ENHANCING HAND GRIP STRENGTH IN ADULT FEMALE THROUGH ERGONOMIC GLOVE DESIGN

Ghani, Nor Asmalillah (2024) ENHANCING HAND GRIP STRENGTH IN ADULT FEMALE THROUGH ERGONOMIC GLOVE DESIGN. Project Report. Melaka, Malaysia, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Hand grip strength is a crucial element of daily life, influencing various activities and overall well-being. The engineers who designed the existing gloves did not consider the criteria of hand anatomy and hand grip strength. This made the gloves unsuitable for workers to wear. Workers are encouraged to wear hand gloves during electrical tasks, complying with personal protective equipment requirements. There was a lack of comprehensive research on hand grip strength for adults and females, which made it difficult to apply hand grip data in designing hand gloves. Published studies have not thoroughly investigated the relationship between hand grip strength and factors such as body position, forearm orientation, and wrist position in adult females. The objectives of this study were to establish a normative dataset for hand grip strength in adult females from Malaysia and formulate a regression model predicting hand grip strength based on independent and dependent variables. The study developed ergonomic hand gloves for female operators, enhancing gripping capabilities during electric plug assembly tasks, using hand grip strength assessments among 126 Malaysian adult females. This study employed a full-factorial experimental design with body and forearm positions as independent variables, and grip force as the dependent variable. Also, hand anthropometry was measured using measuring tape and a Vernier caliper. Jeffreys's Amazing Statistics Program (JASP) software was used to develop a regression model to predict hand grip strength. The design and selection of the best design concept were developed by using screening, quality function deployment (QFD), and scoring. Lastly, a glove prototype was created using a sewing machine, and an engineering test was conducted to assess factors affecting hand grip strength using wrist torque, tensile strength, mechanical friction, and user interviews. The expected outcomes of this study were a normative dataset of hand grip force and a functional prototype of hand gloves for enhancing user comfort levels and work productivity in electric plug assembly tasks.

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