Waste sorting is mainly done manually in developing countries and, the manual sorting of items may result in musculoskeletal disorders among the workers. The present work aims to assess sorting tasks in squatting posture performed by workers in a waste sorting facility in India’s southern part. The study also compares the current work environment with a sorting table proposed as an ergonomic intervention for waste sorting tasks. The study also validates the assessment methodology of employing 5th, 50th, and 95th percentile height subjects to simulate postures and interfacing with 5th, 50th, and 95th percentile digital human models. The critical postures of the workers involved in the sorting task at the sorting facility (pre-intervention and postintervention) were simulated with subjects of 5th (n=2), 50th (n=6), and 95th (n=2) percentile height. Theposture captured using Microsoft Kinect was interfaced to Siemens Jack software for posture analysis and biomechanical evaluation. The assessment revealed that the majority of the biomechanical risks resulted fromthe poorly designed workstation. The proposed intervention improved the posture of the workers and reduced biomechanical risks. Compared to the pre-intervention scenario, the proposed intervention reduced the compressiveforces at L4/L5 by 44%, shoulder flexion moment by 36%, and shoulder abduction moment by 31%. The proposed intervention suits industrial applications in developing countries where sorting/assembly tasks are involved. The assessment methodology of simulation of postures by the percentile height subjects, motion capture of postures using Microsoft Kinect, posture analysis and biomechanical evaluation in digital human modelling is cost-effective.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common among agricultural workers, especially in developing countries like India, irrespective of crops and the various operations, which ergonomic interventions can minimize. Research on ergonomic interventions and post-intervention studies in agriculture is limited. Sixty-five papers were identified for the review. This systematic review identifies the effects of MSDs in various crops, which will provide a direction for future researchers and practitioners to contribute more to agricultural ergonomics.In addition, this study categorizes the research in terms of (i) the body parts affected due to MSDs, (ii) the continents where the study has been done, (iii) the farming operations which have been investigated, (iv) various MSDs evaluation methods used in agricultural fields. The review reveals that the prevalence of MSDs in various body parts are lower back (74%) followed by shoulder (63%), wrist/hand (62%), neck (57%), upper back (45%), knee/leg (38%), elbow (29%), angle/feet (26%) hip/thighs (22%), and fingers (8%). Further, most of the studies concentrate on harvesting operations (48%), and there exists immense scope for similar studies in preharvesting and post-harvesting operations. Ergonomic intervention and post-intervention studies among the agricultural workers are limited even in the developed countries. The review will help the researchers to identify the scope of ergonomic interventions among the various crops in different continents. In essence, this review pinpoints the various intervention gaps in different operations associated with farming in developing countries.

In most manufacturing units, the contribution of human labor remains a vital element that affects overall performance and output. The research explicated in this paper is conducted in a pen recycling unit in the southern part of India which is an initiative by a non-profit organization to reduce plastic waste and highlight the need for recycling. The objectives of the study are two-fold. Firstly, to investigate the influence of cognitive aspects namely information and material presentation on worker performance in an assembly line and secondlyto propose an economical worker allocation approach based on the findings of the first study considering the pen recycling unit. An experimental study was conducted with fifteen workers and was given eight different scenarioswith the combinations of presenting material and information with six pen varieties for assembly. The performance of workers is identified and appropriate allocations are made to suitable workstations. Further, a subjective measurement using NASA-TLX is also done to determine the mental workload of workers. The results indicate that individual worker performance varies significantly, much more than is assumed. This variation is due to the difference in cognitive capabilities among workers when they are introduced to differentproduct variants and work environments. It is expected that the proposed economical allocation method will be beneficial for similar micro, small and medium enterprises that contribute in achieving sustainability goals.