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Design Science and Innovation
Mohammad Muzammil Abid Ali Khan Faisal Hasan Editors
Ergonomics for Improved Productivity Proceedings of HWWE 2017 Volume 2
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.
More information about this series at https://link.springer.com/bookseries/15399
Mohammad Muzammil Abid Ali Khan Faisal Hasan •
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Ergonomics for Improved Productivity Proceedings of HWWE 2017 Volume 2
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Editors Mohammad Muzammil Department of Mechanical Engineering Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
Abid Ali Khan Department of Mechanical Engineering Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
Faisal Hasan Department of Mechanical Engineering Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
ISSN 2509-5986 ISSN 2509-5994 (electronic) Design Science and Innovation ISBN 978-981-16-2228-1 ISBN 978-981-16-2229-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2229-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 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
Preface
Ergonomic and human factors engineering has a vital role to play in today’s world of fierce competition. People are looking for new ways to improve productivity. Human-centred technology and the use of humans as a scarce resource are necessities of the moment. Researchers in the past have shown that the human–machine working environment as a whole, if given proper and due consideration, can lead to the operation of the system in an efficient manner. The work done in the area so far should be compiled/reviewed to standardize procedures, so that professionals and engineers can use the significant but scattered knowledge available in the literature. Not only will this help people improve results, but it will also recognize the need to make it an essential part of the work culture. Although the knowledge and use of such practices are somewhat satisfactory in industrially developed nations, the picture is quite bleak in developing and underdeveloped countries. Cost-effective ergonomic solutions based on their physiological and anthropometric consideration are the need of the moment for subsequent countries. These can greatly help you catch up with your developed counterparts. The papers contained in this proceedings were presented at the 15th International Ergonomics Conference on Ergonomics for Improved Productivity held at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, December 8–10, 2017, under the aegis of the Indian Society of Ergonomics. The aim of the conference was to provide a key international forum for academicians, researchers and industrial partners to exchange ideas in the field of ergonomics/human factors engineering. The outcome was the introduction of new and better ways to improve productivity by creating a better work environment that leads to a satisfying and sustainable way of life. The proceedings consists of two volumes that contain several modules of prominent research areas of ergonomics. The conference was well attended with the participation of researchers/practitioners from around the world. As there was a wide
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variety of people who contributed to these procedures, we are confident that they will prove to be a valuable collection on the topic of ergonomics for improved productivity and humanizing work and work environment. Aligarh, India
Mohammad Muzammil Abid Ali Khan Faisal Hasan
Contents
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Assessment of Human Cost of Work of Tribal Women Farmers in Harvesting of Maize with the Use of Improved Sickles . . . . . . . . Harshita Jain, Suman Singh, and Hemu Rathore
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Ergonomical Evaluation of Knapsack Sprayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. U. Shahare, V. V. Aware, N. A. Shirsat, and S. V. Pathak
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Product Design Interventions to Solve Issues Faced in the Use of a Hand-Held Blender in Domestic Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reenu Singh, Rauf Iqbal, and A. K. Pundir
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Total Ergonomics Model Applied to Thermal Power Plant for Workers Safety, Health and Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashad Ahmad, Taliv Hussain, Adnan Hafiz, Subhana Rais, Nabeel Hidayat, and Mohammad Faizan
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Effect of Drilling Speed and Task Duration on Workers’ Performance Using a Modified Feed Handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Masood Ashraf, Mohammad Muzammil, and Abid Ali Khan
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Thermodynamic Investigation of Transpiration Cooled Gas Turbine Blade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anoop Kumar Shukla, Meeta Sharma, and Onkar Singh
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Hatchback Car Judder—An Investigative Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . Gowtham Mahalingam and Meeta Sharma
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A Comparative Analysis of a Mouse and Touchpad Based on Throughput and Locations for a Laptop Computer . . . . . . . . . . Mohd Shah Faizan, Tauheed Mian, and Mohammed Muzammil
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Ergonomic Assessment of Log Bucking Operation Using a Chain Saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nooruzzaman, Md Faizan, and Abid Ali Khan
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10 Effects of Cartoon Network of School Going Children: An Empirical Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apurbalal Senapati, Bhaskar Saha, and Debkumar Chakrabarti
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11 Occupational Health, Safety, and Ergonomic Issues in Pulse Processing (Dal Mill) Units in North Karnataka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 S. M. Qutubuddin, S. S. Hebbal, and M. Manzoor Hussain 12 Foreign Animation and Indian Kids Behavior: An Innovative Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Bhaskar Saha, Apurbalal Senapati, and Debkumar Chakrabarti 13 Humanizing Education in Higher Classes: An Overview of Thermal Comfort and Other Parameters Affecting Human Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Sameen Mustafa, Mubashshir Ahmad Ansari, Qasim Murtaza, Mohd. Farooq, and Abid Ali Khan 14 Occupational Whole Body Vibration Exposure Among Tractor Drivers During Harrowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Amandeep Singh, Lakhwinder Pal Singh, Sarbjit Singh, and Harwinder Singh 15 Overview of Knowledge Management in Occupational Safety, Health, and Ergonomics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Syed Imran Shafiq, Edward Szczerbicki, and Cesar Sanin 16 The Effect of Spray Cooled and Air Cooled Condenser of a Window Air Conditioner on Human Thermal Comfort: Experimental Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Md. Zeeshanuddin, Md. Tauseef Raza, Taliv Hussain, Sameen Mustafa, Adnan Hafiz, Abdul Faheem, Abdul Ahad Ansari, and Suhail Ahmad Siddiqui 17 Effect of Welding Emissions on Health and Its Remedy by Friction Stir Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Sufian Raja, Abdul Faheem, Akhter Husain Ansari, Faisal Hasan, Qasim Murtaza, and Salman Mohd Khan 18 Automatic Detection of Exudates in Colour Fundus Images . . . . . . 169 Vaibhav Tiwari, Mohd Wajid, Nishant Varshney, and Omar Farooq 19 Vibration Analysis of Custom Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) for Drop Foot Patient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Falah Hasan, Qasim Murtaza, Faisal Hasan, Abid Ali Khan, and Mohd Parvez 20 Design and Analysis of a Custom Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) with Foot Drop Patient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Falah Hasan, Qasim Murtaza, Mehul Varshney, and Faisal Hasan
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21 Clutch Cum Accelerator Pedal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Abhas Raj Saxena, Rajat Sharma, M. Muzammil, and Parveen Farooquie 22 A Study on Cardio-Respiratory Efficiency of Bullocks for Threshing Paddy and Groundnut by a Multi-crop Thresher Operated in Rotary Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 S. K. Swain, A. K. Mohapatra, and A. K. Dash 23 The Possibility of Sustainable Development of Sualkuchi (The Biggest Silk Village of Assam) Handloom Sector Through Promotion of Rural Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Hitesh Sharma, Sougata Karmakar, and Debkumar Chakrabarti 24 Evaluation of Smartphone as a Real-Time Tool for Hand Tremor Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Priyadarshini Natarajan and Venkatesh Balasubramanian 25 Ergonomics and Its Contribution to Strategic Management . . . . . . 229 Mohd Abdul Moid Siddiqui and Ayesha Farooq 26 Risk Factors Associated with Accident Severity in Urban Chennai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Sathish Kumar Sivasankaran and Venkatesh Balasubramanian 27 Ergonomic Design and Static Analysis of Wheelchair Cum X-ray Table for Stress-Free Transfer of Patients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Obaidullah Khawar, Ayush Varshney, Mohammad Faisal Noor, Mohd. Farooq, and Fazal-Ur Rehman 28 Analysing the Academic Performance of Students Under Varying Climatic Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Mohd Kamil Vakil, Afreen Khan, and Abdul Rahman 29 Adjustable Pedal Box Assembly: An Ergonomic Approach . . . . . . 257 Syed Nasir Asghar, Sarif Anwar, and M. Muzammil 30 A Review on Human Factors and Ergonomics in School . . . . . . . . 267 Raghunathan Rajesh 31 Design and Development of Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) Based Lightweight, Flexible and Low-Cost Artificial Finger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Mohd Mohsin Ikram, Abhinandan Jain, and S. J. A. Rizvi 32 Exergy and Energy Analysis of Shower Cooling Tower Used for Air Cooling Application for Human Comfort with Variation in Inlet Air Dry Bulb Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Mohammad Zunaid, Qasim Murtaza, and Samsher
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33 Smelly Shoes—An Opportunity for Shoe Rack Re-Design . . . . . . . 287 Vikash Kumar and Sarthak Mittal 34 Occupational Health Problems Among Handicraft Workers in Arunachal Pradesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Poorni Bagra, Manjit Kaur Chauhan, and Prachi Patel 35 Ergonomic Design Assessment of Garment Retail Stores in Malls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Priyanka Basant and Manjit Kaur Chauhan 36 A Study on Comfort in Smart Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Kashif Ali, Mohd Zubair Akhtar, Sameen Mustafa, and Parvej 37 Study of Human Factors Responsible for Change in Design . . . . . . 317 Mohd Anas 38 Ergonomic Design of Angle of Abduction in Arc Welding Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Ali Nawaz, Md. Dilshad Alam, Imtiaz Ali Khan, Qasim Murtaza, Taliv Hussain, and Hasan Faraz 39 Effect of Indoor Environmental Quality on Human Comfort and Performance: A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 Junaid Khan, Taliv Hussain, Mohammad Talha Javed, and Sadaf Meraj 40 Work-Related MSDs Risk Assessment of Small-Scale Casting Industry Using Computer Added Posture Assessment (CAPA) . . . . 347 Praveen Kumar and Lakhwinder Pal Singh 41 Qualitative Investigation of Occupational Health and Safety Practices in Sports Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Johny Khajuria, L. P. Singh, Sarbjit Singh, and Arjan Singh 42 A Study on Laptop Ergonomics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 Aditya Shringi, Saleem Ahmed, and S. Darius Gnanaraj
Editors and Contributors
About the Editors Dr. Mohammad Muzammil is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and also in-charge of the Ergonomics Research Division. He has B.Sc. Engineering (Mechanical) and M.Sc. Engineering (Industrial and Production Engineering) from Aligarh Muslim University, India. He has self-supplicated his Ph.D. in Ergonomics. He has more than thirty years of teaching and research experience to his credit in the area of Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Economics and Management and Ergonomics. His research interest is hand tool design, human response to vibration and noise, noise control engineering, human– computer interaction and human cognitive performance. He has published around papers in journals of international and national repute and presented papers at several conferences. Dr. Abid Ali Khan is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and is also associated with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Biomedical and Human Factors Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology. He has B.Sc. Engineering (Mechanical) and M.Sc. Engineering (Industrial and Production Engineering) from AMU, Aligarh. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Limerick, Ireland. He teaches Ergonomics, Experimental Methods and Analysis, Design of Experiments and Research Methodology. His research interest is occupational ergonomics, human response to vibration, work-related musculoskeletal disorder and EMG. He has published more than 90 papers in various international and national journals and conferences. He is involved in the R&D activities related to the various areas, viz. whole body and hand-arm vibration exposure, ergonomic evaluation of new designs and EMG-based prosthetics. Dr. Faisal Hasan obtained his Ph.D. in the area of Reconfigurable Manufacturing System from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. He joined as a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, AMU, in 2003. His
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teaching and research interests include manufacturing systems, human factors and operations management. He has published more than 75 papers in journals of national and international repute. He has also attended and presented papers at various international and national conferences.
Contributors Ashad Ahmad Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZHCET, A.M.U, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Saleem Ahmed Department of Design and Automation, School of Mechanical Engineering (SMEC), VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India Mohd Zubair Akhtar Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, AMU, Aligarh, India Kashif Ali Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, AMU, Aligarh, India Abid Ali Khan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Mohd Anas Department of Mechanical Engineering, Integral University, Lucknow, India Abdul Ahad Ansari Mechanical Engineering Department, ZHCET, AMU, Aligarh, UP, India Akhter Husain Ansari Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Mubashshir Ahmad Ansari Mechanical Engineering Department, AMU, Aligarh, India Sarif Anwar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India Syed Nasir Asghar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India Masood Ashraf Ergonomics Research Division, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India V. V. Aware Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dapoli, Maharashtra, India Poorni Bagra Department of Resource Management, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu, Mumbai, India
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Venkatesh Balasubramanian Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; RBG Lab, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, Chennai, India Priyanka Basant Department of Resource Management, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, India Debkumar Chakrabarti Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India; Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India Manjit Kaur Chauhan Department of Resource Management, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu, Mumbai, India S. Darius Gnanaraj Department of Design and Automation, School of Mechanical Engineering (SMEC), VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India A. K. Dash AICRP On UAE, Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Md. Dilshad Alam Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Abdul Faheem Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZHCET, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India Md Faizan Mechanical Engineering Department, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Mohammad Faizan Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZHCET, A.M.U, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Mohd Shah Faizan Mechanical Engineering Department, AMU, Aligarh, India Hasan Faraz Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Ayesha Farooq Department of Business Administration, FMSR, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Mohd. Farooq Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Omar Farooq Department of Electronics Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Parveen Farooquie Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZH College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Adnan Hafiz Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZHCET, A.M.U, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Faisal Hasan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Falah Hasan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India S. S. Hebbal Industrial and Production Engineering Department, P.D.A. College of Engineering, Gulbarga, India Nabeel Hidayat Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZHCET, A.M.U, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Taliv Hussain Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZHCET, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Mohd Mohsin Ikram Department of Petroleum Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Rauf Iqbal NITIE, Mumbai, India Abhinandan Jain Department of Electronics Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Harshita Jain Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Mohammad Talha Javed Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Sougata Karmakar Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India Johny Khajuria Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India Abid Ali Khan Ergonomics Research Division, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Afreen Khan Department of Computer Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Imtiaz Ali Khan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Junaid Khan Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Obaidullah Khawar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India Praveen Kumar Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India
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Vikash Kumar Shiv Nadar University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India Gowtham Mahalingam Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India M. Manzoor Hussain Mechanical Engineering Department, JNTUH College of Engineering, Hyderabad, India Sadaf Meraj Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Tauheed Mian Mechanical Engineering Department, AMU, Aligarh, India Sarthak Mittal Shiv Nadar University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India A. K. Mohapatra AICRP On UAE, Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Salman Mohd Khan Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Qasim Murtaza Department of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Sameen Mustafa Mechanical Engineering Department, Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, AMU, Aligarh, UP, India M. Muzammil Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India Mohammad Muzammil Ergonomics Research Division, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Priyadarshini Natarajan Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Ali Nawaz Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Mohammad Faisal Noor Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India Nooruzzaman Mechanical Engineering Department, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Parvej Department of Mechanical Engineering, AMU, Aligarh, India Mohd Parvez Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Prachi Patel Department of Resource Management, SNDT Women’s University, Juhu, Mumbai, India S. V. Pathak Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dapoli, Maharashtra, India A. K. Pundir NITIE, Mumbai, India S. M. Qutubuddin Industrial and Production Engineering Department, P.D.A. College of Engineering, Gulbarga, India Abdul Rahman Department of Mathematics, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Subhana Rais Department of Home Science, A.M.U, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Sufian Raja Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, India Raghunathan Rajesh Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam, Kerala, India Hemu Rathore Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Md. Tauseef Raza Mechanical Engineering Department, ZHCET, AMU, Aligarh, UP, India Fazal-Ur Rehman Department of Anatomy, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India S. J. A. Rizvi Department of Petroleum Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Bhaskar Saha Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar, Assam, India Samsher Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India Cesar Sanin The University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia Abhas Raj Saxena Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZH College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Apurbalal Senapati Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar, Assam, India Syed Imran Shafiq Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India P. U. Shahare Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dapoli, Maharashtra, India
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Hitesh Sharma Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India Meeta Sharma Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India Rajat Sharma Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZH College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India N. A. Shirsat Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dapoli, Maharashtra, India Aditya Shringi Department of Design and Automation, School of Mechanical Engineering (SMEC), VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India Anoop Kumar Shukla Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India Mohd Abdul Moid Siddiqui Faculty of Management, Asian Business School, Noida, India Suhail Ahmad Siddiqui Mechanical Engineering Department, ZHCET, AMU, Aligarh, UP, India Amandeep Singh School of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, India Arjan Singh Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India Harwinder Singh Department of Mechanical Engineering, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC), Ludhiana, Punjab, India L. P. Singh Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India Lakhwinder Pal Singh Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India Onkar Singh Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur, India Reenu Singh NITIE, Mumbai, India Sarbjit Singh Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India Suman Singh Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Sathish Kumar Sivasankaran RBG Lab, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, Chennai, India
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S. K. Swain AICRP On UAE, Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Edward Szczerbicki Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland Vaibhav Tiwari Department of Electronics Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Mohd Kamil Vakil Department of Civil Engineering, Z. H. College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Ayush Varshney Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India Mehul Varshney Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Nishant Varshney Department of Electronics Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Mohd Wajid Department of Electronics Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India Md. Zeeshanuddin Mechanical Engineering Department, ZHCET, AMU, Aligarh, UP, India Mohammad Zunaid Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
Chapter 1
Assessment of Human Cost of Work of Tribal Women Farmers in Harvesting of Maize with the Use of Improved Sickles Harshita Jain, Suman Singh, and Hemu Rathore
1 Introduction India is among the top ten countries in the world with respect to production of cereals. Among the cereal crops, India stands on 6th position with respect to production of maize (FAO STAT 2013). It is third most important cereal in the country after wheat and rice. Women constitute almost half of the work force engaged in agriculture. The rural women participate in a broad range of agricultural activities such as production, processing, preservation and utilization of food. They play a key role in the entire food system starting from the selection of seeds, sowing, manuring, drying, stacking, storing and feeding the family from the harvested produce. Tribal women constitute half of the work force among tribals in India. Rural women play key roles in agriculture sector by working with full passion in production of crops right from the soil preparation till post-harvest activities (Ahmed and Hussain 2004). Tribal women are discriminated, though they make enormous contribution to the agriculture and allied sectors. They have very little access to the knowledge and skills of modern farm technologies and related resources. The data on participation and drudgery faced by tribal women in agriculture as per existing review are very limited. Hence, the present study was undertaken to establish a database on drudgery experienced therein tribal areas. The technology intervention gave exposure to tribal women for reducing drudgery in agriculture, particularly in maize harvesting operations. In the present investigation, the human cost of work in various parameters like biomechanical and physiological was done to compare the difference between traditional and improved methods of agriculture. The present study was conducted with the objective to assessed human cost of work of tribal women farmers in harvesting of maize with the use of improved sickles. H. Jain (&) S. Singh H. Rathore Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 M. Muzammil et al. (eds.), Ergonomics for Improved Productivity, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2229-8_1
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2 Methodology The present investigation was carried out in the Kherwada Tehsil of Udaipur district of the Rajasthan state, which is one of the tribal districts of the state. In selecting the district, the main consideration was the agriculture as the main occupation of people living in such villages. In this area, male migration rate is also high. Human cost of the work was calculated for 30 purposively selected women farmers who were willing to participate in identified drudgery-prone activity, i.e., harvesting performed by tribal women. Intervention with improved sickles was done on these 30 purposively selected subjects. The criteria of selection of these 30 subjects was on the basis of willingness of subjects, and normal range of BMI, blood pressure, and heart rate. The subjects having normal BMI, blood pressure, and heart rate and not suffering from any chronic disease were selected for investigation for getting reliable results. An experimentalcum-exploratory research design was used for this study as the study was concerned to find out the psycho-physiological cost of work in harvesting of maize.
3 Assessment of Health Condition of Selected Samples 3.1
Body Mass Index
Knowledge of respondents and limitations from physical point of view will help to determine their work–demand fitness compatibility. The height and weight of a person are also indicative of one’s fitness. For calculating the BMI, weight and height of the women farmers were taken. The height of the subjects was measured using an anthropometric rod and weight by bathroom weighing scale. BMI was studied as per the classification given by Garrow (1984). It was measured by Quetelet’s Index. The formula for calculation of BMI is: BMIðkg=sq:mÞ by Quetelet's Index ¼
S. No.
BMI class
1 30.0 *Chronic energy deficiency
WeightðkgÞ Heightðm2 Þ
Presumptive diagnosis CED* Grade III (Severe) CED Grade II (Moderate) CED Grade I (Mild) Low weight normal Normal Obese Grade I Obese Grade II
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3.2
3
Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is directly proportional to the amount of work done. The normal range of blood pressure ranges from 80 to 120 mmHg. It tends to increase with the amount of work done, thus increase physiological cost of work. Respondents’ blood pressure was measured by sphygmomanometer.
4 Assessment of Human Cost of Work in Maize Production System 4.1
Physiological Variables
In physiological variables, the energy expenditure and physiological cost of work were calculated and results drawn. The calculation of average heart rate was one to calculate energy expenditure as well as physiological cost of work.
4.2
Calculation of Energy Expenditure
Energy expenditure of each activity carried out by worker was estimated from the heart rate responses using the formula given by Varghese et al. (1994): Energy ExpenditureðkJ= minÞ ¼0:159 Average Working Heart Rate bmin1 8:72
4.2.1
Physiological Workload Index
The workload was determined as per the workload classification developed by Varghese et al. (1994). Physiological workload index Scores
Physiological workload
Energy expenditure (kJ/min)
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very light Light Moderately heavy Heavy Very heavy Extremely heavy
Upto 5 5.1–7.5 7.6–10.0 10.1–12.5 12.6–15.0 >15
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5 Measurement of Heart Rate for Calculation of Physiological Cost of Work Instrument—Heart Rate Monitor Circulatory stress was evaluated from the cardiac cost of work and cardiac cost of recovery. The cardiac cost of recovery is the total number of heart beats above the resting level occurring between the end of the work and return to the resting state (Saha 1999). The following formulae was used to calculate the total cardiac cost of work (TCCW) and physiological cost of work (PCW) (Singh et al. 2007). After preparing the subject for the experiment, the subject was asked to sit in shade in a relaxed position for 10 min. This was followed by taking resting heart rate for 5 min. The women were asked to perform the activity. During performance of activity, working heart rate was taken for 20 min. Immediately after the termination of the activity, the subjects were given rest and recovery heart rate was recorded for 5 min duration. Heart rate (HR) for every minute was recorded.
5.1
Calculation of Physiological Cost of Work
Heart rate data were used to calculate Physiological Cost of Work ¼
Total Cardiac Cost of WorkðTCCWÞ Total time of activities
TCCW = Cardiac Cost of Work (CCW) + Cardiac Cost of Recovery (CCR). CCW = Average Heart Rate (AHR) Duration. AHR = Average Working Heart Rate − Average Resting Heart Rate. CCR = (Average Recovery Heart Rate − Average Resting Heart Rate) Duration.
5.2
Biomechanical Variables
Biomechanical variables were calculated by measuring angle of deviation from natural angle of body and rapid upper limb assessment (RULA), and the results were drawn.
1 Assessment of Human Cost of Work of Tribal Women …
5.2.1
5
Measuring the Angle of Deviation
It was done in order to know the type of posture used in performing the activities in terms of standing, sitting, squatting, bending, and various combinations of these activities. The angle of body deviation was mainly focused on angle of the backbone. More the angle of deviation from normal, more will be the stress on the backbone, hands, and other body parts; hence, more will be the fatigue. For calculation of angle of deviation, the following steps were taken: • The subjects were asked to keep natural body posture which they adopt while not doing any kind of activity in a particular body posture of either sitting or standing. • The photographs were taken, and with the help of photographs in natural position, the angle of deviation was measured. • For measuring the angle of deviation, the photographs were placed on an empty white wall with the use of projector, and with the help of goniometer, angle of deviation was measured. • Similarly, the photographs were taken of the body parts involved in activity were elicited while performing the activity and the same procedure was followed. • The deviation between natural posture and working posture was illustrated in the results.
5.2.2
Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA)
• REBA is a postural targeting method for estimating the risks of work‐related entire body disorders by swift and methodical assessment of the postural risks of workers. REBA was developed by Hignett and Mc Atamney for assessing workers’ postures for determining risk index of work‐related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). Important tasks for each job are selected first. For each task, postural factors are assessed by assigning a score to each associated body region • The Group A (trunk, neck and legs) postures and the Group B (upper arms, lower arms, and wrists) postures for left and right sides of the body was scored. For each region, there is a posture scoring scale plus adjustment notes for additional considerations. Then, we scored the load/force and coupling factors. Finally, the activity was scored, and the scores from Table A for the Group A posture scores and from Table B for the Group B posture scores were found. Score A is the sum of the Table A score and the load/force score. Score B is the
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sum of the Table B score and the coupling score for each hand. Score A gives the row, and score B gives the column in Table C. Score C is read from Table C where this row and column coincides. The REBA score is the sum of the Score C and the activity score.
5.2.3
REBA Decision
After the data for each region were collected and scored, tables on the form were then used to compile the risk factor variables, generating a single score that represents the level of MSD risk as outlined below: • • • • •
1 Negligible risk, no action required 2–3 Low risk, change may be needed 4–7 Medium risk, further investigation, change soon 8–10 High risk, investigate and implement change 11+ Very high risk, implement change.
As seen, the score 1 represents the user to be at a negligible risk and does not require any corrective action to be taken. Scores ranging from 2 to 3 and 4 to 7 mean the user is at low and medium risk, respectively, and that further investigation is required to see if any changes are needed to be made. If the score is more than 8, it would mean the user is at high risk and needs to implement necessary changes instantly to correct the incorrect posture.
6 Information Regarding Improved Tools Used for Harvesting of Maize • The harvesting of maize was very tedious activity because of the thickness of the stem. The women farmer used conventional sickle which was non serrated and heavy in weight. This sickle requires high amount of force to cut the stem. • In the present study, two types of improved serrated sickles in which one was replacement of conventional sickle which is used for all crops and the other one named Laxmi sickle was specially designed for harvesting of maize crop by scientist of Dapoli.
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The data were collected personally by the investigator by using tools explained above for assessment of drudgery. Pre- and post-intervention data collection for human cost of work were also done and impact of improved technology was also assessed.
7 Results and Discussion Maize harvesting activity was also one of the women-dominated activity and had lot of physiological load and was drudgery prone to women. Traditionally, harvesting is done by conventional sickle which was found very heavy in weight and causes injuries to women’s hand, wrist, etc. It also requires lot of force to perform task as the maize stem is very thick. Due to application of force, women felt pain in wrist.
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The two types of improved sickles with different designs and dimensions were introduced, and the data were collected on psycho-physiological cost of work with the use of conventional and improved sickles, and the variation in the results was evaluated. The results are presented below.
7.1
Physical Characteristics of Subjects
For the assessment of psycho-physiological cost of work, the data were collected from 10 purposively selected subjects who were willing to participate in exploratory research. The psycho-physiological cost of work was calculated for both conventional and improved methods, and impact was illustrated in results. Table 1 revealed the physical characteristics of the women subjects selected for experimental work. The mean age of subjects was 33.38 years, mean height 159 cm, and mean weight 56.5 kg.
7.2
Health Status of Subjects
To avoid any experimental error and to minimize the effect of poor health status on women’s working capacity, total 30 subjects who belonged to age group of 25– 35 years having normal height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, heart rate and no history of chronic illness were selected purposively for the experimental purpose (Table 2).
7.3
Physiological Variables
Physiological variable, energy expenditure, and physiological cost of work were measure and the data compared with the use of conventional sickle. In the harvesting operation, conventional sickle was compared with two improved sickles. The summary of the data depicted the energy expenditure was 12 kJ/min which decreases when improved sickle I 10.22 kJ/min and improved sickle II 10.49 kJ/min were used. PCW was also high when conventional sickle
Table 1 Physical characteristics of selected women farmers
Physical characteristics Age (years) Height (cm) Weight (kg) n = 30
Mean
SD
33.8 159 50.5
±2.14 ±0.02 ±5.81
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Table 2 Health status of selected women farmers Variables of health status
Observed value (mean)
Blood pressure (mmHg) Systolic 125 ± 5.35
Recommended value
Category
References
120 mmHg
Normal
Guyton (2007) Guyton (2007) Guyton (2007) Garrow
Diastolic
73.8 ± 3.52
80 mmHg
Normal
Heart rate (bmin−1)
87.3 ± 6.6
70–80 bmin−1
Normal
19.24 ± 2.68
20–25 kg/sq m
13.8 ± 4.82
–
Below normal –
Body mass index (Kg/sq m) Working years n = 30
and Hall and Hall and Hall (1984)
–
(37.1) was used and decreased when Improved sickle I (33) and conventional sickle II (25.3) were used. Hence, it can be concluded that both the Sickles I and II were found efficient compared to conventional sickle on the basis of physiological variables. The data concluded that while working with improved sickles, the TCCW and PCW reduce. The data of both sickles were also compared, and it was found that sickle Laxmi was more effective in reduction of TCCW and PCW compared to improved Sickle I.
7.4
Output
The data presented in Table 3 depict that with the use of conventional sickle, the output was 150 m2/h which was increased up to 16.66%, i.e., 175 m2/h with the use of improved sickle I, whereas with the use of improved sickle II, output increased up to 26.66%, i.e., 190 m2/h. Thus, the human cost of work pertaining physiological variable was low while using improved technology as compared to conventional one.
8 Biomechanical Variables Biomechanical variable, i.e., angle of deviation of body, was measured, and with the use of REBA worksheet, the body discomfort category was studied.
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Table 3 Percentage change in heart rate, energy expenditure, output, TCCW, and PCW by use of improved sickles over conventional Physiological parameters
Conventional sickle Mean/SD
Improved sickle I Mean/SD
Improved sickle II (Laxmi) Mean/SD
% change I
t value
% change II
t value
Average resting heart rate, bmin−1
83.4/3.4
84.9/3.7
83.5/0.8
–
Average working heart rate, bmin−1
130.3/9.7
119.1/ 1.04
120.8/1.2
8.59
2.78
7.29
3.33
ΔAWHR over rest, bmin−1
46.9
34.2
37.3
27.07
–
20.46
–
Average energy expenditure resting, bmin−1
4.54/0.54
4.78/0.58
4.55/0.58
–
–
–
Average energy expenditure working, bmin−1
12/1.55
10.22/ 1.60
10.49/ 1.90
14.83
2.78
12.58
Output, m2/h
150
175
190
16.66
–
26.66
–
Total cardiac cost of work (TCCW)
954/13.13
841/23.54
711/25.38
11.84
1.28NS
25.47
3.88
Physiological cost of work (PCW)
31.8/0.44
28.0/0.78
23.7/0.85
11.94
1.28NS
25.47
3.88
–
3.33
* significant at 1% level of significance n = 30 NS = Non significant
8.1
Angle of Deviation of Body
8.2
Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA)
The data depicted in Table 4 depicted that the natural angle of the women subjects back in sitting position 90.7°, neck 180.6°, and wrist 180.7°. When conventional sickle was used, the angle of body was changed to 135.1°, 200.3°, and 236.8°, respectively, whereas with the use of improved Sickles I and II, the reduction in percent change in angle was clearly seen which revealed that the use of improved tools helped the women subjects in maintaining the natural posture of the body which ultimately reduced the chances of occupational health problems. Furthermore, Table 5 reveals that when the conventional sickle was used the REBA
Natural
Conventional sickle
Back 90.7 135.1 Neck 180.6 200.3 Wrist 180.7 226.8 * significant at 1% level of significance n = 30 NS = Non Significant
Body parts 48.95 10.90 25.51
% change 125.1 200.4 222.5
Improved Sickle I 37.92 10.96 23.13
% change 6.84* 0.059NS 6.61*
t value 126.4 200.8 215.5
Improved sickle II (Laxmi)
Table 4 Angle of deviation (in degree) of back, neck, and wrist in harvesting operation of maize production system
39.36 11.18 19.25
% change
7.35* 0.384NS 10.02*
t value
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Table 5 REBA scores of women farmers performing harvesting operation Activity
Mean and SD Neck and trunk and leg score Score A
Action category Arm and wrist score
REBA score
Score B
Total score + Activity score
Conventional sickle
5.5 ± 0.53
6.4 ± 0.52
7.5 ± 0.53
Sickle I
5.3 ± 0.67
6.2 ± 0.63
7.2 ± 0.63
Sickle II
5.5 ± 0.53
4.4 ± 0.52
5.2 ± 0.42
Medium risk, further investigate, change may be needed Medium risk, further investigate, change may be needed Medium risk, further investigate, change may be needed
n = 30
action category was found in “Medium Risk” side which remained same with the use of improved sickle. It was observed that the REBA scores decreased but the category remained same which indicated that more interventions needed in this field. Hence, the data concluded that with the use of improved sickles the angle of back and wrist was reduced, but the angle of neck remained same but the reduction in the back and wrist angle made the work of the women farmers easier and efficient. Thus, the human cost of work pertaining biomechanical variable was low while using improved technology as compared to conventional.
9 Summary and Conclusion The human cost of work was calculated on physiological variable and biomechanical variable. The results of these variables are summarized below: • In the physiological variable, heart rate, energy expenditure and physiological cost of work were calculated for weeding, harvesting and maize shelling activity. The data concluded that all these parameters were high when women uses the conventional tools compared to improved tools. Hence, improved sickles were found more efficient compared to conventional sickle and manual work. • The data of biomechanical variable were calculated by calculating the angle of deviation of various body parts while performing activity and rapid entire body assessment. The data revealed that in all the operations the use of improved tool
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reduces the angle of deviation from natural angle which leads to reduction of MSD and postural discomfort. All the improved tools were designed ergonomically; hence, their use reduced the angle of deviation of body and made women farmers to adopt natural posture while at work. RULA scores also revealed that in conventional tools there was high risk of MSDs which was reduced with the use of improved tools.
References Ahmed N, Hussain A (2004) Women’s role in forestry: Pakistan agriculture, pp 79–81. Agriculture Foundation of Pakistan, Islamabad FAO STAT (2013) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation. Retrieved from http:// Fao3.fao.org/faostat-gateway/go/to on 20 Oct 2013 Garrow JS, Webster J (1985) Quetelet’s index as measure of fatness. Int J Obes 9:147–153 Hignett S, McAtamney L (2000) Rapid entire body assessment (REBA). Appl Ergon 31 (2):201205 Saha PN (1999) Workload and postural stress. In: Advance training in Ergonomics. SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, M.S. (India) Singh SP, Mathur P, Rathore M (2007) Weeders for drudgery reduction of women farm workers in India. J Agric Eng 43(4):119–125 Varghese MA, Atreaya N (1989) Aerobic capacity of females from the state of Maharastra. DRS (GGC)
Chapter 2
Ergonomical Evaluation of Knapsack Sprayer P. U. Shahare, V. V. Aware, N. A. Shirsat, and S. V. Pathak
1 Introduction Insecticides and fungicides are usually applied as foliar sprays. Herbicides are mostly sprayed either onto foliage or the soil. Thus, spraying of liquid and wettable powder formulations is the most common method of application, and thus, wide variety of spray apparatus has been developed. Depending upon the type of agricultural practices and economic development of area, different types of sprayers are used. In most of Asian countries, most chemicals are applied with the help of small hand-operated hydraulic sprayer (Bateman 2006). The main function of a sprayer is to break the liquid into droplets of effective size and distribute them uniformly over the surface or space to be protected. Another function is to regulate the amount of insecticide to avoid excessive application that might prove harmful or wasteful. A sprayer that delivers droplets large enough to wet the surface readily should be used for proper application. Knapsack sprayers are manually operated pest control equipment widely used by Indian farmers. Knapsack sprayers are commonly used to apply pesticides or other agricultural chemicals. Lever-operated knapsack sprayers in terms of material and sophistication, their basic operation is becoming more prevalent on small farms, in nurseries, and in forestry; they are also utilized for agricultural research and extension works. As the knapsack sprayer is a manually operated tool, its performance depends upon equipment design as well as the worker’s ease of operation. If ergonomic aspects are not given due consideration, the worker may have to take long and/or frequent rest pauses during work and the work output will be less (Ghugare et al. 1991). While operating a sprayer, the head and neck of the operator fall forward to counterbalance the weight of the sprayer. The straps of the sprayer cut deep into P. U. Shahare (&) V. V. Aware N. A. Shirsat S. V. Pathak Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dapoli, Maharashtra, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 M. Muzammil et al. (eds.), Ergonomics for Improved Productivity, Design Science and Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2229-8_2
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muscles, and severe discomfort is felt in the clavicular region. Due to continuous operation of the lever, discomfort is also felt in the shoulder and arm regions. The ergonomic evaluation of the sprayer may provide preliminary information about physical stress on the operator during operation. Number of knapsack sprayers of different make are available in the market. In order to know its performance of available knapsack sprayer (Make: Surya Agrotech. Indore, Model: Jai Kisan), work of its ergonomical performance was undertaken.
2 Materials and Methods The ergonomic evaluation of the knapsack sprayer was undertaken. The maximum aerobic capacity, energy cost of operation, grading of energy cost, acceptable workload, and assessment of overall discomfort rating (ODR) and body part discomfort score (BPDS) in the operation by different workers were computed. A typical hand-operated knapsack sprayer (Make: Surya Agrotech. Indore, Model: Jai Kisan) consists of a plastic tank of 16 L capacity, a connecting hose with a lance and a nozzle, leaver for producing pressure. Two shoulder straps were attached to the tank for fixing sprayer on to the operators back. Selection of subjects plays a vital role in conducting the ergonomic studies. The subject should be without any major illness and handicaps. Maximal oxygen uptake, heart rate, and muscle strength decrease significantly with old age. The maximum strength or power can be expected from the age group 19–35 years or 25–35 years. However, it was observed that workers from 19 to 45 years of age were engaged in farm operation in Konkan region; hence, the age group of the selected subjects was from 20 to 45 years considering that the subject should be a true representative of the user population. Computerized bicycle ergometer (Monarkergomedic 839E) was used as loading device, and computerized energy measurement system (K4b2) was used for measuring heart rate and oxygen consumption rate of subject. Calibration of subject is shown in Fig. 1. Bicycle ergometer is a test cycle which has an adjustable brake system where the brake force can be read in kg or N. The actual brake power is showed in watt or kcal on the computer. The ergometer is equipped with computer showing pedal revolution per minute, heart rate (bpm), exercise time in minute and second (time), cycle speed in km/h or mile/h, covered distance in kilometer or mile, burned calories (kcal) and the power on the cycle (Watt). For energy measurement, K4b2 of portable unit and receiver unit was used. The portable unit contains the O2 and CO2 analyzers, sampling pump, barometric sensors. It is powered by the rechargeable battery fixed to the back side of the harness. K4b2 is also provided with a small display, the portable unit shows in real time parameters as VT, VE, VO2, VCO2, HR, battery charge level, temperature and
2 Ergonomical Evaluation of Knapsack Sprayer
17
Fig. 1 Calibration of subject
barometric pressure. Besides data processing and presentation, the portable unit has the functions like subject data input, environment data input (humidity), gas and turbine calibration (automatic), memory functions, test data management and data loading to a PC (via RS 232). Calibration of subject was carried to determine the aerobic capacity of subjects. The aerobic capacity was assessed through conducting sub maximal tests on computerized bicycle ergometer (Monark, Ergomedic 839E). The subject was asked to pedal the bicycle at a pedaling rate of 50 rpm. Pedaling speed is maintained by using metronome. The workload was automatically increased by 15 W at an interval of 2 min by bicycle ergometer. The heart rate and VO2 values are directly downloaded to the computer breadth by breadth. A target heart rate was taken as approximately 75% of the age predicted maximum heart rate. The maximum heart rate attainable by the subject was computed by the following relationship. HRðmaxÞ ¼ 220 age in years Every test was continued for 16 min duration or up to the period, subject had fully exhausted, whatever was reached earlier. Correlation between heart rate and oxygen consumption rate at specified sub maximal workloads were developed and the regression line was extrapolated to the age predicted maximum heart rate and VO2 max corresponding to HR max was noted. The maximum aerobic capacity also called as maximum oxygen uptake capacity or VO2 max. The acceptable workload (AWL) for Indian workers was the work consuming 35% of VO2 max (Saha et al. 1979). To ascertain whether the operation of the selected implement is within the
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acceptable workload (AWL), it is necessary to compute the VO2 max for each subject. The intersection of the computed maximum heart rate of the subjects with the plotted calibration chart line of fit to the oxygen uptakes defines the maximum aerobic capacity (VO2 max) of the individual. The VO2 max for all the subjects was computed and recorded.
3 Results Ergonomical evaluation of hand-operated knapsack sprayer was conducted for assessing its suitability for spraying with the selected subjects. The average heart rate from 6 to 15th min. of operation was used as working heart rate for the further calculation and analysis. The same procedure was adapted to all the selected subjects and heart rate, oxygen consumption, energy cost of operation, acceptable work load, overall discomfort rating, body part discomfort score were determined. The predicted maximum heart rate of the ten men subjects varied from 159 to 189 bpm. The mean value of predicted maximum heart rate of selected subjects was 167.6 bpm. The maximum aerobic capacity of the selected ten men subjects varied from 1.70 l/min to 2.66/min. The average value of VO2 max of all selected subjects was 2.16 l/min. Individual differences in the value of the VO2 max were due to the differences in the ability to supply oxygen to the muscles and also due to genetic factors. The recorded values of max. heart rate and max. aerobic capacity are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Details of selected subjects and maximum aerobic capacity Sr. No
Age, years
Stature, cm
Body weight, kg
Maximum heart rate, bpm
Maximum aerobic capacity (VO2 max), l/min
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mean
23 20 21 33 22 24 31 20 36 43 27.3
171 173 167 176 176 165 162 183 167 164 170.4
65 62 57 64 64 71 58 71 65 59 63.6
180 189 178 167 174 160 142 164 163 159 167.6
1.99 2.66 2.62 1.88 2.84 2.74 1.70 2.14 2.06 2.33 2.16
2 Ergonomical Evaluation of Knapsack Sprayer
3.1
19
Ergonomical Evaluation of Hand Operated Knapsack Sprayer
Ergonomical evaluation of hand-operated knapsack sprayer was carried out in terms of following parameters.
3.1.1
Working Heart Rate and Oxygen Consumption
The heart rates of ten male subjects were measured, while operating the hand-operated knapsack sprayer at Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dapoli. The heart rate values (HR) recorded in the computerized heart rate monitor during the operation of spraying. The corresponding values of oxygen consumption rate (VO2) of the subjects were predicted from the calibration chart of the corresponding subjects. The oxygen consumption rate as percent of VO2 max is presented in Table 2.
3.1.2
Energy Cost of Operation
The energy expenditure in the operation of spraying for all the subjects was calculated by multiplying 20.88 kJ/l (O2 calorific value) to the oxygen consumption values which was predicted from 6 to 15th minute heart rate of operation. The values are furnished in Table 3.
Table 2 Recorded values of heart rate and predicted values of oxygen consumption of subjects for hand-operated knapsack sprayer during field operation Subjects
Average working HR (beats/min)
Oxygen consumption rate, VO2 (l/min)
VO2 max (%)
Acceptable workload (35%VO2 max)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Avg
86 89 102 98 100 101 85 99 92 93 94.5
0.51 0.83 0.54 0.46 0.49 0.58 0.39 0.78 0.42 0.56 0.55
25.62 31.20 20.61 24.46 20.42 21.16 22.94 36.44 20.38 24.03 24.73