Ergonomic Redesign of Till Operator Workstation to Reduce Overload

Abstract

Till Operators are the face of retail and are often overloaded with excessive manual material handling and constant gaze at the VDT screen. This paper presents a study which intends to ergonomically redesign the workstation design for till operators and assess its effectiveness in reducing overload. The study was conducted on 250 till operators engaged in 45 organised FMCG retail stores in India. The study was carried out in three phases namely Load Assessment, Designing of Ergonomic Workstation for till operators and Comparative analysis of existing and ergonomically modified workstation. The comparative analysis was done on the basis of workplace risk assessment, posture, body discomfort perceived by the operator, heart rate, and cycle time. Statistically significant differences were obtained when existing and modified workstations were compared. WERA and REBA scores indicated significant improvements in posture while comparing the existing and ergonomically designed shopping carts. The implementation of the study can play a significant role in improving work conditions for till operators and reducing overload.