Title: Postural stress analysis with MSD symptoms of welders and solution for workstation design

Authors: Das Suman; Banerjee Debamalya; Mukherjee Shankarashis; Chakrabarty Sabarni

Addresses: Department of Production Engineering, Jadavpur University, India ' Department of Production Engineering, Jadavpur University, India ' Department of Physiology, University Colleges of Science and Technology, India ' Department of Physiology, West Bengal State University, India

Abstract: High rates of disabling work related-musculoskeletal disorders are found among various skilled welders in manufacturing sectors in West Bengal. In the absence of an ergonomics standard, some manufacturing sectors have designed their own workstations on voluntary basis but several MSD symptoms are noticed. The objectives of the study are to carryout various MSD symptoms, evaluation of work posture, postural stresses during welding. The identification of major factors associated with MSD symptoms and development of ergonomically designed workstation are also the aim of the study. RULA, OWAS and discomfort questionnaire are used to collect data on MSD symptoms. FEA is used for analysis of postural stresses of welders. Results indicate that the prevalence rates of symptoms in different body regions are very high. It is highly recommended to consider the requirements from welders in designing the welder's job table for increasing the welder's efficiency and job quality.

Keywords: finite element analysis; FEA; Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System; OWAS; postural analysis; RULA; stress intensity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFEM.2020.109208

International Journal of Forensic Engineering and Management, 2020 Vol.1 No.1, pp.4 - 23

Received: 17 Nov 2018
Accepted: 26 Jun 2019
Published online: 01 Sep 2020 *