BUKU ABSTRAK - Universiti Putra Malaysia

Evaluation of Two Ergonomics Intervention Programmes in Reducing Ergonomic
Risk Factors of Musculoskeletal Disorder among School Children
Dr. Shamsul Bahri Hj. Mohd. Tamrin
Syazwan Aizat Ismail, Rafee Baharudin, Mohamad Azhar Mohd. Noor, Muhamad Hanafiah Juni, Juliana
Jalaludin and Zailina Hashim
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8947 2358; syazwanaizat@yahoo.com
Intervention studies were carried out from February 2009 until August 2009 with the objective of determining
the effectiveness of two ergonomic intervention programmes in reducing ergonomic risk factors among school
children. A total of 229 school children in 2nd Grade (age 8 years) and 5th Grade (age 11 years) in three schools
participated in the study. Group 1 (G1) was assigned to a school in which ergonomically designed furniture
was used in the intervention programmes (2nd and 5th Graders), while Group 2 (G2) from another school were
given an ergonomic programmes with intensive health promotion module which consisted of physical exercises
and educational information on MSD to create awareness, while Group 3 from another school was the Control
Group (Cx). Musculoskeletal symptoms were recorded using modified Nordiq Body Map Questionnaires (BMQ)
and modified Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was used to assess the awkward posture of the school
children. Ergonomic quiz (EQ) was used to evaluate awareness before and after the ergonomic intervention
programmes. Tanita weight measurement was used to measure school bag weight and student’s weight. School
bag weights, RULA score, and EQ were used in the evaluation of the programmes effectiveness. A significant
decrease in the RULA scores and the reduction in the mean school bag weight observed among G1 indicated
the effectiveness of the program given to G1, even though the EQ scores were not significantly different. In
conclusion, the implementation of the ergonomically designed furniture in classrooms was able to improve their
posture temporarily, reduced risk and reported MSD symptoms.
Keywords: School children, musculoskeletal disorder (MSD), rapid upper limb assessment (RULA), ergonomic intervention
programmes, bag weight, ergonomic quiz
Ergonomics Furniture for Primary School in Malaysia
Dr. Shamsul Bahri Hj. Mohd. Tamrin
Nurul Asyiqin Mohd. Ali, Mohd. Shahrizal Dollah and Velu A/P Perumal
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8947 2358; shamsul@medic.upm.edu.my
In Malaysia, every school is unique by virtue of its design, location and pupils, with each having its own
history and culture. However, there is no record on Malaysian school infrastructures such as buildings, school
layouts, classrooms and furniture which had been designed or promoted using ergonomics concept. The main
focused of this study is to improve primary school furniture based on user-centered design and cognitive
ergonomics with combination of medical science research, industrial design process and industrial engineering
modelling. The study involved three main stages: 1) idenfication of problem and ergonomics risk, 2) furniture
design development and fabrication of prototype and 3) prototype evaluation. With the integration of various
type of field, the research group had proposed four main parameters for the new concept of ergonomics design
furniture in Malaysian schools which is: 1) table and chair – to fit 95% of schoolchildren anthropometry features,
2) posture- to promote good working posture, 3) school bag load – to design a solution to reduce bag load and 4)
the furniture design were based on children preferences. By implementing these strategies, this study will increase
the safety and health of the school children and improve the performance of Malaysian schools.
Keywords: School children, user-centered design, cognitive ergonomics, medical sciences research, industrial design
process, engineering modelling
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Health