Assessment of Muscle Fatigue Associated with Prolonged Standing in the Workplace.
- Author:
Isa HALIM
1
;
Abdul Rahman OMAR
;
Alias Mohd SAMAN
;
Ibrahim OTHMAN
Author Information
1. Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. isahalim@gmail.com
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Prolonged standing;
Muscle fatigue;
Questionnaire survey;
Surface electromyography;
Metal stamping industry
- MeSH:
Electromyography;
Fatigue;
Humans;
Lower Extremity;
Male;
Muscle Fatigue;
Muscles;
Surveys and Questionnaires
- From:Safety and Health at Work
2012;3(1):31-42
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to determine the psychological fatigue and analyze muscle activity of production workers who are performing processes jobs while standing for prolonged time periods. METHODS: The psychological fatigue experienced by the workers was obtained through questionnaire surveys. Meanwhile, muscle activity has been analyzed using surface electromyography (sEMG) measurement. Lower extremities muscles include: erector spinae, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius were concurrently measured for more than five hours of standing. Twenty male production workers in a metal stamping company participated as subjects in this study. The subjects were required to undergo questionnaire surveys and sEMG measurement. RESULTS: Results of the questionnaire surveys found that all subjects experienced psychological fatigue due to prolonged standing jobs. Similarly, muscle fatigue has been identified through sEMG measurement. Based on the non-parametric statistical test using the Spearman's rank order correlation, the left erector spinae obtained a moderate positive correlation and statistically significant (rs = 0.552, p < 0.05) between the results of questionnaire surveys and sEMG measurement. CONCLUSION: Based on this study, the authors concluded that prolonged standing was contributed to psychological fatigue and to muscle fatigue among the production workers.
