Ergonomic Evaluation of the Packing Line

OSH4308-15C-1 Unit 8 Project 1
Ergonomic Evaluation of the Packing Line
Faisal Ahmed
Columbia Southern University

OSH4308-15C-1 Unit 8 Project 2
Introduction and Background
According to Reeuwijk, Robroek, Hakkaart & Burdorf (2014), the term ergonomics
refers to the study of workers efficiency in their working environment. It involves examining the
relationship between the employees and the environment under which they work. A remarkable
number of studies has been done in various industries and companies in the world regarding
health issues related to work. According to those studies, most of the sampled employees
revealed that their static sitting posture puts a lot of strain on their arm muscles, shoulders, legs
and neck. This was attributed to the inadequacy of knowledge and also awareness of the
workplace ergonomics.
Kelby (2014) argues that the sitting posture exposes the workers to the risk of
Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) which refers to injuries on the soft tissues such as tendons,
ligaments, muscles, blood vessels, and nerves. The MSD victims should, therefore, receive
proper medication immediately so as to avoid its severe effects which include death, numbness,
and paralysis. In this case, the Acme company workers were also hypothesized to be going
through the same ergonomic risks in their work environment. It is for this reason therefore that
the study was conducted on an ergonomic evaluation of the packing line in Acme Manufacturing
Company.
Report Details
To determine the employee's ergonomic risk exposure, the study employed the
Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) and the lifting index which was developed to evaluate the
safety limits of weightlifting employees so as to minimize the chances of lifting injuries from
happening.

OSH4308-15C-1 Unit 8 Project 3
The Recommended Weight Limit (RWL)
The Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) is a revised lifting equation of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Studies by Dianat et al (2014) have
defined it as the weight limit that can be lifted by any healthy employee for a certain period of time
without increasing the chances of weightlifting problems. The RWL can be used in re-designing
new manual lifting jobs by altering the loads so that they do not exceed the recommended weight.
The study has found that the weight lifted by employees of Acme Manufacturing Company are
past the recommended ‘figures’. This implies that employees in the organization are subjected to
risky packing line, endangering their health.
The Lifting Index
According to Kuijer et al (2016), the Lifting Index (LI) provides an estimated physical
stress due to a manual lifting task. When the lifting task has an index greater than 1.0, it increases
the risk of back pain related to lifting. This implies that the lesser the index, the higher the fraction
of employees that can sustain the level of activity safely. The study found out that the LI in Acme
Manufacturing Company was approximately 2.1. thereby posing workers to the high risk of back
pain related to lifting.
Conclusion
The study has established that there was a disparity between the packing employees and the
working environment which was mainly attributed to poor quality work equipment. There were
also reports on static working areas which contribute to awkward postures hence greater exposure
to ergonomic risks. The working machines are set automatically meaning that they run