Abstract
Abstract The use of a knapsack sprayer for pest and disease control is quite exhausting, causing fatigue for operators. This fatigue can cause pain or injury to the muscles. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the operator’s workload based on fatigue and total energy consumption in operating the knapsack sprayer. There are 2 types of knapsack sprayer equipment, namely high-density polyethylene sprayer (HDPS), and stainless steel sprayer (3S). The results show that the operator’s workload is in light of the moderate category as indicated by the average IRHR value for HDPS between 1.063-1,580 and 3S between 1,194-1,687. Calculation of the operator’s workload obtained an average value of total energy consumption for HDPS between 0.034-0.078 kcal/kg, while 3S between 0.046-0.087 kcal/kg. The normalized work energy consumption value of the HDPS operator between 1.367-3.554 kcal/kg, while 3S between 1.954-4.234 kcal/kg. Based on the calculation of the total score of each operator, it is known that the level of muscle complaints using the HDPS or 3S shows did not differ significantly. However, the workload of using HDPS is lower than the 3S at a capacity of 8-14 litters.