Ergonomics in Small Home-Based Industries: Batik Making in Malaysia

Abstract

This paper aims to review the ergonomics study related to the batik industry, especially in Malaysia. The cross-sectional study is carried out using a 10 years’ filter and keywords such as batik AND ergonomic AND Malaysia. The searches were carried out mainly on Google scholar website but also cross-referenced with searches from Scopus. There were 300 plus papers when the keyword Malaysia was included, but 1,200 papers when that keyword was omitted. More than 90% of batik studies are from the Indonesian industry. Focus of the papers were on physical ergonomics, mostly associated batik workers with at least one of musculoskeletal disorders such as shoulder or back pain and CTD (although not as popular as the former). Two site visits were also mentioned to give a snapshot of ergonomics hazards that are common in small and medium batik workplace. In conclusion, more in-depth study to use objective measurements are needed to validate/verify these claims from subjective perception studies and pen & paper analyses.