In brick making factories, it was found that ergonomic risk factors have

been affecting the workers causing them pain and discomfort. It was found
that both female and male workers required to exerting force with their
hands and used the hand tools to do all the task related to their work
prospect. The risk factors are related to the musculoskeletal disorder (MSD)
that includes several factors like individuals, physical requirements at the
workplace and the organizational and psychosocial factors. For the
individuals factor, it is caused by poor posture and inadequate strength of
the individuals. Work task that requires high force, highly repetitive work,
prolonged awkward static posture and the use of vibrating tools are all the
physical factors at the workplace. The organizational and psychosocial
factors include those prolonged work hours, shift work, poor work-rest cycle
and little social support among the workers.

Brick factory workers spend most of their time in factories by

performing different activities manually and mechanically that lead to
different potential type of ergonomic hazard. Most of the workers had to work
under a sustain same posture towards all day with a repetitive movement
lifting the products in an awkward posture and working with contact pressure
at the hand and wrist areas. Their works at the factory includes cutting raw
bricks, extract, digging, crushing, grinding, mixing, carrying clay, shaping
bricks, loading bricks in and out onto truck, loading bricks in and out of
wheelbarrow, pulling a brick wheelbarrow and arranging bricks to dry. These
are tiring and repetitive kind of jobs they are doing in their workplace daily.
All of this jobs demand physical work that involves repetition motion, heavy
physical workload and excessive body motion that result in high risk of neck,
shoulders, arms, back and upper limbs injuries. It was the factor of
repetitiveness, high frequency action, awkward posture, excessive force,
insufficient recovery time, the use of mechanical tools and exposure to high
temperature that had become the type of ergonomic hazards that the
workers are experiencing at all time

Removing identified ergonomic hazards from the workplace is the best

solution in handling this matter. Many actions had been taken to improve a
situation to reduce the chance of injury, to lowered injury rate, to eliminate
unnecessary movements by reducing physical demands and to reduce the
employee turnover. The solutions can be separated into a few controls which
are the engineering controls, administrative and work practice controls, and
personal protective equipment, job rotation and counteractive stretch
breaks.
 Engineering controls is the physical changes of workplace that can be
done by eliminating the excessive requirement force that will reduce worker
fatigue and the risk of MSD among the workers. By using mechanical assists,
adjustable workstations, powered equipment, counter balance systems and
ergonomic tools will help to reduce the work effort and muscle exertions
done by the workers. Proper ergonomic tools should be fully utilized to
maintain optimal joint positions. This modification can eliminate and reduce
awkward postures at the same time to maintain the joint motion while
accomplish work task. Others like the incorporation of rollers and powered
belt conveyors to move materials, the use of mechanical aid for the
employees that do repetitive work and the utilize of proper tools for striking
and impact activities should also be considered.

Administrative and work practices controls is to provide a safe and

effective procedures for the workers to complete the work task so can reduce
the MSD risk. It includes the improvement of work process which can be
done by using carts, hand trucks to reduce the lifting and carrying work
process, using sliding the object process instead of lifting and carrying, and
eliminating any reaching obstruction to reduce the lifting object that required
lever arm. Workers should be trained to proper work techniques to reduce
force requirements. Finally, the work load required for an individual in a time
should be modified accordingly, for by reducing the working load can reduce
the stress to the body. Furthermore, workstation, tool design and shape at
the workplace must be ensure to the workers body for maintaining a
comfortable and unstrained position to work.

Incorporate job rotation is also one of the solution for the workers to reduce
the risk of ergonomic hazards by reducing repetition process during working
and awkward postures of workers experienced in their workplace. It also can
reduce the duration, severity and frequency of MSD risk factors. It is
advisable for the workers to rotate between tasks and workstations so that
prolonged period of performing a single task can be avoided at the same
time to reduce fatigue which can contribute to MSD. A counteractive stretch
breaks should also be implemented, giving the opportunity for the workers to
rest or stretch breaks for a chance of increased circulation and adequate
time needed for recovery.