Title: Ergonomic assessment of bar cutting process in construction

Authors: Venkatesh Balasubramanian, G. Swami Prasad

Addresses: Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, Chennai 600036, India. ' Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, Chennai 600036, India

Abstract: Bar cutting involves manual cutting of reinforcement bars to specific dimensions. Repetitive nature and awkward postures adopted during bar cutting leads to musculoskeletal disorders. RULA was performed to evaluate muscle force and postures. Grand RULA score was found to be 7. Pain was graded on a scale of 0 to 5 on RBG pain scale (RBGPS). Questionnaire study showed that pain in forearm and shoulders were the most common. Good correlation (r² = 0.912) was observed between RBGPS and RULA scores. Optimisation of lift frequency and hammer weight, along with intervention devices reduces RULA score to 3.

Keywords: bar cutting; construction industry; occupational safety; RBG pain scale; RULA; upper extremity disorder; reinforcement bars; musculoskeletal disorders; muscle force; posture; ergonomics; human factors; lift frequency; hammer weight; intervention devices; repetitive work.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2006.009798

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2006 Vol.1 No.3, pp.321 - 332

Published online: 12 May 2006 *

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