American Journal of Scientific Research
ISSN 1450-223X Issue 3(2009), pp.51-66
© EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2009
http://www.eurojournals.com/ajsr.htm
Ergonomics Awareness and Identifying Frequently Used
Ergonomics Programs in Manufacturing Industries Using
Quality Function Deployment
Shaliza Azreen Mustafa
School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus
14300 Nibong Tebal, Malaysia
Shahrul Kamaruddin
School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus
14300 Nibong Tebal, Malaysia
E-mail: meshah@eng.usm.my
Tel: 603-5996382; Fax: 603-5941025
Zalinda Othman
Industrial Computing Department, Faculty of Information Science and Technology
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Mohzani Mokhtar
School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus
14300 Nibong Tebal, Malaysia
Abstract
Ergonomics in Malaysia has been introduced over a decade ago with the
establishment of the ergonomics division in the National Institute of Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) on 1
st
December 1992. This study aims to evaluate the level of
ergonomics awareness in Malaysian manufacturing industries and to determine the best
practices of ergonomics program using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) among the
manufacturing industries with the highest awareness of ergonomics. A questionnaire was
developed and distributed to 200 manufacturing industries where the respond rate was only
22.5%. The evaluation showed that 35.6% of the industries were classified as having high
level of ergonomics awareness, 51.1% with moderate levels and 13.3% having low level of
ergonomics awareness. The results from the Ergonomics House of Quality (EHOQ)
analysis showed that the orientation program (124 point) was the best practice in helping to
increase the awareness of ergonomics amongst the employees. Besides, ergonomics need to
be formalised via the creation of ergonomics team within the organisation. This is based on
the results where, 62.2% of the respondents agreed that organised ergonomics team will
help to improve the awareness of ergonomics.
Keywords: Ergonomics, Manufacturing Industries, Quality Function Deployment (QFD),
Ergonomics House of Quality (EHOQ)