Investigation of ergonomic working conditions of sewing and cuttingmachine operators of clothing industry

Abstract

The textile industry is a very labour intensive industry which mainly comprises of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).In developing countries, usually occupational health and safety programs are focused on large-scale organisations. Across-sectional study on evaluating ergonomics risk factors associated with task performing strategies has been carriedout at cutting and sewing units of a garment industry organisation. A reliable direct observational ergonomics riskassessment method Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) was used to find out the risk associated with workingpostures adopted by the workers. Data was collected through physical observations, walkthrough, interviews, and videorecordings. Data analysis was carried out on 180 selected postures by using REBA method. It concluded that overallworking strategies were poorly designed as more than 30% of postures highlighted a high level of risk of MSDs thatnecessitates immediate investigation for improvement. Major causes of risk were linked with the postural movementsattached with the wrist, lower arm, and neck. The findings of the study add to the understanding of working conditionsof cutting and sewing activities at garment manufacturing industries, these could help in the design of ergonomicsinterventions for reducing musculoskeletal symptoms and improving job quality which eventually increases workproductivity.