Vol. 9, Special Issue 8 (2020)

Author(s):
Neha Arya and Seema Kwatra

Abstract:
Banking sector is one of the highly demanding sectors where employees are pressurised to work for more than 8 hours in static position in front of computers. Workstation is an important element in banking sector which has direct impact on employees performance and health. Thus the present study was planned to assess the workstation and suggest improvements to optimize comfort for bank employees. The study was carried out purposively in selected Public Sector Banks (SBI, PNB, UNION) of Pantnagar and Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar District. A total of 90 employees were selected from 13 banks for collecting descriptive data. Out of total, 23 female and 67 male employees were assessed. For assessing computer workstation (furniture, equipments or tools), postural and working environment for bank employees, Office Ergonomic Hazards Identification Checklist was adopted. Dutch Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was adopted for assessing general health and associated musculoskeletal discomfort among bank employees. On the bases of results it was found that (74.4 percent) employees reported that computer workstation was not equipped with adjustable design features. Employees were forced to adjust with fixed design features and had complaints related to pain in lower back, neck and shoulders due to poor workplace setting. Majority (81.1 percent) of the employees reported that chairs were not equipped with lumbar support that cause pain in lower back of the employees. None of them had palm support on keyboard surface which cause pain in wrist and palm portion of the hand of the employees. 68.88 percent employees reported that armrest was not designed appropriately. It was observed that (87.7 percent) of the employees worked in slightly bending posture with forwarded neck for long period of time, that cause pain in upper extremities of the body. Around 68.8 percent of the employees stated that they were not able to take breaks between work due to high work load.