Low Back Pain Analysis In Aluminium Industry.

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ABSTRAK

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ABSTRACT

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2.2.1 Heavy physical or manual work 7

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2.2.7 Static Work, Sitting and Standing 10

2.3 Individual Risk Factors 11

2.3.1 Age of Employment 11

2.3.2 Socio- Economic Status 12

2.3.3 Smoking 13

2.5.2.1 Bulging or ruptured disks 18

2.5.2.2 Sciatica 19

2.5.2.3 Arthritis 19

2.5.2.4 Skeletal irregularities 19

2.6 Types of Low Back Pain 19

2.6.1 Simple Back Pain 19

2.6.2 Back Pain with Neurological Involvement 20

2.6.3 Back Pain with Suspected Serious Spinal Pathology (Red flags) 20 2.7 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 21 Lifting Equation

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4.2.3 Distance Measurement 48

4.2.3.1 Horizontal Location 48

4.2.3.2 Vertical Location 49

4.2.4 Angle measurement 49

4.2.5 Type of Coupling 50

4.2.6 Posture of Work 50

4.2.7 Lifting Method 51

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4.2.9 Result of LI 54

4.3 Tubing Process 57

4.3.1 Weight Measurement 60

4.3.2 Frequency Measurement 60

4.3.8 Result of Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) 70

4.4 Export Packing Process 73

4.4.1 Weight Measurement 76

4.4.2 Frequency Measurement 77

4.4.8 Result of Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) 85

4.5 Comparison of Lifting Index 88

5. CHAPTER 5 90

5.1 Introduction 90

5.2 Suggestion 91

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5.3.1 Spiral process 96

5.3.2 Tubing Process 101

5.3.3 Export Packing Process 105

6. CHAPTER 6 109

6.1 Conclusion 109

6.2 Recommendation 110

REFERENCES

APPENDICES A Gantt Chart

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LIST OF TABLES

3.1 Table for horizontal location 31

3.2 Table for type of coupling 34

3.3 Table for Requirement of Lifting Index 36

4.1 Data collection for the spiral process 40

4.2 Statistic data for the weight of spiral process 41 4.3 Table for the frequency lifting/min and frequency multiplier 42 4.4 Table for the frequency for process 1 according to interval 44 4.5 Table for the frequency for process 2 according to interval 45 4.6 Table for the frequency for process 3 according to interval 46 4.7 Table for the frequency for process 4 according to interval 47 4.8 The result of the recommended weight limit (RWL) 52 4.9 The value of maximum, minimum, and average for RWL for spiral process 53

4.10 The result of the lifting index (LI) 54

4.11 The percentage according to the standard NIOSH lifting equation 56

4.12 Data collection for the tubing process 59

4.13 Statistic data of the weight of tubing process 60 4.14 Table for the frequency lifting/minute and frequency multiplier 60 4.15 Table for the frequency for process 1 according to interval 62 4.16 Table for the frequency for process 2 according to interval 63 4.17 Table for the frequency for process 3 according to interval 64 4.18 Table for the frequency for process 4 according to interval 65 4.19 The result of the recommended weight limit (RWL) 70 4.20 The value of maximum, minimum, and average for RWL for tubing process 71

4.21 The result of lifting index 71

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4.24 Statistic data for the weight of export packing 76 4.25 The table for the frequency lifting/ minute and frequency multiplier 77 4.26 Table for the frequency for process 1 according to interval 78 4.27 Table for the frequency for process 2 according to interval 79 4.28 Table for the frequency for process 3 according to interval 80 4.29 The result of the recommended weight limit (RWL) 85 4.30: The value of maximum, minimum, and average for RWL 85 4.31 The result of the lifting index (LI) for export packing process 86 4.32 The percentage according to the standard NIOSH lifting equation 87

5.1 The comparison current and propose design 96

5.2 New value of RWL for spiral process 97

5.3 The value of maximum, minimum, and average for new RWL for spiral 97

5.4 New value of lifting index for spiral process 99

5.5 The percentage according to the standard NIOSH lifting equation 101

5.6 New value of RWL for tubing process 101

5.7 The value of maximum, minimum, and average for new RWL for tubing 102 5.8 New value of lifting index for tubing process 104 5.9 The percentage according to the standard NIOSH lifting equation 104

5.10 New value of RWL for export packing process 105

5.11 The value of maximum, minimum, and average for new RWL for export 105 packing process

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4.1 The flow chart of the spiral process 38

4.2 Workstation for the spiral process 39

4.3 Graph for the frequency of process 1 according to range time 44 4.4 Graph for the frequency of process 2 according to range time 45 4.5 Graph for the frequency of process 3 according to range time 46 4.6 Graph for the frequency of process 4 according to range time 47

4.7 Graphic representation of hand location 48

4.8 Graphic representation of angle of asymmetry 49

4.9 Picture of the posture of worker 50

4.10 Picture for method of lifting 51

4.11 The distribution graph for the lifting index 56

4.12 The flowchart of the tubing process 57

4.13 The workstation for the tubing process 58

4.14 Graph for the frequency of process 1 according to range time 62 4.15 Graph for the frequency of process 2 according to range time 63 4.16 Graph for the frequency of process 3 according to range time 64 4.17 Graph for the frequency of process 4 according to range time 65

4.18 The picture for posture of work 68

4.19 Picture of the method of the lifting 69

4.20 Distribution graph for the lifting index 72

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4.22 The workstation for the export packing process 75 4.23 Graph for the frequency of process 1 according to range time 78 4.24 Graph for the frequency of process 2 according to range time 79 4.25 Graph for the frequency of process 2 according to range time 80

4.26 The picture of for the posture of workers 83

4.27 The picture for the method of lifting 84

4.28 Distribution data for the lifting index 87

4.29 Comparison graph for the spiral, tubing and export packing process 88

5.1 The current mild fish rack 92

5.2 The propose design of themild finish rack 94

5.3 The base to put the Mill Fish Rack 95

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LB Leow Brothers

LBP Low Back Pain

RWL Recommended Weight Limit OSHA Occupational Safety and Health CTD Cumulative Trauma Disorder RMS Repetitive Motion Syndromes

LI Lifting Index

Etiologies The branch of medicine that deals with the causes or origins of disease. FCE Flos Chrysanthemi

RTW Return to Work BC Before Christ

NHC National Health Service

HIV Human Immuno-deficiency Virus MF Mill Finish

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter contains of background of study, problem statement, objectives, scope of study and writing structure. After start the research, all contains in this chapter is very important to identify.

1.1Background of Study

Leow Brothers (LB) Aluminium Berhad is an aluminium company industry located at Beranang, Selangor Darul Ehsan. The company produces alumunium products from the raw material. The product produced have two categories which is light and heavy weight. The production activities at Leow Brothers (LB) involve manual material handling to transfer the material. The company does not use any mechanical material handling to remove the raw material or work in progress (WIP). The weight of the material lifted, frequencies at lifting and duration of lifting may pose to low back pain (LBP) problem.

Low back pain (or lumbago) is a common musculoskeletal disorder affecting 80% of people at some point in their lives. It accounts for more sick leave and disability than any other medical condition. It can be either acute, sub acute or chronic in duration. Most often, the symptoms of low back pain show significant improvement within a few weeks from onset with conservative measures.

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a sprain or strain in the muscles of the back and the soft tissues, especially if the pain arose suddenly during physical load to the back, and the pain is lateral to the spine. The rate of serious causes is less than 1%.

The workers at LB transfer the product called profile frequently every day. The profile also have the different weight depends on the design of the profile and their length. Out of the eight hours of the working hour, the workers only give one hour for the rest time. So, the management currently do not aware whether the workers have problem about the low back pain or not. The time that they had taken to complete their task also must be considered because it can help to know whether they face the problem or not in their routine to complete the task that had given by the company.

1.2Problem Statement

In this company, the workers have to load and unload the material that called profile. The activities occurred at packing process. The profile was heavy and need to be loaded for the packing process without any machine used. Due to the nature of work at LB Company, the workers need to transfer the material (profile) to other workstation. Current situation the management does not equipped the workers with mechanical manual handling. The workers take rest for about an hour from 8.30 a.m to 4.00 p.m. These activities may pose to low back pain problem. Low back pain may damage the musculoskeletal system. The damages will affect directly the productivity and competitive edges of the in individual worker, the company and the nation.

1.3Objectives

In this study, there are some objectives that want to be achieved at the end of the research. The objectives are:

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2. To analyze the result from the data collection.

3. To propose a solution in reducing the risk of low back pain.

1.4Scope of Study

In this study will capture the average of weight performed in loading and unloading the material (profile). The frequencies of lifting during working time in a day, the amount of rest provide, the way the workers performed the job including the postures. the task covered about the low back pain problem while lifting process. The study will identify the low back pain that the workers faced. This study involves some calculation such as Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) as a standard to benchmark.

1.5Writing Structure

CHAPTER 1 – In this chapter, discussed about background of the project, problem statement, objectives, scope of study, and writing structure. For the chapter one is the introduction for the project. This chapter tells about the whole report.

CHAPTER 2 – In this chapter, discussed about the literature review. For the literature review, need to summarize the journals about fatigue in industry. There are many problem occurred based on the fatigue. There also must summarize and find the solution for the fatigue problem from the journals.

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CHAPTER 4 – The results that gather will discuss in this chapter. From the result, can analyze whether the workers have face the low back pain problem or not. The NIOSH lifting equation has been used to calculate the lifting index.

CHAPTER 5 – In this chapter, the suggestion and recommendation to reduce the low back pain problem will propose. The new material handling will be proposed to reduce the problem.

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter is all about the literature review of low back pain. The discussion is about the causes, effect and the types of low back pain. This all information is gain from the journal, conference paper and so on. The research that done by the other people is important to review.

2.1 Ergonomics

The term ‘ergonomics’ is derived from two Greek words: ‘ergon’, meaning work and ‘nomoi’, meaning natural laws. Ergonomists study human capabilities in relationship to work demands. Ergonomics is the study of how working conditions, machines and equipment can be arranged in order that people can work with them more efficiently. For example as computers are probably the most ubiquitous type of machine in today’s work and learning environments, the issue of ergonomically sound interaction with them has come to the fore. In general, computers are clean, quiet and safe to use. However, poor interaction with and positioning of computer equipment can lead to health problems, such as eyestrain, swollen wrists and backache. Problems can be avoided by good workplace design and by good working practices. Prevention is easiest if action is taken early through effective analysis of each workstation.

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make sure that tasks, equipment, information and the environment suit each worker. To assess the fit between a person and their work, ergonomists have to consider many aspects. These include such as the job being done and the demands on the worker, the equipment used (its size, shape, and how appropriate it is for the task), the information used (how it is presented, accessed, and changed), the physical environment (temperature, humidity, lighting, noise, vibration), and the social environment (such as teamwork and supportive management).

Ergonomists consider all the physical aspects of a person, such as body size and shape, fitness and strength, posture, the senses, especially vision, hearing and touch, and the stresses and strains on muscles, joints, and nerves. Ergonomists also consider the psychological aspects of a person, such as mental abilities, personality, knowledge, and experience.

There are some ways or method that can use. By applying ergonomics to the work place, it can help to reduce the problem. The benefits are like reduces the potential for accidents, reduces the potential for injury and ill health, and improves performance and productivity. Ergonomics can reduce the likelihood of an accident. For example, in the design of control panels such as the location of switches and buttons - switches that could be accidentally knocked on or off might start the wrong sequence of events that could lead to an accident, expectations of signals and controls - most people interpret green to indicate a safe condition. If a green light is used to indicate a ‘warning or dangerous state’ it may be ignored or overlooked, information overload - if a worker is given too much information they may become confused, make mistakes, or panic. In hazardous industries, incorrect decisions or mistaken actions have had catastrophic results.