Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
Validation of RULA, REBA in agriculture works in Indian context
a a
Kundu Amar , Ray Gaur G.
a
Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of TechnologyBombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA;
The Background: India is an agriculture dominating country. Almost 80 percent of Indians are dependent on
agriculture. Rice is one of the main agricultural crops produced in India. As per the global statistics of rice
production, India is presently in second position, after China. In India, majority of the farmers has individual
small strips of land, and they primarily use manual labour for cultivation instead of machines due to smaller
land size. By using primitive tools these agriculture workers work for more than eight hours with sustained
unnatural (bending) posture.
The issues: The musculoskeletal disorder is a very common problem among these agriculture workers.
Since these problems are very critical to the farmers, in terms of their health, economic conditions, as well as
social well being, they should be studied from ergonomics perspective to prevent/minimize these
occupational health hazards. To understand the risk factors in industries and office environments, two well
1 2
known techniques RULA , REBA , for body posture analysis are commonly used. Even though these
techniques were primarily designed for western industries and office workplaces, many researchers use
these techniques to identify the risk factor in the agriculture workplace in India. Since the working conditions,
working postures and socio-economic conditions of the agricultural workers are very different from those of
industrial and office workers, the appropriateness of the use of these tools in agricultural field needs to be
assessed. Current research is trying to assessed how much these techniques are appropriate in assessing
agriculture workers or what modifications we need to do to develop a new assessment technique for the
agricultural operations.
Methodology: The risk factors of musculoskeletal disorder and posture analysis were measured in different
work related postures of agriculture operation by using RULA and REBA techniques. The psychological test
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and Nordic questioner were also introduced for the same posture on 25 agriculture workers as a preliminary
survey. The other factors for risk and postural stress were also measured by using different techniques.
Result: There were significance differences between RULA, REBA scores and the Psychological test score.
This anomaly in the scores suggests that there are some shortfalls in using these established techniques for
industries, in studying risk factors associated with agricultural field. This demands an intervention to modify
the existing techniques to include the factors which are directly related to agricultural work related stress.
Here, in this work, we are trying to develop a new method encompassing on RULA, REBA techniques by
adding those factors which are directly related to postural risk. Some of the risk factors are based on
duration of a posture, field condition, environmental factors and Nutritional status. This newly developed
technique might be helpful for better analysis of the agricultural work posture towards determining the
occupational risks and possible remedy specially for a country like India.
Keywords: up Agriculture Workers, Musculoskeletal Disorder, RULA, REBA, Nordic Questioner, new
agricultural posture analysis method
1. Introduction
Agriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and needs the key development that leads to
the rise of human civilization. Agriculture plays an important role in Indian Economy as India is an agriculture
dominated country. Almost 80 percent of Indian work force is engaged in agriculture. Rice is one of the main
agricultural crops produced in India. India is presently the second largest producer of rice, after China. Rice
cultivation needs 25 degree Celsius temperature and an average of 150 cm of rain per year.
Rice cultivation involves following steps (i) Nursery Preparation, (ii) Land Preparation, (II) Seed
germination, (III) Rice plant transplantation (Uprooting the plant, carrying to actual field, transplanting), (IV)
de-weeding, (V) Spraying Pesticides, (VI) adding up fertilizer, (VII) Crop harvesting ( Cutting plants with
grain, making bundle, transporting the crop to the thrashing area) (VIII) Thrashing the plant and separating
out the grain, (IX) Storage of grain and plant separtely. All the stages of rice cultivation are repetitive nature
and it continues throughout the year. The traditional rice cultivation method demands a sustained standing,
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Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
bending and twisting posture in association with repetitive hand motion. In India, majority of the farmers have
individual small strips of land, and they primarily use manual labour for cultivation instead of machines due to
smaller land size. By using primitive tools these agriculture workers work for more than eight hours with
sustained unnatural bending posture. This awkward posture creates severe musculoskeletal disorder (MSD)
among the farmers and most of them are suffering from that.
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
(v) (vi) (vii) (viii)
(ix) (x) (xi) (xii) (xiii)
Figure 1: Different steps of Rice cultivation (i) Nursery Preparation, (ii) Land Preparation, (iii) Uprooting the seedlings, (iv)
Carrying the seedlings, (v) Rice transplanting, (vi) Weeding, (vii) Spraying pesticides, (viii) Spraying Fertilizer, (ix) Cutting
rice plants, (x) Tying up the plants, (xi) Carrying the crop, (xii) Threshing the plant, (xiii) Storage of rice grain.
The musculoskeletal disorder is a very common problem among these agriculture workers. Since these
problems are very critical to the farmers, in terms of their health, economic conditions, as well as social well
being, they should be studied from ergonomics perspective to prevent/minimize these occupational health
hazards. To understand the risk factors in industries and office environments, two well known techniques
1 2
RULA , REBA , for body posture analysis are commonly used. Even though these techniques were primarily
designed for western industries and office workplaces, many researchers in India use these techniques to
identify the risk factor in the agriculture workplace in India as there is no substitute to RULA & REBA are
available so far to be used for agricultural operation specially for Rice Crop in India. Since the working
conditions, working postures and socio-economic conditions of the agricultural workers are very different
from those of industrial and office workers, the appropriateness of the use of these tools in agricultural field
needs to be assessed.
Current research is trying to review on how much these established techniques are appropriate to Indian
agriculture workers who are engaged in rice planting or what modifications we need to do to develop a new
assessment technique for the rice crop operations.
2. Methodology
2.1 Selection of site and subjects
The agriculture field under the study was situated at Birbhum district of West Bengal, India. 25 agriculture
workers (18 male and 7 female) with mean age 40.9 ± 14 years, having minimum 10 years of working
experience were selected for the study.
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Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
2.2 Physical characteristics of the subjects
The height of the subjects was measured by the Martin type anthropometric rod (Mfg by Seiber & Heigner,
Switzerland) and weight was measured by a portable, calibrated bathroom weighing scale. Hand grip
strength was determined by using a hand grip dynamometer to test the maximum voluntary contraction
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developed by both hand. Body mass index was measured by using the formula (BMI=Weight (kg)/ Height
(mtr). Two nutritional indices, i.e., Body Mass Index (BMI) and Ponderal Index (PI) were determined on the
basis of weight and height measurements by using the following formulae. The four skinfold sites bicep,
tricep, subscapular and suprailiac were measured, from where body density, percentage of body fat (Body
fat%), and total body fat and lean body mass was determined.
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Body Mass Index (kg/m ) = Weight (kg) / Height (m) (Key et al., 1972).
Ponderal Index = (3√Mass (kg) / Height (cm) ×1000 (EXSS 323).
Body density (for women) = 1.1599 – (0.0717 × log of the sum of the Biceps, triceps, subscapular and
sulrailiac skinfold thicknesses) (Durnin and Womcrsley, 1974).
Percentage of body Fat (Body fat%) = {(4.950/ Body density) – 4.5} × 100 (Siri, 1961).
Total body fat (kg) = (Body fat% × body weight) / 100
2.3 Socio Economic status of the subjects
The social status of the workers was identified by questioner method.
2.4 Assessment of Body Part Discomfort during Rice cultivation
As per observation and discussions with agriculture workers, we selected four very strenuous type of work
posture adopted during rice cultivation activities. 10 point body part discomfort scale (BPD scale) also
applied among the agriculture workers to know the psychological pain in different body part for all four
strenuous activity. As per their psychological feeling, they was allowed to rank zero to ten (for eg. 0=No pain,
10=Worst Pain)
2.5 Assessment of work posture of subjects
To assess different rice cultivation work related posture, we applied RULA, REBA as two different tools
based on the protocol detailed out in their methods.
3. Results and Discussion
The physical characteristics of the Agriculture workers are presented in Table 1. It shows the mean (±SD)
values of age, work experience, body weight, height, BMI, ponderal index, fat %, lean body mass and hand
grip strength of the subjects. From the result of BMI it is seen that the values for both genders were at
normal range (18 to 22.9).
Table 1. Physical characteristics of agriculture workers.
Variables Male Female
Mean±SD Mean±SD
Age (years) 39.21±13.64 44.0±15.28
Work experience 23.85±15.27 27.75±14.45
Body Weight (kg) 52.07±7.68 40.75±3.54
Height (cm) 158.46±5.65 145.85±4.38
BMI 20.74±2.96 19.16±1.43
Ponderal Index 13.12±2.02 13.15±1.13
Body Fat% 20.40±1.01 22.67±4.27
Lean Body Mass (kg) 39.59±5.60 37.32±6.69
Maximum Grip strength in left hand (kg) 29.15±6.56 17.5±5.18
Maximum Grip Strength in right hand (kg) 28.00±6.39 18.06±5.53
The social status of agricultural workers is presented in table 2. Average family members are 4 in studied
locality. Per day per person income in this locality is Rs 42.
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Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
Table 2. Social status of agriculture worker.
Variable Mean±SD
Family Members 4±2
Adults 3±1
Child 1±1
Salaried Person 2±1
Monthly income 5000±1000
Income/Person/day 42 (Rs)
Rice cultivation involves following steps (i) Nursery Preparation, (ii) Land Preparation, (II) Seed germination,
(III) Rice plant transplantation (Uprooting the plant, carrying to actual field, transplanting), (IV) de-weeding,
(V) Spraying Pesticides, (VI) adding up fertilizer, (VII) Crop harvesting ( Cutting plants with grain, making
bundle, transporting the crop to the thrashing area) (VIII) Thrashing the plant and separating out the grain,
(IX) Storage of grain and plant separtely. Transplanting and Cutting rice are repetitive and continuous
manual work performed in awkward bending posture under rough environment. Carrying of seedlings and
rice (both rice plant and rice grain bag) is also painful job due to over stressing of the body components. The
work posture adopted during performing rice cultivation was assessed by using REBA and RULA techniques.
As per RULA and REBA analysis most of the steps of rice cultivation are lying under high risk (Table 3,
Figure 2 & 3). As observed most of the work posture adopted during rice cultivation are of sustained bending
in association with twisting and frequent standing uprooting from bending. Therefore, biomechanically such
work is highly detrimental with possible lead towards spinal cord and other MSD related injuries. Impact of
these MSD related injuries were confirmed by the workers.
Table 3. Work posture assessment of the agriculture workers.
Posture RULA Action Level REBA Action Level
Score Score
Nursery Preparation 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
Land Preparation 6 Further investigation, 7 Medium risk, further
change soon investigation, change soon
Uprooting the seedlings 6 Further investigation, 5 Medium risk, further
change soon investigation, change soon
Carrying Seedlings 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
Transplanting Rice 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
Weeding 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
Spraying the pesticide 7 Investigate and 7 Medium risk, further
implement change investigation, change soon
Spraying Fertilizer 7 Investigate and 5 Medium risk, further
implement change investigation, change soon
Cutting Rice 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
Binding Rice 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
Carrying Rice 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
Threshing rice 7 Investigate and 5 Medium risk, further
implement change investigation, change soon
Storage of rice grain 7 Investigate and 10 High risk, Investigate and
implement change implement change
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Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
Figure 2: Graphical representation of RULA score in Figure 3: Graphical representation of REBA score in
different step of rice cultivation activity (Maximum different step of rice cultivation activity (Maximum
possible RULA score 7) possible REBA score 12)
As per psychological pain feeling, carrying seedlings is most strenuous process among all steps of rice
cultivation activity (Figure 4). The other strenuous steps of agriculture activity are rice transplanting, cutting
rice crop (Grain + Plant) and carrying the crop.
Figure 4: Perceived pain map during different rice crop farming related activities.
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To understand the risk factors in industries and office environments, two well known techniques RULA ,
2
REBA , for body posture analysis are commonly used in India. Even though these techniques were primarily
designed for western industries and office workplaces, many researchers use these techniques to identify
the risk factor in the agriculture workplace in India because of absolute lack of any other appropriate
methods. As per the present study the RULA score (7) and REBA score (10) is same for all four above said
operations in rice cultivation. But as per psychological discomfort feeling scale carrying the seedlings is more
strenuous job than other three job operation. Therefore, there is discrepancies/limitation to use these
techniques in agriculture field.
RULA and REBA techniques generally used on industrial workers to take actions on postural remedy of
different operational components within the same job. In Industry condition work place/work environment is
almost same or unchanged for industry as most of them are under the shade and in closed condition. In
contrary, agriculture is open environment activity. Physical stress are not only depend on body posture, it
also depends on different environmental factors like, temperature, humidity of air, air flow, sun rays exposure,
work terrain, time of work, repetition of work, external load factors, etc.
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Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
With respect to different jobs under the rice crop activities, the four most selected strenuous jobs are
i) Carrying Seedlings, ii) Transplanting Rice, iii) Cutting Rice and iv) Carrying Rice and Storing Rice.
Transplanting and Cutting rice are most repetitive type longer duration manual work performed in awkward
bending posture under rough environment. Carrying of seedlings and rice is also painful job due to over
loading of body. During carrying seedlings, most pain feeling body parts are Neck, Shoulder, Lower back,
Thigh and Foot (Figure 5). Generally this operation happens in monsoon season. The work place is very
muddy and slippery. Workers need to carry the seedlings from nursery to actual rice cultivation field. The
work time is depending on the distance from nursery to field. This operation is also a single stretched
operation. The mean values (& SD) (N=25) of discomfort feeling in different body part in 10 point scale are
showed in figure 5. Because of the less sample size, high SD value is obtained which will get reduced once
the sample size is increased.
Figure 5: Pain feeling in different body part during carrying the seedlings activity
During rice transplanting, the highest pain is observed in the lower back lumbar region (Figure 6).. Almost
100% people are feeling maximum pain in this part of his body. The mean values (& SD) (N=25) of
discomfort feeling in different body part in 10 point scale are showed in figure 6.
Figure 6: Perception of pain in different body part during transplanting activity
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Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
During rice crop harvesting (cutting), highest pain feeling body part is lower back-lumbar region (Figure 7).
Almost 100% people are feeling maximum pain in this part of his body. The mean values (& SD) (N=25) of
discomfort feeling in different body part in 10 point scale are showed in figure 7. During this activity, the
workers use a sickle to cut the rice plant. Due to uncovered sharp edge, accidents like cutting of hand also
take place very frequently.
Figure 7: Pain feeling in different body part during Rice cutting activity
While carrying rice from field to threshing ground, most pain feeling body parts are Neck, Shoulder, Lower
back, Thigh and Foot (Figure 8). Workers have to do this work at a single stretch for 10 to 30 minutes. The
mean values (& SD) (N=25) of discomfort feeling in different body part in 10 point scale are showed in figure
8.
Figure 8: Feeling of pain in different body part during rice carrying activity
4. Conclusion
The BMI and Ponderal Index of agriculture workers (for both male and female) are within standard range.
Most of the workers lived under BPL level. Biomechanically it is highly strenuous job due to bending and
overloading. Severe pains in the lower back, neck, shoulder, thigh and calf region are available among the
workers. RULA and REBA have some discrepancies to use these techniques in agriculture field. What
appears that these two techniques may be good of evaluating a single type Industrial type job or for a
specific work posture under closed and uniform environmental condition. But these tools are not suitable for
multitasking operations under varied environmental work condition including load carrying with special
reference to Indian agriculture operation which is manually predominant. To use these techniques, different
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Proceedings 19th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Melbourne 9-14 August 2015
load factors (Sizen shape, weight, work terrain, speed of walking etc) and environmental factors should be
included during postural stress analysis.
Acknowledgements
The authors take pleasure to say thanks to the entire agriculture workers for their support during
the study. Thanks to IDC, IITB for allowing to conduct this study.
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