Design of an ergonomie wheelbarrow to reduce physiological demands of general users

Workers in the construction, agriculture, hotels and restaurants are most likely exposed to heavy loads as manual handling occurs in almost all working environments. To alleviate this problem issuance of handling aid was introduced in different industries. Continuous lifting and handling activities may gradually cause cumulative disorders which can also cause acute trauma such as cuts or fractures due to accidents. Low back pain and injuries are considered as one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders caused by lifting. However, there are several factors that contribute to the increase of risk of workers and these includes distance to be travelled, load weight to be carried, human attributes such as age, body weight, gender, and height. Controlled simulation of present and proposed design of wheelbarrow was done in order to analyse the problem and improvements respectively. Binomial Logistic Regression was performed to assess if the identified factors that might influence the likelihood of incurring pain in different body region are valid. Questionnaire was also used based on comfortability, ease of usage, and safety of the wheelabarrow; the questionnaire was performed for the current and proposed design in order to assess its perfomance and identify if there are significant differences between the two designs using Chi-square test. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis served as an efficient method in the risks involved with the use of the product. And lastly, ergonomic principle were applied to appropriately dimension the height, handle-to-handle gap, and grip diameter of the handle by applying the concepts of Anthropometry.