Improving body posture while fueling with a newly designed pump nozzle.
BACKGROUND
Although petrol pumps are a very common and highly used simple technology, their design consideration for comfort and safety to prevent high-pressure load and musculoskeletal injuries to the body is a neglected area in many countries including Iran.


OBJECTIVE
This study attempted to design a new pump nozzle, and to assess the differences in musculoskeletal load related to body posture when a price/volume display is mounted on the pump nozzle.


METHODS
For postural analysis, photographs recording the posture of 100 randomly selected customers while fueling at petrol pumps and the rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) technique were used.


RESULTS
The results of this study showed that RULA scores improved significantly after the newly designed pump nozzle was used.


CONCLUSIONS
The newly designed pump nozzle is useful in reducing load related to body posture while fueling.
a Islamic Azad University , Iran.
Zoleikha
Z
Sayyahi
b Zahedan University of Medical Sciences , Iran.
Ramazan
R
Mirzaei
c Hooman Research Collaborators Institute , Iran.
Roksana
R
Mirkazemi
D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000502:physiology*
ergonomics; manufacturing; musculoskeletal disorders; petrol pumps; posture analysis; pump nozzle; rapid upper limb assessment