An ergonomic workstation design for apparel manufacturing workers in the Philippines

Abstract

on-year growth rate index of 35.9% in the value of production (PSA, 2017). The local garments industry is picking up, leading export growth in the first four months of the year. Industry leaders said that the Philippine garments industry has bigger chances of growing faster. However, since the textile and apparel industry has been growing, this leads to dangerous occupational safety and health conditions for workers. Because of this, it became the research interest of authors to conduct an ergonomic workstation design for workers in apparel manufacturing company. Initially, the body discomfort experienced by workers in their current work setup were identified using Cornell Musculoskeletal Disorder Questionnaire (CMDQ). Then factors that affect the discomfort of workers were identified based on review of related literature, actual observation and interview from the respondents. 150 subjects were included in the study consisting of knitting, cutting and sewing operators. Factors that were considered in the study are age, BMI, duration of work hours, years of work experience, and other personal factors like smoking habits and alcohol intake. Afterwards, multiple regression analysis was used to identify significant factors affecting the body discomfort workers. Then, using the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) the level of risk of workers were assessed based on their working posture. Finally, using the principles of anthropometry, an ergonomic workstation design was developed and were compared to present design of workstation to know if there is a mismatch and identify the gaps in the design.