Virtual postural assessment of an assembly work in a small scale submersible pump manufacturing industry

BACKGROUND: Depletion of groundwater has increased the depth of bore wells drilled to meet water requirements. Water from these bore wells are accessed by operating submersible pumps with multi-stages. The number of stages of submersible pump directly depends upon the depth of bore well. Health-related risk such as Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) arises during the manual assembly of these pumps in an awkward posture. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to eliminate or reduce risk in the manual assembly of submersible pumps using virtual postural analysis. Secondary objective is to redesign the existing workstation incorporating ergonomic interventions. METHODS: It reports a case study in which postural analysis is carried out with the help of Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) method. RESULTS: It is observed that inserting the stage casing weighing around 1.5 Kg through top end of the shaft is the awkward working posture involving a flexion of the arm about 152°. RULA score (7) indicate a high level of risk exists in the workstation, calling for investigate and change the working posture immediately. In order to reduce this risk, a redesigned workstation has been proposed. CONCLUSION: This study results help in minimizing the awkward postures, thereby reducing the health-related risk. This will also increase the efficiency of the worker and his productivity.