Musculoskeletal & Risk Assessment during Threshing of Rice-grains

Abstract

In the present study 25 farmers of five villages of South Odisha in India were considered to assess their musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) during threshing of crops. A “Standardized Nordic Questionnaire” was prepared to collect MSD data considering harvesting characteristics, socio-demographic characteristics, economical characteristics about the requirements, and work setting characteristics, by using a five point rating scale i.e. (1 = Very less, 2 =Less, 3 = Nil, 4 = Strong, 5 = Very Strong) for a period of 2 years i.e. from 2015 to 2017. Socio-demographic characteristics and Work setting characteristics of farmers were illustrated to depict the MSD level in different body parts like neck, shoulder, upper back, lower back, elbow, wrist/hand, thigh, knees and ankles, respectively. Factor analysis was performed for threshing characteristics, and economical characteristics, and different parameters under different dominant factors were grouped accordingly. To illustrate the linkage and linear relationship between important parameters, Pearson correlation coefficient matrix was generated for the threshing characteristics of farmers. Also the regression analysis was done to obtain the best-fit linear regression equations for the economic characteristics of farmers. Finally posture analysis was performed for different postures in threshing activities by using the Ovako Working-Posture Analysis System (OWAS) & Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) technique.