Awareness of Ideal Sitting Posture among Professional Bus Drivers in Pune City

Background: Ergonomics is a scientific study related with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a work systems. As per the findings published by US Bureau of Labour Statistics in 2017 bus drivers are one of the top three occupations with highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders. Canadian Center for occupational health and safety has stated that one of the causes of musculoskeletal disorders is the poor posture from an improperly adjusted seat. An adequate knowledge of the principles of ergonomics of workstation setup can prevent a lot of discomfort and maximize productivity.

Methodology: The present study was conducted at PMPML depots on 133 bus drivers and data was collected by interview method using a validated questionnaire.

Results: The mean age of bus drivers in our study was 39.4 years. The average years of working is 10.38 years and average working hours in a day are 8.43 hrs. It was found that 93.98% of participants were aware about correct sitting posture while driving in general and 98.49% of participants believe that sitting in bad posture for prolonged time can lead to musculoskeletal disorders and pain. 63.90% of the participants were aware about the ideal seat height of the driving seat. It was found that 83.83% of the participants who know about the proper knee position and 84% of participants were aware about the correct positioning of the feet while driving. There were 67.66% of participants who know about the proper angle of inclination of seat back and about the usefulness of adding a lumbar support.

Conclusion: The study concluded that majority of the bus drivers are aware about the ideal sitting posture while driving. Therefore, the present study indicates the need to ergonomically design the workplace of drivers in order to decrease the risk of WRMSD’s which may help in improving their quality of life as well as the worker’s productivity.