WORK COMFORT LEVELS: AN ERGONOMIC CASE STUDY IN
POLITEKNIK KUCHING SARAWAK.
Ts. Zainap binti Hj Lamat
Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Km 22, Jalan Matang,93050 Kuching, Sarawak,
Email: zainap@poliku.edu.my Tel: 013-216 4562
Sezee binti Gorotop
Politeknik Kota Kinabalu, No. 4, Jalan Politeknik, KKIP Barat, Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park,
88460 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,
Email: sezee.g@polikk.edu.my Tel: 019-532 3130
Flora Anak Albert Daud
Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Km 22, Jalan Matang,93050 Kuching, Sarawak,
Email: flora@poliku.edu.my Tel: 019-885 6182
ABSTRACT
Work environment significantly influence the quality and quantity of work in every organization.
Every employee need working environment that meet their comfort levels. Despite its importance,
study on the workplace ergonomics or specifically work comfort is still very limited. Thus, this
study aimed to analyze the environmental and organizational condition of employees from
Department of Civil Engineering, Politeknik Kuching Sarawak (PKS) which somehow affect the
work comfort. Some elements of the work environment which are working space, temperature, air
movement and lighting were addressed as the key physical factors in work comfort in the
organization. The finding shows that only temperature and air ventilation influence the staff’s
comfort as the other elements are still in the range of acceptable value recommended by DOSH.
Administrative of the organization are recommended to monitor and improve the office
temperature to maintaining or even increasing employee’s productivity.
Keywords: Work environment, comfort, ergonomic.
INTRODUCTION
Studies on ergonomics in the workplace have been done a lot and have provided many important
findings that can be used as a reference to other researchers. This is because, work plays a
prominent and consequential role in people’s lives. People have to work in places which
surrounded and designed by many environmental elements and physical aspects that influence
their ability and desire to work every day. Therefore, a study was conducted to analyze the
environmental and organizational condition of employees from Department of Civil Engineering,
Politeknik Kuching Sarawak (PKS) which is located at 1.63378, 110.19290 coordinates as shown
in Figure 1. Politeknik Kuching Sarawak (PKS) was the 5th established polytechnic under the
Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. Located approximately 23 kilometers from the center of
Kuching City and its position on Mount Serapi and adjacent to the Kubah National Park, provides
a suitable and conducive environment for learning and teaching as well as the development of
students' personalities. The area is surrounded by the mountains and forests which makes the view
inimitable.
PKS is responsible for advocating technical education and vocational programs for Malaysian
students. It plays its vital role in producing semi-professional workers for the engineering and
commercial industry in the private and public sectors in Malaysia. There are eight academic
departments, two academic support department and 15 support units in the institution. Department
of Civil Engineering (DCE), is one out of eight Academic Departments in Politeknik Kuching
Sarawak led by a Head of Department and supported by competent staffs. Figure 2 shows the
office arrangement layout with 43 staffs (Grade 41-52), 8 empty desks (for discussion purposes),
1 meeting table, file cabinets and bookshelves along the perimeter with the office area is 304 square
meters. Only one of the air conditioning is well function while the window frame is fragile and
difficult to open are several factors that causes the discomfort among the staffs. From the previous
study, about 70% expressed pain or discomfort in the neck part and upper back. Meanwhile, 80%
expressed pain or discomfort at the shoulders. For the short-term solution, fans are provided for
the employees to enhance the ventilation condition.
Figure 1: Location of Politeknik Kuching Sarawak
Figure 2: Office Arrangement Layout
LITERATURE REVIEW
Work comfort means a comfort or a comfortable situation for workers to work in long duration
and limitation with less fatigue on wherever our area is (Manap, Amat, Sharif, Yusoff, & Rahman,
2018). Work comfort in the workplace is one of the motivations for the employee to give the
maximum impact on productivity and helps to create a more positive atmosphere (Lomonaco &
Miller, 1997) (Soewardi, Dila, & Rizkiningtias, 2016). The arrangement of office layout should
be planned so that it becomes more larger and created comfort atmosphere. Discomfort in office
can be due to several factors such as low quality of lighting, poor office layout arrangement, noise
and poor ventilation. According to Economic Planning Unit, working space area for staff grade 41
to 46 is entitled of 12m2 per person (EPU, 2015) and 10m2 per person working space area under
Schedule seven, Uniform Building by Law (UBBL) 1984 (Uniform Building By Law-1984, 2015).
Low quality of lighting can cause physical and mental tiring. Unsuitable lighting can lead to
difficulty in concentration as well as in poor working environment and can also cause muscular
strain (Arunesh Chandra, 2009). Visual conditions to be considered are illumination, luminance
distribution, contrast and color. Meanwhile, sounds from conversation between colleagues and
telephone conversations are the largest cause of disturbances in sound environment. According to
Occupational Safety and Health (Noise Exposure) Regulations 2019, define the excessive noise as
daily personal noise exposure level exceeding 82dB or daily personal noise dose exceeding 50%
or maximum sound pressure level exceeding 140dB. According to Guidelines on Occupational
Safety and Health in the Offices, the appropriate temperature condition for the effective work
environment is usually 20 to 26ºϹ. Almost all office in Malaysia use air-conditioning system to
maintain the comfortable temperature. Meanwhile, the optimum comfort range for relative
humidity is 40 to 60%. Low humidity can cause dryness of the eyes, nose and throat while high
humidity (above 80%) can causes fatigue and drowsiness. To maintain the air quality in the office,
ventilation should be done at least equal to the volume of air per hour. Air movement of less than
0.1 m/s can lead to stuffy rooms whereas above 0.2 m/s, draughts can be felt. Office should be
ventilated by providing opening windows or doors or using air-conditioning system.
METHODOLOGY
There are three types of ergonomics which are physical, cognitive and organizational. Each of
these contributes not only to organizational success but also to worker satisfaction (Kusri, 2017).
The scope of this study is focused on the physical ergonomics which are lighting, temperatures,
ventilation and working space. The data collection was conducted at the staff office of Department
of Civil Engineering (DCE) with 43 staffs and area of approximately 304m2. For the working space
area is calculated using the formula below:
𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 =
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁. 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
The total area of the office is measured and divided into numbers of staff. For temperature and air
velocity are measured using digital anemometer. The data has collected from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm
during office hour for 1 day. Meanwhile, lighting is measured by using Lux meter. Lighting is
measured at 43 locations (staff’s workstation) for 1 day at 9.00am, 12.00pm, 2.00pm and 3.00pm.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Prior to testing and measure of physical ergonomic, results obtained from the data collection for
the environmental factors is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Physical factors data collection at Staff’s Office versus DOSH Recommendation
Environmental Factors
Working space/staff
Indoor temperature
Outdoor Temperature
Lighting
Air Velocity
Data
7m2
30.70C
30.00C
300 lux
>1.0 m/s
DOSH Recommendation
6.25m2
20 – 26 0C
400 lux (routine office work)
>0.1 m/s
The result shows that the indoor temperature of staff office is 30.7◦C, slightly higher that the
outdoor temperature which is 30.0◦C. In this study, the staff room is not well-ventilated due to lack
of air-conditioning system and problem of the window hinges in the office causing the windows
to be unable to open. This situation causing the working room temperature to be a little bit higher
than the normal room temperature. Without sufficient numbers of mechanical ventilation like fans
and air conditioners, the working room is uncomfortable to work in. The situation is coherent with
the findings from Haiying Wong (2018), where most of the workers feel comfortable when the
temperature was under 28.90C and were uncomfortable when the temperature increased to 320C
and higher. In a study conducted by Lan et. Al (2009), the concentration rate of workers will reduce
by 0.5% when the indoor temperature increased to above 28 0C.
Figure 3 is the ASHRAE thermal comfort graph used to determine the comfort level in JKA. The
result shows the thermal comfort level for this office is 80% acceptable limit but the best thermal
comfort limit is 90% and above. The thermal comfort limit is expected to be increase above 90%
if all openings such as window can be fully operated.
Figure 3: ASHRAE thermal comfort
Figure 4: Thom’s Discomfort Index
Refer to Figure 4, Thom’s heat and discomfort index table, JKA humidity Index is 60.7% and the
temperature is 30.7ºϹ and result falls in colour 4, which is 26 (More than half population feels
discomfort). The uncomfortable temperature in the working room were influences by the low rate
of air velocity as shown in the result.
Table 2: Lighting Data
Lighting lux reading
Day 1 (01/04/2021)
Location
ML1
ML2
ML3
ML4
ML5
ML6
ML7
ML8
ML9
ML10
ML11
ML12
ML13
ML14
ML15
ML16
9
227
300
410
571
247
327
306
312
355
233
287
217
284
289
511
393
12
226
297
409
571
244
327
306
311
351
233
287
217
385
289
511
392
2
229
298
410
570
245
324
306
311
349
232
288
217
385
288
512
392
3
228
302
410
572
247
326
308
313
353
233
287
218
384
289
511
394
Average
228
299
410
571
246
326
307
312
352
233
287
217
360
289
511
393
ML17
ML18
ML19
ML20
ML21
ML22
ML23
ML24
ML25
ML26
ML27
ML28
ML29
ML30
ML31
ML32
ML33
ML34
ML35
ML36
ML37
ML38
ML39
ML40
MKP41
MKP42
MKP43
108
141
159
305
89
134
88
195
245
494
420
442
202
414
254
246
373
237
531
266
465
339
415
319
193
395
71
107
140
159
308
100
131
89
191
248
493
419
442
201
414
258
243
372
234
531
268
468
340
413
320
191
398
88
111
136
151
308
96
133
89
191
243
493
418
443
191
414
255
244
372
244
532
269
470
340
420
322
187
401
70
111
136
150
308
96
119
100
187
243
494
417
444
190
415
255
245
369
245
530
269
470
344
418
322
188
400
71
Average of lighting LUX reading in Staff Working
area:
109
138
155
307
95
129
92
191
245
494
419
443
196
414
256
245
372
240
531
268
468
341
417
321
190
399
75
300
Lighting in workplaces is important for the ability to accomplish tasks efficiently and safely.
Proper light levels prevent eye strain and allows people to work comfortably for longer periods of
time. Table 2 shows the illuminance values in staff’s room in the morning until the afternoon. The
results shows that the lowest light intensity is at the measuring point of MKP43 with average
amount 75 lux. The highest intensity was at the measuring point ML4 with average amount of 571
lux. The average intensity in the staff’s office was 300 lux which is slightly less than the
recommended intensity by DOSH, 400 lux. However, according to Guidelines on Occupational
Safety and Health for Lighting at Workplace (Malaysia), the lighting requirement recommended
for offices should range between 200 lux to 750 lux. The light intensity recorded was still
acceptable and has met the standard recommendation.
According to DOSH guideline for office floor space, personal workstations should be 6.25-meter
square per individual. This space size is recommended for individual comfort, safe and sufficient
space. As shown in the result, the average space per individual in JKA Staff’s office was 7.0-meter
square. This value has met the recommended personal space by DOSH.
CONCLUSION
The most important assets in every organization is employee/s. Paying attention to the office
environment is one of the techniques that can nurture the employee and will further generate
productivity. The finding of this study conclude that only temperature and air ventilation was found
to influence staff’s comfort. As a recommendation from the finding, continuous monitoring of
staff’s office temperature is required. Workplace physical environment such as adequate lighting
system, temperature and individual working space, can impact employees both physically and
psychologically. These factors also might contribute to some health problem including headaches,
as a result of poor lighting system or respiratory problems and fatigue as a consequence of poor
temperature and air quality and so forth. In addition, in order to maintain employee productivity,
administrative of the organization are recommended to organize the office environment based-on
an ergonomically office temperature and air ventilation as recommended by DOSH. Employees
spend most of their time on generating activities in the office. Thus, the office environment plays
a very important role in maintaining even increasing employee’s productivity.
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