Abstract
“Coolie’s” are recognized as one of the oldest occupations under the unorganized sector in India. More than 90% of the workers who contribute to the economy of the country are under the unorganized sector, making it essential to look into their work conditions and to increase their efficiency of work. In recent years, the world prefers mechanization at work places, but in the Indian railways, the sahayaks are directly exposed to strenuous physical activity which they endure for their livelihood. In view of the above, the current study focuses on the ergonomic risks the workers experience and proposes a possible intervention for increasing the efficiency and reducing the musculoskeletal problems they face. For the purpose of the study, several methods like self-reported questionnaires, REBA, NMQ, WERA, QEC, were used to assess and analyze the ergonomic risks and the symptoms of the MSD among the sahayaks. The results of the study contribute to planning and implementing an ergonomic design intervention. Based on the results of the study, we propose a design intervention of adjustable trolley, which could be altered according to the sahayak’s convenience and can be rolled over a ramp on the staircases making it an effortless and efficient design to reduce the physical strain experienced by the sahayaks.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abd Rahman MN, Rani MRA, RohaniI JM (2011) WERA: an observational tool develop to investigate the physical risk factor associated with WMSDs. J Human Ergol 40(12):19–36
Ajay AG, Harikrishna KL, Bharatharajan S, Avinashilingam MK (2017) Design and development of light weight mechanical staircase climbing trolley with better stress distribution. J Chem Pharma Sci ISSN 974:2115
Burdorf A, Windhorst J, Van der Beek AJ, Van der Molen H, Swuste PHJJ (2007) The effects of mechanised equipment on physical load among road workers and floor layers in the construction industry. Int J Ind Ergon 37(2):133–143
Cremasco MM, Giustetto A, Caffaro F, Colantoni A, Cavallo E, Grigolato S (2019) Risk assessment for musculoskeletal disorders in forestry: a comparison between RULA and REBA in the manual feeding of a wood-chipper. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16(5):793. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16050793
David G, Woods V, Li G, Buckle P (2008) The development of the Quick Exposure Check (QEC) for assessing exposure to risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Appl Ergon 39(1):57–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2007.03.002
Hariharan S (2017) Modernisation of railway stations in India. Rail Transport J 26(1):37–52
Kaushik A (2016) Mechanically autonomous system for efficient coach water refilling in Indian railways. Emerging Energy Technology-Sustainable Approach
Khan MR, Singh NK (2018) Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among Indian railway sahayaks. Int J Occup Environ Health 24(1–2):27–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/10773525.2018.1507187
Maulik S, Iqbal R, De A, Chandra AM (2014) Evaluation of the working posture and prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among medical laboratory technicians. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil 27(4):453–461
Nur NM, Dawal SZ, Dahari M, Sanusi J (2015) Muscle activity, time to fatigue, and maximum task duration at different levels of production standard time. J Phys Therapy Sci 27(7):2323–2326. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.27.2323
Qutubuddin SM, Heblal SS, Kuma ACS (2013) Ergonomic evaluation of tasks performed by workers in manual Brick kilns in Karnataka, India. Glob J Res Eng Ind Eng 13(4):35–42
Sarkar S (2019) Problems of Indian Railway management. IRJET 6
Singh S, Chokhandre P (2015) Assessing the impact of waste picking on musculoskeletal disorders among waste pickers in Mumbai, India: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open 5(9). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008474
Thakur AS, Joshi K, Parikh V, Vakharia V (2018) Investigation of musculoskeletal disorders and their associated risk factors among Indian railway coolies: a cross-sectional study. Adv Phys Ergon Human Factors Adv Intell Syst Comput 364–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94484-5_38
Vøllestad NK (1997) Measurement of human muscle fatigue. J Neurosci Methods 74(2):219–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-0270(97)02251-6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Deosthali, I., Bagmar, N., Mishra, W. (2022). Adjustable Design Intervention for Rail Sahayakas to Reduce Physical Discomfort. In: Rana, N.K., Shah, A.A., Iqbal, R., Khanzode, V. (eds) Technology Enabled Ergonomic Design. HWWE 2020. Design Science and Innovation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6982-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6982-8_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-6981-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-6982-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)