الوقاية والأرغنوميا
Volume 9, Numéro 2, Pages 20-31
2015-12-15

The Categorisation Of Selected Women’s Body Forms Of Ghana: Implications For Product Development

Authors : Kuma-kpobee Mercy . Van-dyke Afua .

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ergonomics is the application of set average sizes of humans to products to increase comfort, efficiency and productivity. This is necessary as size is related to the dimension of an individual’s body, which is as a result of variation among people, involving generations, ethnic groups, sex and race among other factors. The study was undertaken to categorise the key dimensions of selected Ghanaian women between the ages of 20-54 years old. A sample of 600 women was selected from three metropolitan centres in Ghana for the anthropometric survey using traditional or manual measuring technique. The anthropometric survey confirmed that the average key dimensions (bust, waist and hip girths) of the sample are larger when compared with those of other studies conducted where the participants were of white ethnic origins. This has practical implications when producing garments for the Ghanaian consumer using other size charts from different target groups or surveys. Thus the need for products to be developed for target groups using specific anthropometric data has been confirmed. This study is important for the development of the Ghanaian manufacturing industry in the provision of ergonomic products as well as quality fitting garments to promote consumer comfort and safety.

Keywords

anthropometry, garment sizing, body shape.