RULA and REBA risk assessment system on salt workers in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines

Authors

  • Yi-Lo Cheng Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University
  • Klint Allen A. Marinas Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University
  • Charmine Sheena R. Saflor Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University
  • Yung-Tsan Jou Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31098/cset.v2i1.540

Abstract

This descriptive study focused on the ergonomic risk assessment of salt workers in Occidental Mindoro to determine which work activities posed risks to the farmworkers and assess the relationship between profile variables and the total pain and body parts pain experienced by the salt workers. The Nordic Questionnaire was used to detect symptoms composed of 28 multiple choice questions and structured into two well-differentiated parts; the first part refers to symptoms in nine parts of the body (neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists/hands, upper back, lower back, hip/thighs, knees, and ankles) during the last 12 months. The second part refers to the neck, shoulders, and lower back symptoms throughout the subject’s working life/seven days beforehand. Correlation analysis and descriptive statistics were used to interpret data. The study's findings revealed that the salt workers are middle adults, have been working in the salt farms for most of their lives, have heights and weights within the average height and weight for Filipino males. Results further suggest that the work activities that posed risks and caused pain to the salt workers are, transporting salt, collecting salt, and filling the salterns with brine. Moreover, age and years of working are also significantly related to the pain in body parts experienced by the salt workers in doing the activities that pose risks to them. The body parts that are likely to feel pain are the neck, lower and upper back, and knees. Lastly, in knowing the risky work activities of salt farmers, mitigation measures can be proposed.

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Published

2022-04-22

How to Cite

Cheng, Y.-L., Marinas, K. A. A., Saflor, C. S. R., & Jou, Y.-T. (2022). RULA and REBA risk assessment system on salt workers in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. RSF Conference Series: Engineering and Technology, 2(1), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.31098/cset.v2i1.540