Jurnal Teknos_2K, Vol 9, No 1, Januari 2009 © Fakultas Teknologi Industri Universitas Bung Hatta 20 A Review on Muscle and Mental Fatigue in Industry H. R. Zadry 1* . S. Z. Dawal 2 , and Z. Taha 3 1 Jurusan Teknik Industri, Fakultas Teknik, Universitas Andalas, Padang Kampus Unand Limau Manis, Padang 25163, Sumatera Barat Telp.: +62-751-7862902, Fax: +62-751-72566 2,3 Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Telp.: +603-7967-5382/5383, Fax: +603-7967-5330 E-mail : hilma@ft.unand.ac.id 1 sitizawiahmd@um.edu.my 2 zahari_taha@um.edu.my 3 Abstract Human fatigue is a complex phenomenon resulting from various factors in modern industries. At present, very few studies discuss on the relation of muscle and mental fatigue particularly in industries. This paper investigates and discusses on the relation between muscle and mental fatigue based on empirical past studies. The findings indicated that there is a relation between muscle and mental activity which direct to fatigue. What is lacking at present is the methodology to assess quantitatively on the relation of muscle and mental fatigue in the industry. Therefore, for future research, development of a quantitative model in predicting time to muscle and mental fatigue is proposed. Keywords: muscle, mental, fatigue, workers, industry. 1. Introduction Ergonomics plays an important role in designing systems and tasks that are capable of meeting the manufacturing goals-to meet or exceed quality standards while decreasing costs through optimizing manufacturing productivity, efficiency, and safety. Design of successful work methods requires the use of ergonomic principals that best match human capabilities with job demands. A mismatch of this interface can increase expenses, thus affecting the net profit by causing human operators to make mental mistakes, work inefficiently, or work beyond their physical capabilities to the point of injury (Sherman, 2003). Worker’s fatigue is one of the most prevalent root causes of earth-moving equipment accidents in the industry (Edwards et al., 2007). In light of growing public awareness of the impact of fatigue on both employee health and on public safety in general, shift-work industries including mining, utility providers, medical services, transportation, on-highway transport, rail, aviation, etc. are looking to technology to provide a solution to the fatigue problem. Fatigue can occur because of either mental or physical activity. Therefore, based on the review of this paper, the accurate