Background: Although petrol pumps are a very common and highly used simple technology, their design consideration for comfort and safety to prevent high-pressure load and musculoskeletal injuries to the body is a neglected area in many countries including Iran.
Objectives: This study attempted to design a new pump nozzle, and to assess the differences in musculoskeletal load related to body posture when a price/volume display is mounted on the pump nozzle.
Methods: For postural analysis, photographs recording the posture of 100 randomly selected customers while fueling at petrol pumps and the rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) technique were used.
Results: The results of this study showed that RULA scores improved significantly after the newly designed pump nozzle was used.
Conclusion: The newly designed pump nozzle is useful in reducing load related to body posture while fueling.
Keywords: ergonomics; manufacturing; musculoskeletal disorders; petrol pumps; posture analysis; pump nozzle; rapid upper limb assessment.