TY - GEN
T1 - Situational Assessment of Noise and Ergonomic Factors in Welding Activities
T2 - AHFE Virtual Conference on Physical Ergonomics and Human Factors, the Virtual Conference on Social and Occupational Ergonomics, and the Virtual Conference on Cross-Cultural Decision Making, 2020
AU - Sanda, Mohammed Aminu
AU - Nugble, Juliet
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - This study assessed the noise and ergonomics factors associated with the welding operations of Ghanaian informal-auto-mechanics and the implications it has on their personal well-being and productivity. Using the 2014 OSHA Hazards Assessment Checklist, the noise and ergonomics factors associated with welding operations in three selected shops were firstly assessed expertly. This was followed by interviews with the informal-auto-mechanics, using the checklist as interview-guide. The results showed that welding operations in all the shops were very noisy, with operators oblivious to the health hazards of their noisy operations. Additionally, all the informal-auto-mechanics’ reported ergonomics constraint in their welding operations, manifested as musculoskeletal disorders caused by inappropriate work postures, repetitive-motion and insufficient pause-periods in tasks performance. It is concluded that Ghanaian informal-auto-mechanics’ are oblivious of occupational hazards associated with their welding activities caused by noise and ergonomics constraints, and the negative consequence they have on their personal well-being and work productivity.
AB - This study assessed the noise and ergonomics factors associated with the welding operations of Ghanaian informal-auto-mechanics and the implications it has on their personal well-being and productivity. Using the 2014 OSHA Hazards Assessment Checklist, the noise and ergonomics factors associated with welding operations in three selected shops were firstly assessed expertly. This was followed by interviews with the informal-auto-mechanics, using the checklist as interview-guide. The results showed that welding operations in all the shops were very noisy, with operators oblivious to the health hazards of their noisy operations. Additionally, all the informal-auto-mechanics’ reported ergonomics constraint in their welding operations, manifested as musculoskeletal disorders caused by inappropriate work postures, repetitive-motion and insufficient pause-periods in tasks performance. It is concluded that Ghanaian informal-auto-mechanics’ are oblivious of occupational hazards associated with their welding activities caused by noise and ergonomics constraints, and the negative consequence they have on their personal well-being and work productivity.
KW - Ergonomics factors
KW - Ghana
KW - Informal auto-mechanics
KW - Noise factors
KW - Situational assessment
KW - Welding activity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088590929&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-51549-2_19
DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-51549-2_19
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85088590929
SN - 9783030515485
T3 - Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
SP - 142
EP - 148
BT - Advances in Physical, Social and Occupational Ergonomics - Proceedings of the AHFE 2020 Virtual Conferences on Physical Ergonomics and Human Factors, Social and Occupational Ergonomics and Cross-Cultural Decision Making
A2 - Karwowski, Waldemar
A2 - Goonetilleke, Ravindra S.
A2 - Xiong, Shuping
A2 - Goossens, Richard H.M.
A2 - Murata, Atsuo
PB - Springer
Y2 - 16 July 2020 through 20 July 2020
ER -