Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among handloom weavers of Uttarakhand : an ergonomic study

Abstract

Long hours of static work with awkward working postures at traditionally designed looms can cause high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among handloom weavers. Because of incompatible working situations handloom weaver in textile industries are confronting with many work related musculoskeletal problems related to pain and discomfort in upper and lower extremities. Keeping this in view, the present study was planned to assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and postural discomfort among handloom weavers. For this study, 64 (male and female) handloom weavers aged 20-55 years were selected randomly from Almora and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand state. To collect the information, standardized Nordic questionnaire was used to assess pain and discomfort in different body regions of handloom weavers. It was observed that those workers worked continuously in awkward postures during weaving activities. Consequently they suffered from high discomfort in their different body parts. High rate of pain and musculoskeletal disorder was most prevalent in right wrist, left wrist, hip/thigh, neck and lower back of the workers. The data reveled that since last 12 months, total 76.56 percent workers were suffered with pain and discomfort in right hand and 73.44 percent workers had pain and discomfort in both elbows. During last month, 73.44 percent workers were suffered with pain and discomfort in upper back because of awkward working postures whereas during 7 days, total 59.38 percent workers had pain in lower back. The study indicates that the traditional handloom weaving demands immediate ergonomic intervention in the workstation and process design.