Ergonomics study on productivity of middle-aged workers in the shoe industry

Abstract

Majority of the local footwear manufacturers still impose the traditional or hand-made processes with low-level of technology. A correlational research design, using linear regression analysis, aimed to understand the relationship between health issues, work environment, and efficiency that can affect the productivity of middle-aged and older workers in the shoe industry. There are 139 respondents from 16 shoe manufacturing companies within Marikina City participated in this study. Rapid Upper Limb Assessment and 10-point rating scale survey questionnaires, worker evaluation, and company evaluation checklists were used to gather data directly from the respondents and to assess their posture, tasks, and work environment. RULA scores show that 53 out of 139 workers (38%) experience medium to very high MSD risk. Chi-square test of significance and correlation test results show that there are fourteen (14) statistically significant factors with moderate linear relationships that affect the productivity of the workers. Safety measures, surface features, tool features, tool activities, illumination, and ventilation are the main categories that should be given utmost importance for improvement in every workplace. Health issues and efficiency have a weak degree of relationship with productivity, but pareto charts and fishbone diagrams show the factors under these variables that need consideration.