Ergonomic Analysis of Small-Scale Palm Sugar Starch Processing Industry in Rancakalong Village, Sumedang Regency

Abstract

Palm starch processing is a process to produce starch from sugar palm plants, which is used as a raw material in the food and beverage industry. In general, palm starch processing activities include (i) splitting, (ii) grating, (iii) filtering coarse fiber, (iv) filtering fine fiber, (v) harvesting, and (vi) drying. Initial evaluations indicated that workers experienced physical discomfort during work. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the ergonomic aspects of palm starch processing activities, including work posture, standard time, workload, noise and vibration. Based on the analysis, the level of risk in each work element in palm starch processing includes high risk (score 8-10) and very high (score 11-15). This risk causes discomfort because work attitudes and duration do not follow standards, so changes are needed. The standard time required for each work element is as follows: 212.88 s (splitting), 363.45 s (grating), 95.08 s (filtering coarse fiber), 192.05 s (filtering fine fiber), 35 .57 seconds (harvesting), and 1821.01 s (drying). Regarding workload analysis, the Total Energy Cost (TEC) value as the level of exhaustion for sugar palm starch processing activities ranges from 92.66 kcal/hour to 265.55 kcal/hour. Regarding noise and vibration analysis, the grating workstation was identified as the station with the highest exposure values, i.e., 96 dB and 1.6 m/s². The results of this research can be used as a basis for developing more efficient work procedures, maintaining health and increasing safety in palm starch processing activities.