Effect the ergonomic on work stress towards administrative staff at UiTM Jengka Pahang / Atikah Mohamad Ali, Nurul Fazlin Che Kamarudin and Nurul Shahidah Shajahan

The main purpose of this study is to identify the effects of ergonomics in the Administrative Department in UiTM Jengka. The core respondents of this research are the Administrative staff. The analysis has predominantly revealed the effect of ergonomics towards the work culture of the staff. Ergonomics can be defined as the science of designing to fit the worker, rather than physically forcing the workers body to fit the job (Zafil, Durrishah & Mat Rebi, 2007). The poor ergonomic workstations are the major contributors to the work stress problems. This study aims to examine the relationship between ergonomics workstation factors and the work stress outcomes (Zafif &Durrishah, 2009). Work stress was defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when job requirement do not match the worker's capabilities, resources, and needs (National Institute of Occupational Safety and (Health, 1999). Previous studies also proved that the stress levels at the workplace today are greater than what has been experienced by the past generation (Minter, 1999). This is due to the fact that the current job situations required employees to stand in a longer period (Konz &Rys, 2002/2003). The stress caused by ergonomics affects workers who do their duties based on their nature of job. Usually, workers work for eight hours every day based on the types of job. This study shows that the poor practice of ergonomics in work stations has contributed mainly to the stress problems among workers. A physical workstation environment includes many aspects such as chair or office seating,humidity, lighting and working hours. Research shows that workstation environment that has extreme heat, dim lighting and congested works area can be associated to stress at the workplace (Sutton & Rafaeli, 1987). In the process of designing a workstation, ergonomics factors must be taken into consideration. The failure to implement the ergonomics principles at the workplaces can lead to emotional depression, physical exhaustion, productivity and declining of products quality (Shikdar &Sawaqed, 2003). Workstation design from an ergonomics perspective can effectively enhance productivity and minimize stress through the interaction between the various system components (Dempsey, 2004). If work stations are not ergonomically designed, workers may be exposed to undue physical stress (Zafil, Durrishah & Mat Rebi, 2007).