Original Research
Occupational Health & Agricultural Ergonomics

Malaysian Oil Palm Workers Are in Pain: Hazards Identification and Ergonomics Related Problems

Background: The Malaysian Oil Palm Industry

Malaysia is one of the world’s two largest producers of palm oil, alongside Indonesia, with the two countries collectively accounting for approximately 85% of global crude palm oil production. The industry is a cornerstone of the Malaysian economy, contributing significantly to export revenue, rural employment, and national development. As of recent estimates, Malaysia’s oil palm plantations span millions of hectares, employing a workforce that includes both Malaysian and foreign workers.

Despite the economic significance of the industry, the health and wellbeing of oil palm plantation workers has received comparatively limited research attention. The nature of plantation work — conducted outdoors in tropical heat and humidity, involving heavy manual labour with traditional tools, and requiring sustained physical effort throughout long working days — exposes workers to a range of occupational hazards. Among these, ergonomic risk factors and their associated musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) represent one of the most prevalent and debilitating categories of occupational health problems.

This study, published in the Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, set out to identify the hazards faced by oil palm workers and to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors associated with their working postures during harvesting activities. The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence highlighting the urgent need for ergonomic intervention in this sector.

Study Methods

The researchers employed a multi-method approach combining subjective assessment of musculoskeletal complaints with observational ergonomic risk assessment. Workers’ complaints regarding musculoskeletal symptoms across different body parts were gathered using a modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), an internationally validated instrument for mapping self-reported pain and discomfort patterns.

For the ergonomic risk assessment component, the researchers utilised the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method — an observational postural analysis tool designed to evaluate whole-body musculoskeletal risk associated with work tasks. REBA provides a systematic framework for evaluating body posture, forceful exertions, type of movement or action, repetition, and coupling. Each assessment produces a risk score that categorises the urgency of ergonomic intervention needed.

The study focused on harvesting activities, which represent the most physically demanding component of oil palm plantation work. Harvesting involves using specialised manual tools — typically a chisel for shorter palms and a sickle mounted on a long aluminum pole for taller palms — to cut fresh fruit bunches (FFB) weighing between 5 and 50 kilograms from heights that can reach up to 20 metres.

Musculoskeletal Disorder Prevalence

The NMQ results revealed a striking prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints among the oil palm workers surveyed. Both the left and right hand sides of the body were the most commonly affected regions, reflecting the bilateral physical demands of harvesting activities. The upper extremities — including hands, wrists, forearms, and shoulders — bore the brunt of the musculoskeletal burden, consistent with the nature of the harvesting task that requires sustained gripping, forceful cutting motions, and overhead reaching.

These findings are consistent with the broader literature on musculoskeletal disorders among oil palm workers. Studies from both Malaysia and Thailand have reported 12-month MSD prevalence rates ranging from 86% to 99% among manual harvesting workers, with lower back pain being the single most common complaint followed by shoulder and upper extremity symptoms. The current study’s emphasis on hand and wrist involvement underscores the specific biomechanical demands of the cutting and gripping tasks involved in FFB harvesting.

REBA Risk Assessment Findings

The REBA analysis of harvesting postures identified significant ergonomic risk levels. The specific postures adopted during FFB cutting — which involve a combination of neck extension to look upward at the fruit bunch, trunk lateral flexion and extension, sustained shoulder elevation and abduction to manoeuvre the cutting pole, and forceful wrist flexion and deviation during the cutting action — collectively produced risk scores indicating that immediate ergonomic corrective action was necessary.

The biomechanics of oil palm harvesting are inherently challenging. When harvesting from younger, shorter palms (1–3 years), workers must adopt a stooped posture to reach beneath the fronds, exposing the lower back to sustained flexion loads. As palm height increases with tree age, the cutting tool must be extended upward on longer poles, shifting the physical demand to the shoulders, arms, and upper back as the worker generates cutting force through a pulling motion at height. This variation in physical demands across palm heights means that workers are exposed to a diverse range of ergonomic stressors throughout a single working day.

Ergonomics Awareness and Training Gaps

A particularly concerning finding was the general lack of ergonomic awareness among the workers. Despite performing physically demanding tasks daily using manual tools that expose them to well-established ergonomic risk factors, most workers had not received any formal training in safe working postures, tool handling techniques, or the recognition and reporting of early musculoskeletal symptoms.

This awareness gap is compounded by the demographic profile of the oil palm workforce. A significant proportion of plantation workers are foreign workers from Indonesia and other countries, who may face language barriers, limited access to health education, and reduced bargaining power to advocate for workplace safety improvements. The transient nature of some employment arrangements may further reduce incentives for both employers and workers to invest in long-term ergonomic health.

The Need for Ergonomic Intervention

The study’s findings carry clear implications for intervention. The researchers emphasised the urgent need for ergonomics training programmes that educate workers about safe working postures, the importance of recognising early symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders, and strategies for reducing ergonomic risk during daily tasks. Such training should be delivered in languages accessible to the workforce and should incorporate practical demonstrations rather than relying solely on written materials.

Beyond training, there is a need for ergonomic redesign of harvesting tools and work processes. Mechanisation of certain harvesting tasks, particularly for taller palms, could significantly reduce the physical demands on workers. Intermediate solutions such as improved pole designs that reduce the force required for cutting, ergonomically shaped handles that reduce wrist deviation, and the use of harvesters or mechanical aids for FFB collection and transport could all contribute to risk reduction.

At the policy level, Malaysian occupational safety and health regulations, administered through the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), provide a framework for workplace hazard management. However, enforcement in the agricultural sector — particularly on remote plantations — remains challenging. Stronger regulatory attention to ergonomic hazards in agriculture, coupled with industry-led initiatives to improve working conditions, is warranted.

Broader Occupational Health Implications

The ergonomic challenges documented in this study are not unique to the oil palm industry. Agricultural workers across Malaysia — in rubber tapping, tea plucking, pineapple harvesting, and rice cultivation — face analogous physical demands. The SERA ergonomic risk assessment method, validated in a companion study published in the same MJPHM supplement volume, represents one approach to standardising and simplifying ergonomic risk assessment across these diverse agricultural settings.

The economic consequences of unaddressed musculoskeletal disorders extend beyond individual worker suffering. Reduced productivity due to pain and disability, increased absenteeism, higher healthcare utilisation, and potential disability compensation claims all impose costs on the industry and the broader economy. Investing in ergonomic improvements is therefore not merely an ethical imperative but an economic one.

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