Ergonomics Risk Factors Prevailing in Kota Doria Loom Weavers of India

摘要

Weaving of Kota Doria fabric has been a traditional activity of Ansari community of the Kota region. After abandoning this art by men in order to reach more stable and money yielding means of livelihood, women of the community have adopted this traditional activity in order to continue their culture and generate least minimum income. Weaving of Kota Doria fabric is carried on pit loom. 100 women weavers from Kaithoon area of Kota district participated in the study. In depth observation of the workplace followed by the subjective assessment of body discomfort and Workplace Ergonomic Risk Assessment (WERA) method was carried out. On analysis of WERA, the leg score for WERA body part was>4 in 73% of weavers whereas discomfort in knees and legs were reported by 87% yielding a significant association between WERA body part score and self-reported pain (X~2= 20.51; p= 0.000). The body part score for shoulder region during Kota Doria operation yielded a score of>4 in 68% and cause pain in 72% association being significant (χ~2= 23.86; p= 0.000). The neck region for WERA body part score was>4 in 80% of the weavers with 89% reporting pain or neck discomfort with significant association (χ~2= 5.96; p= 0.014). the back region score for WERA body part was>4 in 79% of weavers whilst discomfort reported by 97% with a significant association (χ~2= 4.20; p= 0.040). Therefore it can be concluded that existing Kota Doria pit loom weavers depict significant prevalence of MSDs and need intervention for enhancing productivity and occupational wellbeing of the weavers.