ABSTRACT
In industrialized and in developing countries, the machinery sector is an important part of the engineering industry and may be one of the industrial mainstays of the economy. However, social costs from accidents or sick leave may be directly caused by hazardous machinery operations. Manual handling of machinery or component parts of machinery can lead to a high risk of injury to the musculoskeletal system if the loads are too heavy, handled at high frequencies for long durations, or in awkward postures. Manually applied effort is often required by operators working with machines for their intended purpose. Risks exist if the design of the machinery is not in accordance with ergonomic design principles. When designing and constructing machinery for manual handling, the designer should ensure a safe and ergonomically designed machine in the market. An ergonomic risk assessment during the early design stage of machinery—as well as appropriate measures to reduce the risk by redesign, if necessary—may help reach this aim. It also eliminates the need for cost and time-intensive machine alterations later at the shop floor level when health and safety inspectors discover hazardous situations during the intended machine operations.
