Developing Ergonomics Measurement Tool for Public Sectors

This study focuses on whether human factors like body posture and work environment which include job control, job demand, tools, work station, physical environment, break time and social support affect employees’ discomfort. In this study, 184 samples have been obtained from the public sectors employees in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. Data was then analyze using statistical analysis from the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. Factor analysis results show that the data was analyzed using principal axis factoring, specifying with eight factor solutions, with Varimax rotations on data gathered. Eight factors were confirmed which were work station, job control, job demand, social support, body posture, break time, tools, and work environment. The correlation analysis result shows no significant relationship between body posture, and tool with body regions’ discomfort. Meanwhile, there was a significant relationship between work station, job control, job demand, physical environment, break time, and social support with body regions’ discomfort. This study had also discovered that the independent variables; human factors (body posture) and work environment (work station, job control, job demand, tools, physical environment, break time and social support) were significantly explained 18.8 percent of the variance in dependent variable (body regions’ discomfort). Based on the findings, a more cohesive study should be established where future research can focus on the effect of musculoskeletal problems among industries as to build perception about the significance of ergonomics amongst Malaysian workforce in order to improve health and performance of workers and lead to higher organizational productivity and efficiency