Varanasi: A team of the Mechanical Engineering department (Industrial Management), IIT(BHU) Varanasi, has come up with an ergonomically designed loom for handloom weavers. This will provide more comfort to the weavers, making them less prone to work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Professor of mechanical engineering Dr Prabhash Bhardwaj said the handloom weavers have to work a minimum of 8-12 hours every day by sitting at one place. Due to this, they are facing musculoskeletal pain symptoms. He said that according to a survey conducted in Varanasi, the majority of weavers suffer from pain in the lower back, thigh, foot, ankle, and neck. It is because of the working posture of the weavers in the current design of looms.
He said the currently used traditional looms shafts and jacquard are lifted by pressing bamboo sticks which work as a foot pedal and they are connected with the help of the ropes that’s behind the weaver’s seat. While weaving, these ropes sometimes create problems for the weaver’s movement by touching the weaver’s back. This also creates a restriction in the seat design as well. In the new design of the loom, the mechanical transmission of power from the foot pedal to the jacquard is done with the help of rollers and the proper placement of ropes.
M. Krishna Prasanna Naik, a research scholar, is working on the growth of the Banaras handloom industry. According to him, it is difficult for women weavers to move out of the loom, as the loom’s seat is fixed to the frame. In the newly designed loom, the seat is designed ergonomically and is not fixed on one side. It has the option to open and close, so the women weavers can easily enter inside the loom. In this design, the bamboo stick foot pedals are replaced with solid wood pedals. Because of this, the stress on the feet will be distributed uniformly. It reduces the movement of the foot pedals and so weavers can perform operations smoothly. Amresh Kushwaha, the chairman of the Angika co-operative society at Ramnagar, said that after sitting on a wooden plank for 1 to 2 hours, weavers used to move from work because of body pain but getting out of the loom is difficult for the weavers. “We received positive feedback after using this ergonomically designed loom with seat backrest and wooden foot pedals,” he said, adding that the weavers were also very happy and said that they will work on this newly designed loom.
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