. The muscles of the arm remain in a continuous state of contraction and is unable to relax (the chair falls in that case!). This leads to accumulation of certain waste material in the muscles leading to its early fatigue. This leads to pain and trembling of the arms. In craft, the upper limbs are used a lot. It is better if the person using the upper limbs squats, works and supports the upper limb at the elbow joint by resting the same on his knees (Fig. 2.1). This eliminates or relaxes the muscle to some extent and allows it to rest thus delaying fatigue. If the artefact needs to be grabbed, the legs could be used for holding the artefacts while sitting on the ground while the arms could be used to perform fine manipulative action. If you have seen a roadside cobbler in India, you would see him applying the principles of ergonomics prudently. He sits on the ground and holds the shoes with his legs and uses the arms for performing fine operations involving the dexterity of the fingers. This allows load sharing between the upper and lower limbs and at the same time delays the onset of fatigue.

2.6 Working Close to the Ground and Its Advantages Working closer to the ground in the craft sector specially in tropical country is always beneficial. The first advantage is that the posture can be changed very easily. Secondly, the ground is relatively cooler by a couple of degrees specially when it is made of mud or grass, compared to when one is seated on a chair. Thus, the body remains cooler and hence comfortable while working. Thirdly, this posture helps the users use their feet for gripping, pushing or other activities and thus reserves the arms for exclusive dexterous activities involving precision work.

2.7 The Bare Body and the Work Wear Workers should be encouraged to work in bare body or with minimal clothing like a vest (Fig. 2.6), especially in hot tropical climate. In fact in the developing countries, this is a common scenario where craftsmen work in in bare body or in a simple vest, using just a small piece of cloth to cover the lower part. Working in minimal clothing apart from being a tradition in the craft sector also helps in proper dissipation of heat from the body and thus reduces the chances of heat stress. Thus, working in minimal clothing in craft should be encouraged in hot environment and it’s not a symbol of poverty as is normally believed by many.

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Fig. 2.6 Craftsmen working with minimal clothing wearing a vest

2.8 Should Tradition Prevail Over Modernisation? There are many traditional approaches in the craft sector which still prevails. Some of these are in tandem with ergonomic principles and should be encouraged. The sections above touched upon some of these. The biggest question to the designers is should we bring in mechanisation in craft? The answer to this is not easy or straightforward. One has to understand that craft is valued because of the human touch to the product, the variation and the lack of monotony. If we go for complete mechanisation, these elements would be lost and craft would lose its flavour. Mechanisation

2.9 Types of Hand Tools in Craft

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could be brought in those places where there are hazards at the work site like stone dust while cutting stone blocks, mixing of colours (in hand block printing of fabrics), tasks that demand forceful exertions, etc. Mechanisation should be used to augment the capability of the craftsmen and not replace them. After all no machine can replace the “mothers touch” which is always a unique experience for all. Thus, ergonomics suggests that let tradition and modernisation both remain as complementary to one another.

2.9 Types of Hand Tools in Craft As there are different types of craft-based products so are the different types of hand tools which are available for designing these products. For the ergonomist, hand tools are seen as an extension of the limbs, primarily the hands. You cannot cut a wooden plank into two different pieces with the bare hand, because your palms are not designed for that specific task. So you take a saw to cut the wooden plank into two pieces. If you want to drive a nail through two pieces of wooden block, your hands are not able to produce that impact required for the specific task. You take the help of a hammer which helps you in achieving the specific task. In craft, tools are used for different purposes. They might be for some tasks (finger coming close to one another) wherein you are trying to do some very fine activity like painting on a stone artefact (Fig. 2.7). There are some tasks which require forceful exertion wherein your fingers of the palm curve around the handle of the tool to get a good “command” and “control” of the tool (Fig. 2.8) used for scooping out a small block of stone from a larger block for making the idol of a person. There are certain tasks which fall in between fine and powerful, and they involve some amount of exertion but at the same time also involve finger dexterity to ensure that the tool is directed in the right direction to perform the task. While working with a chisel, you might encounter such an experience where the chisel usage is a depiction of such a type of task and tool (not a hammer!). As mentioned before, there are tasks where you need to exert only impact (driving a nail) and a hammer is an example of the same. So there are multiple hand tools in craft, each is “destined” for a specific task, these tools are all an extension of the craftsperson’s arms, and they “amplify” the capability of his arms and thus make the task much more easier and ensure that they are able to produce more number of products with less number of errors in a stipulated span of time.

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Fig. 2.7 Precision grip for painting on stone artefact

Fig. 2.8 Good grip with overlapping fingers on tool for forceful exertion

2.10 Dimensional Aspects of Tools and Their Control and Feedback If tools are extension of the hands, then it’s essential that we ensure proper fit between the tool and the hands. This is where the anthropometric dimensions of the hands need to be factored in to ensure a proper fit between the tool and the hand. If you are using a hammer for driving a nail through a piece of bamboo, then the length and the diameter of the hammer handle should fit your palm. That means the diameter of the handle should be mapped with the grip inner diameter and the length of the hammer

2.12 Accidents and Errors with Hand Tools

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handle should be larger than the palm breadth. After this, the profile of the handle should match the palm profile. If you look at the palm profile by using synthetic clay, you would find that it’s a little concave. Thus a handle with a little convexity and slight tapering at the ends would fit the palm better. If you provide space for the fingers to rest, it’s still better. These ergonomic directions are very general and cannot be used everywhere at random. Giving the hand tools a very defined form has its danger in that it would not fit the profile of the hands of users with different anthropometric dimensions (I mean different percentile values). Over and above, you need to add some space for movement if necessary while using the tools. Communication with tools is very important, and this is where “textures” on the tools play a very important role in telling the hand that it is being held well. The textures on tools stimulate the different receptors (channel for information reception from outside) and also ensure that the user has a better command over the tool.

2.11 Use of Hand and Head in Tool Usage in Craft Use of hand tools in craft is not just like using the tool in the same manner and with same force all through. People are involved in craft work through generations. They start their journey through mere observation in the beginning and then gradually are trained to do simple tasks and gradually move to complex tasks. If you carefully observe, you would notice that designing any artefact in craft involves careful manipulation of the tools. This means the craftsperson holds the tools with force, at time holds it loosely, sometimes turns it, and this “constant” force and direction modulation goes on depending upon the type of artefacts being produced. This modulation is never uniform. This is a training they receive through practice and experience, and a coordination is developed between the hand and the brain which helps them to achieve the perfection in craft. Thus it is prudent not to bring in drastic change by introducing new tools or automation which would break this “creative” way of working with the hand and the “mind” or the “heart” in craft. Ergonomic intervention should strive to facilitate this action by helping in dimensional optimisation, enhancing feedback(through form and texture incorporation) and ensuring that the task that is being done is within the boundary of their “way of working” that they have inculcated over the ages. Where handwoven sweaters are popular, introduction of sweater weaving machines might enhance the productivity but the creativity and the human variation which makes every handwoven sweater unique are lost.

2.12 Accidents and Errors with Hand Tools Ergonomic intervention in hand tool design should ensure proper fit and feedback from the tools to prevent accidents, injuries and errors in production process. Sharp edges and risky processes should be encased as far as practical (we know you cannot

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always do that in craft). Errors happen because of mismatch in tool dimension with the body or because of lack of feedback or weight of the tool (too much or too less). There are tasks in this sector where recommending the use of some personal protective devices like face mask (stone carving, lots of stone dust) might help. Craftsperson should not be imposed to follow safety rules (they will not!). You know when your parents told you not to do something in childhood, you always did that just to explore what happens when you do that!!! And now you expect that since you are a designer craftsperson will listen to you? So the way out is try to “sell” the benefits of following safety protocol. If you can tell craftsmen that following safety would ensure that they do not lose their limbs and thus they would not be disabled for life and hence heir family won’t suffer. This type of “safety marketing” goes a long way in the craft sector and goes a long way in following safety norms and use safety products like personal protective devices.

2.13 The Weight of the Tools and Their Optimisation If tools are not of the right weight, their usage becomes a problem. This is where ergonomic principles have to be applied in ensuring right weight and hence the right balance of the hand tools is necessary for aiding in proper manipulation while designing various artefacts in this sector.

2.14 Right- and Left-handed Tool Usage You never know the handedness in this sector. So as far as possible, design tools in a manner that it could be used by both the hands (except for some specialised tools like scissors) so that we are able to accommodate a large spectrum of the users. While working on the tool form, do not go for a defined form, instead go for a shallow form wherein any hand can fit in with ease. For example, if your handle of a tool has a bulge towards the right, then for the right-handed person it’s all right but for the left-handed person it might be awkward as the bulge would be on the outer side and not sit in a concavity of the palm.

2.15 Unified Detail of Tool or Detachable? Tools should not have too many detachable parts as that can lead to instability. Detachable parts should only be included in tools which are not associated with vigorous and forceful movements, else they tend to become loose. Detachment of handle and the sharp end helps in sharpening the sharp ends without damaging the handle. In such cases, you can have handles of different hand dimensions by keeping

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the sharp end constant. Such an arrangement at times offers a degree of customisation for at least some of the hand tools.

2.16 Do not Forget Your Customers Many times our focus from the viewpoint of ergonomics remains on the craftsmen, and we lose focus of our customers who are the users of the products and that where the revenue comes from. So as we design craft-based products, we need to consider how users are going to use them. If you are designing a product to be used by the right hand only, then what happens to those left-handed users? Have we made it in a way for ambidextrous usage? If a product is to be used by the females, have we considered the fact that females are not able to exert both grip and torque force like their male counterparts? Have you provided for a good tactile feel in your hand-held product so that the user gets a good feedback while using it and has a better control over it? These and similar questions need to be addressed from the customer’s perspective while making craft products. Mr. Lulu is a customer who purchases a handcrafted sling bag made out of a special fibre for her wife for gifting her on her birthday. The gift comes as a pleasant surprise for Mrs. Julu (his wife). She appreciates the intricate work and the design of the product. But when she tries to use it, she finds that the strap of the bag is of a fixed dimension and it’s too small for her. The bag dangles near her chest and looks a little odd in public domain. Thus she is unable to use it though she liked the design of the product. This is where thinking about the customers becomes important, and here the major issue was considering the dimensions of different users. Probably, the craftsperson was too focused on the product and designed the strap length based on some single person’s body dimensions. Unfortunately, the body dimensions of every individual are different and one needs to think of this as well while designing any product. You cannot ignore the fact that we design every product in the craft sector for the “user” who is a human. Thus, their dimensions and other attributes need to be considered while designing any products. In fact, the person designing the product should also have talked to probable customers to get to know what they normally would like to carry in sling bag and hence from that would get an estimate of the bags dimensions.

2.17 Key Points A. B. C. D. E. F.

Design workspace and tools that promotes change of body position. Micro-breaks at work specially at awkward posture are important. Working on the ground helps in prudent usage of all the four limbs. Working close to the ground keeps the body cool. Working in bare body in craft specially in hot weather helps in heat dissipation. Mechanisation and tradition in craft should be used in a complimentary manner.

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G. H. I. J.

Hand dimensions play a very important role in hand tool design. Incorporate feedback in tools through textures and/or forms. Try to market safety practices rather than imposing them. Make no drastic change to existing hand tools as it breaks the natural way of working. K. Tool design should factor in ambidextrous usage. L. Do not forget your customers, their capacity, limitations, needs and wants are also equally important.

2.18 Assignments A. Visit a craft sector and identify the different postures that the craftsperson adopts while making an artefact. Suggest ergonomic solution for ensuring postural change. Ergonomic Directions: 1. Study the posture and the different changes in posture. 2. See how much is the deviation from normal. 3. Ensure that the task is as close to the body as possible. 4. Ensure your solution should facilitate postural changes. 5. Test out your new ergonomic design intervention. B. For artefacts which require forceful exertion, suggest ergonomic design intervention for the same in terms of postural change, usage of the limbs, on the ground, in hand or on the artefacts. Ergonomic Directions: 1. Study the process and list the steps involved in making the artefacts. 2. List the type of grip, fine, powerful, etc. 3. Explore the options of sitting on the ground and using the legs for holding and arms for manipulative tasks. C. Use ergonomic principles in designing a hand tool for peeling the outer coat of bamboo for making an artefact out of the same. Ergonomic Directions: 1. Decide upon the type of grip, requires neither to hard force nor very precise force. 2. Is it necessary to use all the fingers? 3. How should the peeling happen away from the body or towards it? 4. Can it be designed for both right- and left-handed users? D. Incorporate ergonomic design elements in a normal hammer user for stone carving in the stone carving units. Ergonomic Directions: 1. The fingers to curl around the handle and overlap. 2. The hammer should have an optimal weight for impact.

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3. Length of hammer should be such that it should be more than the palm breadth. 4. Texture on handle for better feedback.

Bibliography Mrunalini A, Logeswari S (2016) Musculoskeletal problems of artisans in informal sector–a review study. Int J Env Ecol Fam Urban Stud 6(1):163–170 Mukhopadhyay P, Srivastava S (2010) Ergonomic design issues in some craft sectors of Jaipur. Des J 13(1):99–124

Chapter 3

The World of Dimensions in Craft

3.1 Overview This chapter introduces the readers to the importance of human body dimensions in craft. The readers are taken through the types of body dimensions, mechanism for selecting the right ones and how to account for allowances for clothing and movement in them. The common mistakes which are normally made in dealing with body dimensions are discussed in this chapter. This chapter discusses the different ergonomics issues at the workspace where the different craft artefacts are designed. The ergonomic of workstation height, depth and length is discussed. The different challenges of working in the sitting, squatting and standing position are also discussed in detail with an eye to performance. Issues of static load at the workspace and its reduction along with the advantages and disadvantages of a sit and stand workstation are discussed here. How to consider your customers who buy your products and how to ensure that they are happy with your products are also discussed.

3.2 The Importance of Dimension Bholu is a craftsman who makes a special type of handmade head gears for using at marriage ceremonies. The product is made out of cotton fabric as a base on the outer side is decorated by small beads, metallic plates and other elements. He has his own tools for doing this task and has been in this family business from his childhood. His son Nitai who is only five years old watches his father doing the task and is fascinated. He aspires to do the same, but his father tells him that he is too young for the job and should better concentrate on his studies. One day when Bholu was out of station on some other work, little Nitai thought about using his father’s tools and make a similar head gear and thus give his father a surprise when he comes back. Nitai the little kid sat with his father’s tools and at the workplace which was a raised platform on the ground. The upper surface of the platform on which the product is made was near his © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 P. Mukhopadhyay, Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1063-2_3

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nose and he could not access that. When he tried to pick up the tools, he found that his small hands could not hold them and they were in fact too heavy for him. Nitai was disappointed and finally gave up. This incidence is an example of mismatch in tools and workstation if the same is not designed keeping the body dimensions of the users in mind. In ergonomics, this is called Anthropometry or scientific measurement of human body dimensions. So body dimensions are very important to ensure proper fit between the user and the task being performed in the craft sector. Body dimensions are also important when you design craft products to be worn on the body. If the head gear is designed taking the child’s head dimension, then the same head gear cannot be worn by the adult, it would simply not fit. Thus, dimensions or anthropometric dimensions are very important in craft both for designing product and for designing tools and workstations for the craftsmen for enhanced productivity. Without body dimensions, no craft product can be made.

3.3 Human Body Dimensions in Craft Anthropometric dimensions or human body dimensions in craft play a very important role. If you as designers have to decide upon the space requirement for twenty people to work side by side in a craft unit, you have to refer to the human body dimensions. If you have to decide at what height should a work surface be fixed, the human body dimension becomes very important. Even while designing craft products like head gears, garments, shoes, side bags and similar items, you need to refer to different body dimensions, else how beautiful the product might be it would be of no use if your customers are not able to use them. If the handcrafted shoes pinch on your toes, you would not be able to wear them and walk! Thus to make products usable, human body dimensions are necessary both for your customers who buy your products and for your craftsperson for designing their tools, workstations and workspace. So let us try to understand the anthropometric database and how to use this data in designing of different craft-based products. In craft, we have two set of users. One set of users is the craftsperson who works hard to produce different artefacts. The craftpersons need different tools, work in a apace and under a given context. Thus for all these, you need to “factor” in human body dimensions as we have seen before to ensure “proper fit” between the craftsmen and the tools and space where they work. You also need dimensions of different products to be used by customers who buy craft products. For example if you are selling a tumbler for drinking water carved out of stone, then you need to ensure that the customers are able to hold or grip them properly, otherwise it would be difficult for them to drink out of the tumbler. So how do you ensure that? One way is that we take the measurement of different parts of the body relevant in the design of the product and then design it as per that dimensions. If you are designing a bangle for women, you have to ensure that it fits the forearm and also it is easy to slip it over the fingers of the palm. You measure the forearm diameter and the diameter of the entire fingers of the palm taken together and then based on these dimensions design the bangle and decide its diameter. If you do this,

3.4 Selecting Appropriate Values from the Database

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then you are able to design only for those with similar hand dimensions. What about those people with varied dimensions, where someone had a thinner forearm diameter and others thicker forearm diameters? So the situation seems to go out of our hand isn’t it? This is a big challenge when we design for others. The population comprises people all of whom are of different dimensions. Some are tall, some short, some fat some thin, some have a larger head circumference compared to other and the list goes on. When we design a product and expect that in majority of the cases it fits all (with some difficulty), it’s a big challenge how to do this. Either we take the measurement of every individual who are going to use our product and design it for everyone, or we design a product and eliminate a large portion of the population and risk the bad fame it brings to us.

3.4 Selecting Appropriate Values from the Database Using human body dimensions for designing tools, space and craft products is a little tricky, and you need to understand the logic behind the same. The human body dimensions have lot non-uniformity in them. That means a tall person need not have a broad shoulder and a wrist of larger diameter. A short person can also have a very broad shoulder. Thus in other words, a human body is disproportionate. Thus while designing any product or space, you need to follow certain rules (Fig. 3.1). You cannot measure a few people and use that dimension for making a product. You need to understand that this would be a risky business. What is the guarantee that the few people you measure (let’s say some ten to fifty) represent the entire spectrum of the population for whom you are designing? So it’s a risky task in itself. The good news is that we have anthropometric database of the population available with us for almost every country. You just need to know how to pick up the anthropometric values and then “map” them on to different products and spaces. These anthropometric databases have been created by experts from different domain and are reliable in the sense that they truly reflect the target population for whom we are going to design. But you need to read and understand the database. A close look at the database is confusing at first. There are anthropometric dimensions (normally in millimetres) for different parts of the body. Each dimensions for different parts of the human body are represented as male and female values separately. Further the values are categorised under different percentile ranging from 5th percentile to 95th percentile, etc. So what do these percentiles mean? Experts collect dimensions of different parts of the body, and the exercise is done on a large sample all over a country. After collecting these dimensions, what they now have is a big lump of data for human body dimensions. Now the biggest question is does these data truly represent the entire population? This is where the data are tested for whether it really represents the population through different tests. Once this test is cleared, the data now need to be organised so that you can use it. The next

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Fig. 3.1 Journey of anthropometric data in design of craft elements

stage is arranging the data on a scale of zero to one hundred which then looks like the percentile data. Now it’s easy to use. So when to use which percentile data? When you are designing for reach or access, for example, you have to decide upon the height of a work surface on which small stone wall hangs has to be painted. This table has to be used while sitting on the ground. Now if the height of the table surface is too high, then people who are shorter would find it uncomfortable to work on it and at a workstation you never know who is going to work. So the work surface height should be designed and fixed keeping in mind that shorter people should be able to reach the surface and in that case taller ones would have minimal problem (they might have to stoop a little). Similarly if you are designing a wooden tumbler for drinking water, then the diameter of the product should be such that the smaller hand should be able to grip it with ease. If it’s too thick and designed as per the larger hand, then the smaller hand would not be able to hold it. Thus here also, the tumbler diameter would be fixed keeping in mind the grip diameter of the smaller hand as in that case the larger hand would have no problem. In this way, the entire spectrum of the population can be included. But if you are to fix the length of the handle of a small hammer used in craft for doing very precision task, then your palm breadth dimensions need to be taken. Here if you take the dimension of the larger palm, then the smaller palm would be accommodated, but if you do the opposite, the larger palm would not be accommodated. Thus here we fix the dimension keeping the larger palm in mind and thus ensure that a larger spectrum of the population is accommodated. If you are designing a bed made out of bamboo frame with fabric in between and have to decide upon the length and breadth of the same, then you need to consider the height and width of a tall and a fat person and not that of a short and a thin person. This is because a bed designed for the tall and fat person can accommodate a short and thin person, but the reverse is not true. This way again we accommodate a large spectrum of the population.

3.6 Common Mistakes to Avoid

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Fig. 3.2 Dynamicity considered in designing handle length (Photo by Roger Johansen: https://www.pexels.com/photo/personholdinga-black-and-silver– claw-hammer-7734229/)

3.5 The Need for Dynamicity in Dimensions The anthropometric data available in the books are normally static data. This means these dimensions have been recorded keeping the body members at rest. In reality if a craftsman is holding a tool with full force, then there is protrusion of the flesh of his palm. Thus to calculate the length of the tool which is equal to the palm breadth, one needs to add some more allowance to accommodate this protruding flesh. This is called adding extra dimensions on static dimensions for dynamicity or movement (Fig. 3.2). If you are designing handcrafted shoes, then the length and breadth of the shoe should be a little bigger than the foot length and breadth (Fig. 3.3). This is because after walking or standing for some time the feet swells, and to account for this some extra space needs to be provided thus making the shoe comfortable to wear.

3.6 Common Mistakes to Avoid The common mistake that we all make is to pick up the 50th percentile value while mapping the anthropometric dimensions on any product. If you take this value, then you might be leaving out a large spectrum of the population. Remember the human

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Fig. 3.3 Dynamicity considered in designing of handcrafted footwear (Photo by Ron Lach https://www. pexels.com/photo/wLaomanfitting-sandals-in-the-shop8400219/)

body is a mixture of percentiles. This means my height could be 95th percentile, but my shoulder width could be 75th and my fist circumference could be 50th percentile as well. So if you take the 50th percentile for all dimensions while designing, you might be leaving a large portion of your users, because your users are a mixture of different percentile values for different parts of their body and we do not have any data for that. Many books also contain a “combined” value which is a combination of male and female value. It’s better to calculate the value individually for males and females and then use the combined value as the next point of reference for fine-tuning the anthropometric dimensions.

3.8 The Workspace

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Fig. 3.4 Mapping anthropometric dimensions on the dimension of the tumbler handle (Photo byYan Krukov:https://www.pexels.com/photo/ceramic-cups-and-plates-6611421/)

3.7 How to Go About Mapping the Anthropometric Dimensions on a Product? When mapping the anthropometric dimensions on product, first list the product parts. Then equate each part of the product with relevant anthropometric dimensions. For each anthropometric dimension, take a call on the principle to be followed, access or clearance and then optimise the data accordingly. An example would make this clear. You have to fix the dimensions of the handle of a clay tumbler (Fig. 3.4). Your first step would be to identify the touch points or the point of contact of the handle of the tumbler with the human body parts. To use the product, you have to grip the handle. Thus, the parts in contact with the hand are handle length, handle diameter and the distance (clearance) between the fingers and the body of the tumbler. The next step would be to “equate” different parts of the tumbler which is equal to anthropometric dimension of the palm.

3.8 The Workspace In craft, the space in which the craftsmen work is called their workspace. It’s important that this space is designed in a manner that facilitates work and thus people working are happy. How should the ergonomic design intervention in such a space

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be done? For any ergonomic design intervention in any space, you first need to have that “eye” for visualising the space with respect to the users and different elements like work surface, tools, other craftsmen, environmental aspects like heat, light, humidity, etc. This is like that view of the bird that flies in the sky and looks at the earth below in its totality with all the elements. Here the visualisation is a little different (Fig. 3.5). You have to learn to view it from top like a bird, this would give you an insight into where the work surface and tools should be with respect to the users so that he or she does not have to stoop forward or twist the body in an awkward posture to access them. Any such deviated postures we have seen before lead to decrease in productivity. Another way you should learn to visualise the same workspace is from the side that means from the right or left side of the person or from the front and back of the person. This gives you an advantage of getting an estimate of the work surface height, working posture, placement of tools and movement in the vertical plane. Craft workspace is varied and complex, and you cannot expect the craftsman to work in any particular way all through. There would be movements and change in postures, and thus, these have to be visualised for designing the workspace. Just imagine that in a big craft manufacturing unit, some twenty people are working on different types of handmade clay pot making. Some are sitting in crosslegged condition on the floor, some squatting, a few of them are preparing the clay and are in a semi-sitting posture, and a few workers are running around for other tasks. So as you enter the space, you have to first identify the ergonomic issues in the space. Immediately, you start visualising the space from top and see the mismatches related to reach and whether the work zone of individual workers is touching each other or not. How would you know this? In any task in this sector as the person works, his elbows should be clear and should not touch the elbow of other fellow workers (Fig. 3.6). Thus, each person needs an invisible area for working which can be visualised from top. To know this, ask the person to fold his arms at the elbows and

Fig. 3.5 Visualisation of the craft workspace from top and from the side

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Fig. 3.6 Craftsmen in their individual work zone with their elbows not touching one another

raise the elbows parallel to the chest. The amount of area the forearms can traverse in this manner is the territory for his personal space where no one should intrude, and he should not be disturbed while working and specially while doing precision task. Similarly when the arms are spread apart and the amount of area the spread out arms can cover is the space in which the tools which are not frequently used can be kept. If anything is kept beyond these zones, the person has to stoop or lean to get them, and thus, his work is hampered (Fig. 3.7). Thus, visualisation helps in this manner.

3.9 At What Height Should Work Be Done? When deciding at what height any tasks need to be done, you need to know few things. These are the types of task; whether it’s very precise (fine carving), light (requires mild exertion for cutting) or heavy(requiring forceful exertion). There are certain reference points in the body also known as landmarks (which are bony elevation or bony depression), and you need to look at those as well. Thus to decide upon the height of the workstation, you have to see the task and map it with the relevant landmarks in the body. This is better done when you visualise the workspace from the sides or from front. For tasks requiring precision, the reference landmark is the sternal notch or the lower part of the breast bone. Hence, the work surface should be here (Fig. 3.8). If the task is light, then the reference landmark is the elbow joints(with elbows close to the body and hanging freely) with the upper arm close to the body

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Fig. 3.7 Craftsmen extending their arm for performing the task

and elbow roughly at ninety degree with the upper arm. The work surface should be positioned at the elbow (Fig. 3.9). If the task is heavy, requiring forceful exertion, then the work surface and its reference point are near the trochanter bone or roughly the hip joint (Fig. 3.10). In craft, the user might not always have a defined work surface, and in that case the task should be positioned near the respective landmarks in the body. If necessary, the user has to either change his height by sitting on the ground or on a small stool (especially when the artefacts are very big and heavy). In some cases, the user can also choose to dig a temporary hole on the ground and thus have the artefacts at his sternal notch or chest height.

3.10 The Work Surface Dimensions For calculating the work surface for performing a particular task, one needs to study the movement pattern of the body. The minimum dimension required is the elbow to elbow distance with the arms folded at the elbow and the maximum distance between the fingertips of both the arms while spreading it out. This “roughly” tells you the length of the work surface. The depth of the work surface is calculated by sitting or standing erect and stretching your hands forward. Your hands should be able to reach the edge of the work surface. This is a very rough guide and to this you have to add the space occupied by tools, other artefacts to be kept on the surface, etc. Your work surface should be able to accommodate all products and ensure that the

3.10 The Work Surface Dimensions

Fig. 3.8 Precision task being performed close to the chest

Fig. 3.9 Light task being performed close to the elbow

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Fig. 3.10 Heavy task being performed close to the hip

most important ones are closest to your body, and as the importance decreases it can move away from you but you should be able to access them when needed at least by stretching your hands. These have been mentioned in Sect. 3.8.

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3.11 Sitting, Standing or Squatting? The craftsperson as seen before will always adjust his body position as per the need of the task especially when the artefact is fixed to a place and immovable. This is where the posture can vary between sitting crossed legged on the ground, on a high stool, squatting or might be standing. As an ergonomist, you should only ensure that you do not interfere in their normal pattern of working, keeping an eye that they change their postures after every forty or forty-five minutes of work. If the task demands working in awkward postures (Fig. 3.11) which might be accompanied by bending and twisting their body or working with their limbs away from the body with twisting of the forearms, then micro-breaks of one to two minutes should be suggested in between work after working for forty-five minutes to one hour at a stretch. In this break, they should be asked to stretch their body parts and if possible walk a few steps and then resume their work once again. Standing at a place for more than forty-five minutes to one hour can lead to swelling of the legs due to accumulation of blood because of acceleration due to gravity and thus workers apart from the above should be encouraged to move their great toes at least if they are unable to move. If provision for sitting could be made while working (Fig. 3.12) or alternating between sitting and standing could be arranged, it would boost productivity. Squatting on the ground is at times a good posture specially while doing the task at ground level. But here again the users need micro-breaks in between while performing tasks at awkward position of their body (Fig. 3.13).

3.12 Static Load Its Natural Reduction by Using the Knees as Support In craft, it could be seen that users squatting and working use the knee/thigh as a support for the elbows and this relaxes the arm muscle to a certain extent. If the arms were unsupported, then the muscles of the arms would have to remain in a state of continuous contracture which would hamper the work and also facilitate the onset of fatigue. Thus, the knee joints/thighs acts as a “natural arm rests” for the users” (Fig. 3.14). This comes from prudence of being in the profession for long that people use ergonomic principles unknowingly for eliminating static muscle loading and delaying onset of fatigue. Such practices in craft need to be identified and encouraged as they are in tandem with ergonomic principles and require almost no investment to implement.

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Fig. 3.11 Craftsmen working at awkward posture which seems unavoidable

3.13 How Many People in a Space For calculating how many people can be accommodated in a space, we have mentioned before that we have to calculate the individual workspace envelope, factor in the movements involved and then calculate the space requirement keeping in mind the precautionary requirements. What needs to be kept in mind is the space in between workstations which would facilitate movement of people and materials without infringing into the workspace of other craftsmen in the entire workspace.

3.14 Working While Standing/Sitting on the Task: Sculpture

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Fig. 3.12 Craftsmen sitting on wooden plank while working

3.14 Working While Standing/Sitting on the Task: Sculpture As mentioned before when standing or sitting on the artefact and working, the worker needs to be extremely careful of maintaining body balance and if needed temporary grab rails or ropes need to be installed to prevent slips, trips and falls. Standing or sitting on the artefacts specially if it is a huge structure is advantageous as it allows the workers come close to the task and perform it, but one needs to be extremely careful about round edges or slippery surfaces which can lead to accidents. In such

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Fig. 3.13 Craftsmen performing tasks at awkward posture needs micro breaks

cases for big artefacts, it’s wise to create a temporary wooden platform and sit or stand on it for working on the artefacts.

3.15 Your Customers! All the ergonomic considerations mentioned above for craftsmen are also applicable in designing of different craft products for your customers. If a handcrafted table

3.15 Your Customers!

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Fig. 3.14 Knee/thigh as support for the forearm while working

is designed for writing purpose, then it should be fixed near the elbow height of the person while sitting and not higher or lower than that. If you have to design a low stool made out of bamboo, then the height of the stool should be optimised considering different anthropometric dimensions like popliteal height (the distance between the region behind the knee joint and the ground with the knee folded at ninety degrees and the person sitting). If this dimension is not considered keeping the lower percentile dimensions in mind, then many people might not be comfortable to sit on the stool as their legs might dangle! If you are designing a toy for a kid, then the diameter of the toy should be such that the kid is able to hold it with her/his

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hand. If the dimensions of the toy are as per the parents hand dimensions, then the kid would not be able to use it and your product that you have designed with so much of hard work becomes useless. Thus, learn to visualise your customers using your product. This would give you an idea of the different ways your product might be used and give directions for adding extra dimension to your product. Mr. Leo has purchased a handcrafted toy made of wood for his son who is eight years old. When he goes home and gifts his son the toy, to his utter surprise Mr. Leo finds that his son is unable to hold the toy in his hand as it is too big for his small palm! So Mr. Leo had to play with the toy and his son had to look at it!! This is what happens when you do not think of your target users and their context of use. Here the dimensions of the child were not factored in while designing the product. On another occasion, Mr. Benju purchased a nice handcrafted necklace for his niece Duggi. When he handed over the product to Duggi, she was very happy to get such a unique product. But her happiness was very short lived when she tried to wear it, only to find that it was too tight and as the necklace length was small and thus the product would fit tightly on her neck leading to suffocation! Here also the diameter of the neck of different users need to be considered for designing such a product. Else even after putting so much of effort in producing such wonder craft pieces, they are of no use to the target users.

3.16 Key Points A. Anthropometric dimensions are of two types static and dynamic. B. For clearance, the take-off value is higher, and for reach the take-off value is lower percentile. C. Add dynamicity to the static dimensions after factoring in the movements of the body parts. D. Go in steps for mapping anthropometric dimensions on products. E. Refrain from using the 50th percentile and combined value in the first step while optimising anthropometric dimensions. F. Visualisation is the key in ergonomic design intervention of workspace. G. Refer to tasks and anatomical landmarks for fixing the work surface or task height. H. Ensure that workers personal workspace zone is not compromised specially while performing precision tasks. I. Encourage natural movement of body. J. Workspace and task should facilitate change of posture and micro-breaks at intervals.

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3.17 Assignments A. Pick up a hand tool used for carving out stone idols and fix its dimensions as per the anthropometric dimensions in the database so that everyone is comfortable to use it. Add extra allowance to account for movement while working. Ergonomic Directions: 1. List the different parts of the tools relevant for its design. 2. Map each part of the tools with different parts of the body. 3. See the anthropometric database for each body part. 4. Set your “principle” for percentile value selection. 5. Start your data optimization. 6. Factor in dynamicity by looking at the range and type of movements with the product. B. Design a sling bag in tandem with anthropometric dimensions and factor in the dynamic dimension. Ergonomic Directions: 1. Decide your target users, male? Female? Both? 2. Study in how many ways the bag is used. 3. Now list the different parts of the bag. 4. Equate different body parts with the different parts of the bag considering the number of ways it is used. 5. Apply principle of percentile as before. 6. Start optimization of value and add dynamicity to the dimension after user study. C. Design the workspace for a stone carving unit where stone tumblers are manufactured Ergonomic Directions: 1. Decide how many people are going to work. 2. Create workspace envelope for people by drawing circle with the two arms spread and measuring the distance between fingertip (acting as diameter). This becomes the outer workspace (roughly). 3. Draw another circle by taking the distance between elbows while extending the upper arms at the side and folding the forearm near the chest (acting as diameter). This becomes the critical workspace (roughly) where it should not touch with others. 4. You need to do these exercises for different percentile values and then optimise. 5. Add allowances for dynamic movement based on movement pattern of the people in space. D. Your ergonomic design advice is solicited in a big hand block printing unit where workers have to print motifs on wooden block on a piece of cloth by hand.

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Ergonomic Directions: 1. First decide upon the work surface height by deciding the type of task. 2. Then calculate the workspace envelope required as explained before and add allowances for dynamic movement. 3. Decide whether the task could be done while standing or sitting or alternating between both. 4. Then start your optimization factoring in dynamic movements.

Bibliography Dreyfuss H (2003) Designing for people. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. Panero J, Zelnik M (1979) Human dimension and interior space: a source book of design reference standards. Watson-Guptill

Chapter 4

Larger Context of Craft Ergonomics

4.1 Overview This chapter gives an overview of the ergonomic issues in the craft environment. The chapter talks about the application of ergonomics in facilitating a conducive environment keeping in mind the cost factor and thus using locally available material and technology. The readers are exposed to different hazards of the working environment for the craftsperson and the ergonomic solutions against these hazards for enhanced productivity. The challenges for working under extreme weather conditions are also discussed in this chapter. This chapter gives the reader an overview of different ergonomic intervention which is not related to design. The chapter discusses the different issues like employing left-handed people and method of counting of craft products. It also throws light on the importance of exposure to solar radiation and nutrition. The benefits of different types of exercises in maintaining physical fitness in the craft sector are also discussed. This chapter gives an overview of the pros and cons of technology usage in craft. It takes the readers through different dimensions in crafts like packaging, selling and visual merchandising of craft-based products.

4.2 Ventilation The craftsperson works outdoors and indoors depending on the type of craft. For example, hand block printing is normally done indoors, so as to ensure that dirt and other foreign particles do not stick on the fabric as they are printed. Stone carving is normally done outdoors as a large amount of stone dust is generated. In all the cases, ventilation of the workspace is very important, so that the stale sir moves out and fresh air flows in to keep the users healthy by facilitating them to breathe fresh air. Ventilation in a closed room could be facilitated by placing two opposite windows or two opposite doors or one window and one door. For workplaces where the craftsmen work inside huts, one portion of the wall could be temporarily opened © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 P. Mukhopadhyay, Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1063-2_4

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Fig. 4.1 Correct way of fixing windows to ensure wind is deflected inside the room (Photo by Robson Veneziani https://pixabay.com/photos/open-window-hinge-shutter-1846655/)

to facilitate ventilation. Windows and doors should be hinged in a manner such that they open in a direction opposite to wind flow so that the wind strikes against them and are deflected inside the room (Fig. 4.1). These ergonomic interventions are suggested keeping in mind low cost, availability of locally available materials and non-availability of any other energy sources including electricity. Ventilation is essential as it helps in removing the gases and fumes which is produced in closed spaces. In open spaces, it’s always recommended that craftsmen work under the shades of different trees, wherein they are protected from solar radiations and rains (to certain extent) and enhances the comfort of the working environment.

4.3 Illumination For facilitating illumination at the workplace for craftsmen (which is very unorganised unlike the manufacturing sector), it’s prudent to use natural light as far as practicable. Natural light helps to see and distinguish between different colours compared to artificial lights and works well in the absence of electricity which is the reality in most of the cases. To prevent disturbance in the visual field from direct solar radiations, craftsmen should position themselves in a manner that they do not face the sun directly. The only problem with this arrangement is that they need to keep moving as the sun changes its position throughout the day from sunrise to sunset. The

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work surface should have matt finish so as to reduce any type of glare. To increase the natural illumination at the workplace where the work is done, indoors large windows (Fig. 4.2) and if needed transparent panels (Fig. 4.3) in the roof should be provided. Artificial lighting should be used with prudence taking care that luminaire does not come in the cone of vision of the craftsmen while working. Wherever necessary, task-specific lighting may be provided.

Fig. 4.2 Large windows facilitating natural light in the workplace behind the craftsmen

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Fig. 4.3 Transparent panels in the roof facilitating natural light at the workplace

4.4 Outdoors and Indoors Work As craftsperson works throughout the year, they often have to alternate between indoors and outdoors. In summer, the afternoons in tropical countries are very hot and in such cases either they have to work under shades or they have to move transiently indoors in relatively cooler places, drink plenty of water and then resume work outdoors once again. This work and micro-rest in cooler environment ensure that the users recover and the onset of fatigue is delayed and they are able to put in more effort to their work.

4.5 Working Under Extreme Conditions Working under extreme conditions like extreme heat and cold disturbs the body’s equilibrium and affects productivity and also the quality of work. In craft, climate control of the working environment is not possible because craft never happens in a set environment. Thus, exposure to extreme heat or cold is quite normal. So the users have to protect themselves from the hazards of the environment. In extreme heat, loose dresses in light colours could be given to the workers which would keep the body cool. As discussed in the previous chapters, some traditional practices by the craftsperson like working on the floor and with bare minimal clothing in summer

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should be facilitated for heat loss during warm summer months. If necessary, wellventilated dresses with opening near the arm pits or opening near the shoulder blade could pave the way for ventilation and cooling of the body. For protection against cold, hand gloves and thick winter clothing’s could be worn. Here the challenge is to design tools and workstation factoring the thickness of winter clothing so that natural body movements are least affected.

4.6 Hazards and Protection Dust, smoke and fumes at the worksites are common in the craft sector, and the workers need to be protected against such hazards. If gloves are used for protecting the palm only, then the dorsal part of the gloves could be kept open for proper ventilation and enhanced dexterity. Normally, craftsmen are reluctant to use gloves as it comes in the way of their finger dexterity. Gloves should be used only when tasks which involve forceful exertion and are extremely hazardous are performed. Where dust and fumes are rampant, use of face mask becomes very expensive and craftsmen usually tie a piece of fabric around their face covering the nose and mouth. As a lowcost solution, water jet could be used on the task so that dusts are not generated and thus the craftsmen are protected from the hazards of the working environment.

4.7 Workspace Ergonomic Issues in Craft There are some critical ergonomic issues in the design of craft establishment, and if given a choice, these could be factored in before constructing the same. For example, the worksite could be selected with reference to vegetation and landscape to keep it cool. The building may be oriented in relation to the wind direction and solar radiation to facilitate maximum ventilation and minimal heating during summers. Building materials could be selected in a manner having high insulation but low cost and locally available (e.g. bamboo). Designing the interior of the workspace in tandem with dynamic anthropometric dimensions of the craftsmen is as to ensure adequate distance between workspace and people while working. Use of green creepers can reduce the temperature of the workplace drastically. Even painting the roof in white colour and the walls which are exposed to solar radiation can reduce the temperature of the room. In hot areas, cool blue or green colours give a subjective sensation of coolness or impressions of reduced temperature.

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4.8 Work-rest Cycle In the craft sector, the strict regimes of work duration cannot be followed. Many a time, the craft is a family-owned business where all the members of the family are involved. When the pressure of work is high, especially during festive seasons, craftsperson works day and night for making the craft-based products in order to earn some extra money. The principles of ergonomic still can be applied with prudence if advice is given as to the benefits of work-rest cycle. We know that if the body is made to work for prolong period without rest, it leads to fatigue and in this condition it’s difficult to continue working for long specially with precision and the chances of making mistakes and getting injured are high. Thus, users should be advised that in the event they have to work for long hours, they should take micro-breaks of a couple of minutes after every forty-five minutes to one hour of work. These small breaks are immensely beneficial in delaying the onset of fatigue and enhancing productivity. This is contrary to the popular belief among the craftsperson that it would lead to wastage of time. People involved in very stressful tasks, if possible, may be shifted to tasks requiring less stressful tasks on a weekly basis. This would ensure that no single person is exposed to the same stressful task throughout his career.

4.9 Use of Left Hand in Right-handed Operation In the craft sector, there are users who are left handed and prefer working with the left hand. Though they might be less in number compared to the right-handed users, these people could be utilised in many tasks in this sector. For example, all those operations which require “unscrewing” or similar activity with the right hand impose lot of stress on the muscle of the forearm, because the muscles for right forearm involved in unscrewing are relatively weaker compared to those involved in screwing activity with the right hand. The biggest challenge in craft is lack of mechanisation due to various factors. So what could be the solution? One of these could be not to engage the same set of people in the same task, but rotate them to other tasks as mentioned in the previous section. Another solution could be to employ lefthanded people in the task. When left-handed people perform unscrewing or similar operations, they are engaging the preferred group of muscles (you can try it yourself) that is the ones used for screwing activity with the right hand. That means muscles used for screwing with right hand are the same used for unscrewing with the left hand.

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4.10 Method for Counting After Task and Not at the End Small, big and medium craft products need to be counted and packaged before being sent to the showrooms or to the distributers. This is an important task and when the work order is very high takes up a significant time of the users in the profession. Craftsperson thinks that it is better to do the packaging at the end of the day after all the products are made. But it has been seen that if the packaging is done immediately after the requisite number of products is made, then it breaks the monotony of the workers in doing the same task and gives them some rest from the task involving repletion and forceful exertion. Moreover, this method of packaging the products immediately after they are done saves lot of time in the work process.

4.11 Toning of Body Muscles All involved in craft need to be active and tone their body muscles. Toning of muscle is possible through regular physical exercise in the form of morning brisk walking or jogging. This toning of muscle keeps the body in a state of readiness and ensures that all activities especially the ones involving fine dextrous activities can be performed with ease and efficiency. Thus, the quality of the work produced is also much better. Toning of muscle through exercise ensures that the users do not suffer from injuries related to bones and muscle.

4.12 Reverse Bending Exercises As craftsmen have to work in awkward postures involving forward bending, reverse bending exercises are highly recommended for them. These exercises could be done during micro-breaks in between tasks (the best option) or at the beginning of the day before starting their work or at the end of the day. Such exercises ensure that the muscles of the back are toned and prevent the onset of low back pain.

4.13 Role of Solar Exposure and Nutrition Solar exposure is essential for helping the body generate Vitamin D. Thus, every craftsmen if they are working in shade should be encouraged to get some solar exposure preferably from the rising or the setting sun. These exposures could be for the arms and the legs. Lack of Vitamin D also leads to pain in different parts of the body, which affects productivity. Along with this, the nutritional aspects of the

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craftsmen need to be focused upon. They should be advised to take balanced diet comprising protein, fat and carbohydrates.

4.14 Different Technology The question that you have to face while working in the craft sectors is that “why use hand” in making of products when technology is available? As we have seen before, craft is a sector where the beauty of craft-based products lies in the fact that they normally use locally available materials and are complete made by hand. This preponderance of human element in the sector differentiates it from other sectors. Thus, technology or to be more specific mechanisation can be introduced in this sector but should be limited to tools and fixtures only. It could be used for handling heavy artefacts, for forceful tasks like cutting small blocks of stones from bigger blocks, surfacing of woods and similar task which does not require precision.

4.15 Prudent Usage of Technology and Mental Model Majority of the craftsmen are in the trade for many years. It runs in their blood, and they gradually pick it up from their ancestors. The working pattern and the skill they imbibe are based upon practice and also their power to visualise the artefacts accurately. Thus, too much of mechanisation comes in the way of the development of mental framework of artisan that they develop over years of being in the profession and which is seen as their unique skill.

4.16 The Look and Feel Approach The craftsman when he is at work goes more by his gut feeling which more of tactile is the feel that he gets while working with his tools on the products that he makes. The manipulation of the tools and the tactile feel of the product that he tries to bring a synergy with are an attribute regulated by the brain. This attribute of the craftsperson should be respected, and any drastic change in the working style should not be suggested as that could be counterproductive. Any change suggested should be within the framework of the existing way of working and that would enhance productivity.

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4.17 Craft Packaging Packaging of any product is important in that this is at times the first “interface” between the product and the user. The packaging should use visual ergonomic principles of prudent usage of important information in the expected quadrant of the visual field. Necessary information related to the specific features of the product and a preview of the same in a context (how it would look like) is very important for giving the users an idea of the product.

4.18 Selling of Craft Products and the Personal Grooming Customers buy craft product as a memento which acts as a reminder for the places they had visited. When craft products are gifted to someone, then that person is reminded of the story behind the product like the place of origin, significance, etc. As these products are sold at many monumental sites, it’s important that when traditional craft products are sold, the salesperson wears traditional clothing while selling them. This generates a mental model among the users and creates an ambience for the craft products.

4.19 Display of Craft Products Display of craft products is very critical for ensuring that they sell well. They should thus be kept in the visual cone of the tourists or customers. Normally at tourist sites, people after they come out of the site normally would like to buy a craft product as a memory of the place. Thus, places outside such sites should be earmarked for their display (Fig. 4.4). Display of craft products either in the showrooms or on the roadside should factor in the visual cone of the customers. If customers are not able to see them, buying them would not be possible. You have to calculate the visual cone while riding on the elephant, on an incline while moving up or down a gradient at the monumental site. In showrooms, products should be visible with proper labelling in case the products are not self-explanatory, as customers are often shy of asking about the products. While displaying products, care should be taken to ensure that luminaires do not cause glare in the visual field of the customers. If the products are to be worn, then mannequins should be used and the products should be attached to different parts of the body so that customers get an idea as to how it would look when they wear it. Other products which are to be used for different purpose should have at least a photograph of the same in a context so that customers understand their exact usage. For example, a lampshade made out of paper and bamboo should be demonstrated to the customers as to how they are to be fitted in the house and then be used.

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Fig. 4.4 Craft products on display (Photo by Martin Adams: https://unsplash.com/photos/zbPDL8 4kvRg)

It is always recommended that local crafts be sold at local monumental or tourist places as tourists would be able to contextualise them and understand their value. This could include makeshift stalls at the sites which are low cost. Such an approach can pave the way for generating employment for the local craftsmen and other youths.

4.20 The Business in Craft Sector Craft as a profession has the power of employing large spectrum of the population. Even small products in different parts of the world when sold through a common platform can generate large amount of revenue for the users and the government. The local administration should focus on the welfare and development of craft sector by applying the principles of ergonomics which would make the profession much more lucrative to the local youths and solve the problem of unemployment to a large extent. In this sector, one has to ensure that everyone has the right to voice their concerns and opinion. Only if everyone’s opinion counts, then only the best products can be churned out. The biggest mistake that one makes is focusing only on the craftsmen and ignoring the customers. This should not be done. The product that is designed should factor in the context of its use by the customers, else it would not be accepted by your customers. You have designed a handcrafted pen and the body of which is very

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smooth. The customer buys the pen and is a salesperson who has to travel a lot in the scorching summer weather and sweats a lot. The customer (the person who has purchased your product) finds it very difficult to write because his hands sweats in summer and the pen because of the smooth finish slips from his hand. This context of use of the product needs to be accounted for by the craftsmen while making any product. Similarly, the clip of the same pen should be designed in such a way that it does not tear the shirt pocket while he tries to take it out for writing and keeping it back to his pocket. The pen should not be that heavy so that it makes the front pocket of the shirt “sag” in front and thus makes it an embarrassing situation for the customer who purchased the product. Mr. Hari buys a handcrafted slipper for his wife Mrs. Bari. He carries the product and hands it over to his wife Mrs. Bari. When Mrs. Bari tries to use the product, she finds it is too tight to fit over her feet covered with socks! The craftsmen did not factor this aspect that in winter women use socks and the feet with the socks should go inside the slipper. Thus, extra allowance should have been kept in the slipper for socks!

4.21 Key Points A. Consider green vegetation before setting up the craft manufacturing unit. B. Facilitate cross-ventilation by creating opening in opposite walls. C. Use light-coloured paints on roofs and walls to reduce temperature inside the premises. D. Green creepers on building can reduce temperature and make the rook comfortable. E. Light blue and light green colours in workplace create a subjective sensation of cool working environment. F. Work-rest cycle should be introduced to delay fatigue onset. G. For operations involving unscrewing or similar ones, left-handed users could be employed. H. Counting and packaging of products should be done at the end of production of every batch of products and not at the end of the day. I. Users need to regularly exercise and specially perform reverse bending exercises for preventing back pain. J. Exposure to solar radiation and well-balanced diet is essential for craftsperson. K. Technology in craft to be used with prudence. L. Need to preserve traditional way of doing things in craft. M. Packaging of craft products should reflect the product in in its actual context. N. Craft products need proper display in the visual cone of customers. O. While selling craft products, one should try creating the ambience for the same and focus on personal grooming of salesperson as well. P. Factor in the context of use of the product by the customers.

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4.22 Assignment A. Use ergonomic principles in designing a hand block printing unit Ergonomic Directions: 1. Look for vegetation in the vicinity. 2. Ensure adequate natural illumination and the position of the sun. 3. Choose locally available materials. 4. Use anthropometric dimensions for optimising the workspace. B. Use ergonomic principles to design a stone carving unit Ergonomic Directions: 1. Explore possibilities of water to make the process of stone cutting wet. 2. Ensure adequate ventilation by having one wall of the building movable for opening it up. 3. Windows to be fixed so that air is deflected inside the workspace. 4. Ensure openings for natural light. C. Analyse a hand block making unit and identify and suggest suitable exercises for the craftsmen Ergonomic Directions: 1. Reverse bending exercises if stooping for long. 2. Stretching of body parts and brisk walking after forty minutes of work. 3. If possible, lie supine and relax the muscles completely for five minutes. D. Analyse a blue pottery unit. Suggest ergonomic intervention for enhancing productivity keeping in mind that the suggestions should be non-design one. Ergonomic Directions: 1. Explore possibilities of rotating workers from tasks involving repetition and hazardous. 2. Analyse the posture and explore if workers of different anthropometric dimensions can do it better. 3. Explore increasing the duration of micro-breaks between works to ten minutes. E. Use ergonomic principles in designing the packaging of an earring made out of wood. Your customers are from all around the globe. Ergonomic Directions: 1. Image of the product on packet. 2. The product in context. 3. Sell at tourist site. 4. If possible, wear them while selling. F. Use ergonomic principles for displaying of craft merchandise at a roadside stall at the exit of a monument. Ergonomic Directions: 1. Display at the eye height of tourists.

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2. Ensure its background is light colour, use a light colour fabric if needed. 3. You can use local folk songs in tandem with the product.

Bibliography Sen RN (1984) The ergonomics society the society’s lecture 1983 The Churchill college, Cambridge, England, on 24 March. Ergonomics 27(10):1021–1032 Sen RN (2000) Ergonomic design of factory buildings in tropical countries. In: International encyclopedia of ergonomics and human factors-3 volume set, vol 901

Chapter 5

Application of Ergonomics in Different Craft Products

5.1 Overview This chapter exposes the readers to the application of ergonomic principles to different types of craft products. The products in craft are varied and hence their ergonomic considerations in terms of its usage, to ensure that the users of the products are satisfied with them. The chapter also focuses on the different ergonomic considerations in enhancing a pleasurable experience with different craft products.

5.2 The Range of Craft-based Products When it comes to craft-based products, there is always a huge range of them. In fact, customers are at times confused as to which products to choose and which one not to choose. Any craft-based products can be classified in many different ways. The most important aspects of craft-based product are the comfort, satisfaction and the task that it’s supposed to perform. If these conditions are met, then the customers are happy with the product and the product sells more. In many of the cases, the products look attractive, customers buy them and take them home. When the customers try to use them at home, they find that either they are not comfortable or difficult to use, or they are not able to perform the task that it was meant to be. Or it could so happen that the products are simply for home decoration. But in all cases, there is an element of customer product connection which is where the customers’ needs are to be considered. This consideration of the customer is in terms of dimension, look and feel, communication with the product or “how to use” it effectively s as to reap the maximum benefit out of it. Thus, products related to craft could be hand-held and portable, decorative items for home décor, wearable products, kitchen accessories and similar items.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 P. Mukhopadhyay, Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1063-2_5

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Fig. 5.1 Hand-held craft-based products (Image by Order https://pixabay.com/photos/mushrooms-vegetables-wokcooking- 6660682/)

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5.3 Craft-based Products Which Are Portable and Hand-held Products like tumbler, cups and saucer, wooden or bamboo spatula, etc., are popular in the market as craft-based products are mainly used by hand. Thus in the first step, the interface between the product and the hand should be in accordance with different anthropometric dimensions of the hand which has to be calculated as mentioned in the previous chapters. Once these dimensions are optimised, then you need to incorporate some textures on the handles so that it gives a proper feedback to the palm and that also gives the users a better control over the product. Next think of the context of use of the product. If it’s a spatula made out of wood or bamboo, then it would get oil and water over it. This would make it slippery to hold while cooking and might slip from the hand. Thus, textures in such cases would help. For similar products, you need to consider the dimensions of the finger, grip, thumb, etc., depending on how you want your customers to hold the product. (Fig. 5.1). Furthermore, all the products requiring human touch should ensure that the surface has a texture which “feels good” to touch. This could be achieved by adding a little texture to that part.

5.4 Craft-based Products Which Are Wearable Any product which is wearable needs to fit well on the human body and needs to be comfortable. To ensure this, you need to refer to the anthropometric dimensions of

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the body which are relevant to the touch point between the product and the human body. Products like shoes should have extra allowances for the feet to accommodate when it swells and expands after the person walks or stands for a long period of time. Products like jewellery which are worn on the body like earrings and nose rings should ensure that the dynamic movement of the body and the context of use are factored in. For example if the user intends to travel with earrings and nose rings in crowded public transport system, then the product should stick to the body and not protrude out. If it protrudes out, then the edges could get entangle in peoples’ clothing or they may hinder movement in crowded places. If necklaces are designed, then the movement at the neck region should be considered, else it might be difficult to move the neck. Similarly, when jewellery for the ankles is designed, then it should be loose enough to facilitate ankle movements but not that loose that it slips from the ankle over the footwear and touches the ground. The anthropometric dimensions of the feet and the ankle need to be considered in this case. While designing wristbands, the circumference of the wrist should be considered but again taking care not to make it so large that it slips over to the dorsal side of the palm when the hand moves.

5.5 Craft-based Products Used as Home Décor Many people buy craft products for decorating their homes. These types of products include wall hangs, lamp shades, paper weights, flower vase and the list goes on. When people buy these products, it’s mainly they buy them as a remembrance of the places they visited or as a product which has been made solely by hand and is representative of a particular group of person with a specific skill. People try to acquire products which are very exclusive to their own collection and not available with everyone. As craft products are handmade, it’s very difficult to find an exact copy of the same with others. In such products, the user product touch point should be such that it’s easy to handle and move them to the desired location. It’s not necessary that a separate handle has to be created always, because that might make the product look weird. The touch points should be integrated in the product with a little depression for the fingers to fit in or cold be mild elevations for the fingers to grasp. This is where the specific points on the products could be designed in a manner that where and how to hold the same becomes obvious (Fig. 5.2). These products like others should have attractive colours and a texture, because people have a habit of touching such products and it’s the touch and feel along with the design which gives them that “feel good” factor about the product. Every “hand-held “product should be designed keeping in mind the hand dimensions of the customers. If this is not done, the product would most likely fail.

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Fig. 5.2 Making holding/handling points on products obvious(Photo by Nathan Dumlao : https://uns plash.com/photos/JLPoB3 Gahcc)

5.6 Craft Products Which Augment the Beauty and Utility of Digital Products Some craft products are nowadays used as style statements by people as it gives a unique look and feel to the product. There are mobile cases made out of “bamboo/jute fibres” which are used by people to be used as a sling bag. There are cases made of different material and handcrafted with different design for laptops and tablets. These give the products protection as well as make them look “different” from those owing the same product. Since these are a protective layer over the original product, these products should follow the profile of the original product to ensure a good fit over them, without hindering the product functionality but augmenting its look and feel and making it “exclusive” for the customers. For example, everyone can own a mobile phone of a particular company if they have money. Every piece of the same mobile phone looks exactly same. Application of craft element (like mobile cover) makes them stand apart from the rest. This is because handcrafted products are never

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Fig. 5.3 Handcrafted cover user over mobile phones for making them look different (Photo by Laurenz Kleinheider https://unsplash.com/photos/JLPoB3Gahcc)

the same because of inherent human variation. Thus such products enhance the sense of “belongingness” among those owning these gadgets (Fig. 5.3).

5.7 The Way Forward for Craft Products In the era of rapid technological advancement, it’s always possible that technology can be brought in the craft sector to augment productivity. But craft products have their own “value” in that they are handmade by craftsmen, and as indicated in previous chapters no two craft products are exact the same unlike machine manufactured products. This variation in the product is the major unique selling point. Thus, there are many areas like hand block printing, handmade jewellery, handwoven carpets and sweaters, where technology can easily intervene and make the task easier and enhance productivity. But if you compare a machine-made and handmade craft product, you will find the difference. Look at a hand block and machine printed fabric. A machine printed fabric is very “monotonous” as it’s the same all through. The hand block printed fabric is much more lively because of variation for being printed with hand, as the edges of motifs are always not uniformly aligned, the motifs are at times dark and at times light because of the variation of hand pressure. Thus, there is a huge market for craft-based product only because they are “handmade”. Thus, technology and craft can always coexist for the betterment of all. Craft products after all have

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those “humane” elements in them, which is all about human love and emotion, along with culture of a specific group of people or a specific geographical location on this beautiful planet. While designing any handcrafted product you need to think of the users, their body dimensions, age, under what context they would be using the product, any extra allowances to be kept for movement or clothing, is the product safe to use, does it have sharp or protruding edges, etc. Your product is made by the craftsperson, you apply ergonomic principles there to aid in their productivity, they are then packaged, and ergonomic principles need to be applied there as well. Then when these products are purchased and used by the target users, ergonomic principles need to be applied there to ensure that users are able to use the product and reap the maximum benefit out of them. They should enjoy using the product and then only they would aspire for more such handcrafted products.

5.8 Key Points A. Ergonomics can be applied in the design of craft products to make them much more humane. B. Ergonomics in craft products emphasises on the product look and feel as well as the functionality of the same. C. Craft products can augment the beauty and utility of many digital devices. D. It’s the variation in craft-based product which is its unique selling point. It is the issue of human touch and feel that are added to it, and it reaches a different level. E. Technology and craft should be seen as complementary to one another and not as each other’s competitors.

5.9 Assignments A. A wall hang is to be designed, and it should be a craft-based product. It is to be kept in a corporate environment where meetings with different stakeholders are going to take place. The company for whom this is being designed is into manufacturing cellular phones. Your ergonomic design intervention is needed. Directions: 1. First through a user study of the stakeholders check out what is their perception of a wall hang and what elements it should contain. 2. Next decide the wall hang theme based on the inputs from the users and the ambience of the space, its official! 3. Use colours which are not too bright, else it might distract people in space. 4. For handling of the product, including its installation and maintenance provide demarcated areas to hold.

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B. A table lamp is to be designed for the children’s room, and it should be a craftbased product. The age group of the children are from 5 to 10 years. What ergonomic design directions would you suggest? Directions: 1. Safety is the most important criteria, and there should be no sharp edges. 2. The lamp should be easy to maintain, replacing the luminaire should be easy. 3. Bright colours might be used on the outer side. 4. The material to be used could be painted with the picture of a popular comic character.

Bibliography Sharples S, Buckle P (2018) Ergonomics/human factors–art, craft or science?: A workshop and debate inspired by the thinking of professor John Wilson. In: Contemporary ergonomics and human factors 2015, pp 148–150. Taylor & Francis Wilson JR (2000) Fundamentals of ergonomics in theory and practice. Appl Ergon 31(6):557–567

Chapter 6

Exercises in Craft Ergonomics with Ergonomic Design Directions

1. A craft sector manufacturing handmade wooden toys are looking for ergonomic design intervention in their manufacturing unit. The product is made with different types of hand tools, and the task is done on a small raised platform but while sitting on the ground. Your expertise is needed, for identifying the loopholes in the system and suggests ergonomic design intervention for the same. Ergonomic Design Direction: You need to first understand the work being done in this sector. Analyse the different steps involved in performing the task. As the task is performed what are the different postures they assume? Do they have to remain in any awkward posture like stooping, twisting the upper part of the body for major part of the day? In the next step, try to dry a diagram of the workplace with the space and all the different workstations. Identify in the diagram the number of human and tool and workplace interface. List down the areas of human tools/workplace interface where you feel it’s vulnerable to error. Give a list of good and bad ergonomic points in the workplace that you studied. 2. A craft sector making hand block prints on fabrics is having some problem related to back pain and shoulder pain. This is hampering the productivity in the sector. Suggest an ergonomic intervention for this problem. Ergonomic Design Direction: Pain in different parts of the body is an indication of mismatch between the body and the task being done. You need to check the height of the table on which this hand block printing is being done. Check whether the table is too high or too low or not and whether the craftsmen have to stoop or stretch their upper arms while printing. If that is so, then changes in height of the table is warranted. If this does not solve the problem see whether the workers have to stretch their upper arms while printing. In this case, you © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 P. Mukhopadhyay, Application of Ergonomics in Handicraft, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1063-2_6

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might have to ensure that the task is done within the reach of the workers and not extend beyond that where they have to bend forward. 3. In a craft sector making stone artefacts ranging from statues, utensils, table lamps, etc., there is a demand for designing the handle of the hammer which is used for making these artefacts. Craftsmen are complaining that the handle of the hammer is too big and it’s difficult to control them while working. This is also affecting the quality of the artefacts being designed. Ergonomic Design Direction: The problem suggested above indicates that there is a dimensional mismatch between the handle length and diameter and the dimensions of the craftsmen hand. For designing the handle, you need to refer to two aspects of it, the length and the diameter of the handle. Then equate the length of the handle with the palm breadth and the diameter of the handle with the grip inner diameter of the palm. After this go for anthropometric data optimisation. Once this is done, give the handle a form so that it fits the concavity in the palm. 4. A craft sector manufacturing head gear for the adult make population is in a fix as to fixing the dimension for the product and to ensure that it’s comfortable to use as well in summer. This head gear is to be used by the adult males as casual dressing attire. Your intervention is needed as an ergonomist for this product. The product is made out of fabric and is completely handmade. Ergonomic Design Direction: First the head gear should fit the head of the users. Take the anthropometric dimensions of the head from the database available. As per different anthropometric dimensions, try optimising the head gears for at least three different sizes. Keep in mind that the head gear should not be too loose or too tight on the head. If possible, you can provide for some small openings for dissipation of heat during warmer months. The same could be closed by a flap during winter to prevent heat loss. This is because around thirty per cent of the body heat is lost through the head. 5.

A craft sector is manufacturing bangles for women. These bangles are made out of lac. The lac is molten, and then a small wooden stick is used to heat the lac bar over the flame and gradually turned to make the bangles. Your help as an ergonomist is solicited in ensuring that these bangles fit the hand of the women. Ergonomic Design Direction: For wearing bangles, one has to slip them over the fingers and then slip them over to the wrist. It should fit loosely on the wrist so that it could glide along half way through the forearm. The design of this should factor in the anthropometric dimensions of “fist circumference” ensuring it just

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slips over the fingers and is not that loose that it slips back and falls. This is a product which again needs to come in different sizes depending on the variation in the anthropometric dimensions of the target users. Ensure that the edges of the product are rounded and smooth so that it does not lead to abrasions while wearing them on. 6.

A craft sector is manufacturing face mask for children. What ergonomic design directions would you recommend for this product? Ergonomic Design Direction: Since this is a facemask for children, the mask has to fit the profile of the child face. Thus, you need to consider the anthropometric dimensions of the face of the children population. You need to calculate through anthropometric dimensions the profile of the interior of the face mask so that it fits on the face. The opening of the eyes should match the position of the yes or the child would not be able to see while wearing the mask.

7.

In a craft manufacturing unit making “easy chair” for domestic use, the craftsmen are confused as to how to fix the dimensions of the product. Your help as an ergonomist is solicited for this product. Ergonomic Design Direction: For designing this product, you have to consider the anthropometric dimensions relevant to chair design. Some of these (but not limited to) dimensions could be the seat height, seat width, seat depth, lumbar height etc. Once these dimensions are optimised, then you need to add extra allowances for clothing, movement of the body and expansion of tissue near the buttocks when one sits.

8.

A big craft manufacturing sector making blue pottery (a special material for making pottery products like tea set, dinner set, etc.) for domestic is having some problem related to extreme heat in summer and lack of ventilation at the workplace. Workers are falling ill. The workplace is a structure with mud walls and thatched roof. There is no electricity in the area. What ergonomic design interventions would you recommend? Ergonomic Design Direction: For reducing temperature, big trees can be planted. Green creepers on building can also help in reducing the temperature. For facilitating ventilation, windows and doors in opposite walls can be created. If possible, a large portion of the wall could be made detachable which could be opened to allow for fresh air inside the workplace. Colouring the workplace in light colour like blue or green induces a sensation of “cool” environment for the craftsmen working in the place.

9.

Craftsmen normally work for long hours, especially during festive season. It’s always not possible for making changes in the workplace or redesign tools

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and workplace as per ergonomic norms. There are many reasons and more so resistance from the craftsmen who see them as unnecessary expenses. As an ergonomist, what “non-design” ergonomic intervention would you suggest? Ergonomic Design Direction: For preventing pain in different parts of the body, stretching and reverse bending exercises can be suggested. These should be done every morning before beginning the work. If possible, micro-breaks of a few minutes after very forty to forty-five minutes of work could be recommended. 10. A craft manufacturing unit is complaining of reduced illumination at the workplace. The unit manufactures a special handwoven fabric on which hand embroidery is done, which needs adequate illumination. What low-cost ergonomic intervention would you suggest? The remote rural area where the set-up is located has no electricity. The workplace has thatched roof and bamboo walls covered by palm leaves. Ergonomic Design Direction: For increasing the illumination level, the emphasis should be on bringing in natural illumination inside the workplace. This is possible by creating big windows and positioning the workplace near the window in a manner that craftsmen work with their back towards the window. Additionally, if possible transparent sheets could be applied on the roof or if the season is dry, a portion of the thatched roof could be made removable for permitting extra natural light. The rough steps in ergonomic intervention at the craft sector (Fig. 6.1):

Fig. 6.1 Line diagram depicting ergonomic design intervention in crafts