Ergonomics Intervention in Mould Handling Task at a Manufacturing Company

Abstract

An ergonomics intervention was conducted at a manufacturing company based on results from previous ergonomics risk assessment conducted. One of the main concerns was at Injection Moulding Process which involves pushing and pulling the stacker to transport the 300kg – 500kg mould during installation and maintenance activities. The assessments were conducted on both old equipment (stacker) and new equipment (a mobile gantry crane). Two assessment tools were applied to assess the risk for both material handling equipment namely direct push/pull force using Push Pull Guage (Model: Hoggan ErgoFet–300) and paper-based tool called Risk Assessment of Pushing and Pulling (RAPP) tool developed by Health and Safety Executive, United Kingdom. The results were collected and compared. Based on the result, the improvement has been successful implemented where the force required to be exerted has significantly being reduce when using a new material handling equipment, the mobile gantry crane, compare to the old material handling equipment, the stacker. RAPP Tool assessment results also align with this outcome.