THE CHANGE OF WORKING POSTURE IN MANGGUR DECREASES CARDIOVASCULAR LOAD AND MUSCULOSKELETAL COMPLAINTS AMONG BALINESE GAMELAN CRAFTSMEN

抄録

Manggur, which means to plane down or sharpen, is a manual process in producing copper blades of Balinese gamelan orchestra. The craftsmen of Manggur work 6 to 8 hours a day, sitting on the floor with folded legs and hunched back. Because the craftsmen often complain about musculoskeletal problems after having completed a full day work, an ergonom-ic intervention was made by changing their usual working posture (the first working posture) into working on tables while sitting on chairs for one hour and alternately standing for half an hour (the second working posture). Treatment by subject design was applied to 22 randomly chosen craftsmen. Resting heart rate and working heart rate were measured by using a stopwatch, and the number of musculoskeletal complaints were recorded with Nordic Body Map Questionnaire. As a result, the second working posture caused significant reductions in working heart rate, work pulse (the difference between working heart rate and resting heart rate) and the number of musculoskeletal complaints. These results suggest that the change of working posture in manggur decreases cardiovascular load and musculoskeletal strain among Balinese gamelan craftsmen.