Track: Human Factors and Ergonomics

Abstract

Toll booth operators are exposed to number of occupational risks due to the nature of their work. According to Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, a total of 968 cases of occupational injuries and 1,010 cases of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) were recorded for workers in toll operations (BLES, 2011). Thus, this paper aims to investigate issues surrounding toll booth operators ’comfortability and safety. The main objective of this study is to provide solutions in order to minimize the prevalence of MSDs in the operations of toll road industry, particularly, to the current line of work of Filipino toll booth tellers. The researcher selected North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) as a model representation of other toll road companies here in the country since the highest volume of vehicles were passing along NLEX road. Ergonomic assessment tools and statistical analyses were used for the investigation. Based on the result of the study, it was found that the workers in the toll road industry were exposed to musculoskeletal disorders such as pain in lower back, upper back, shoulders, neck, and hips/buttocks. Similarly, based on the result of Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), the current working posture of toll booth operators could pose high level of work-related upper limb disorders due to the poor design of facility. Given this situation, an ergonomically designed toll booth was proposed. The design was based from the analysis of the study – respondent survey, anthropometric measurement, identified significant risk factors of MSD, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) matrix, and results of physical working environment assessment. It was suggested that the proposed design must be constructed in the near future for greater benefit over the present design in terms of comfortability and safety of toll booth operators.