Background: Sustaining human resources for development and ensuring that workers remain productive, healthy, can support their families and local economies across generations is critical for protecting informal workers. Indonesia’s informal sector absorbs 59.17% of the workforce, most of whom are not protected by formal occupational safety and health (OSH) protection. Female seaweed farmer in South Sulawesi has a serious ergonomic hazard with awkward working posture such as bending (55.9%) and sitting sideways/twisting (42.2%) which resulted in high complaints of muscle pain (66.5%).

Objective: This study aims to find out the effectiveness of ergonomic work tools in reducing the prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) in female seaweed farmers in South Sulawesi.

Methods: This quasi-experimental research included 720 female participants, allocated into an intervention group (n = 360; employing patented ergonomic worktables and chairs, IDS000005093) and a control group (n = 360; operating on the ground/floor). The degree of MSD, measured using the Nordic Body Map (NBM) instrument and analyzed by the Mann-Whitney test with SPSS version 24.

Results: Most of the participants were older than 30 years (83.35%). The average MSD score in the intervention group (0.22) was statistically significantly lower than that in the control group (0.92) (Mann-Whitney test, p < 0.001). The ergonomic tools were effective in improving workers physical posture during seaweed sorting.

Conclusion: Ergonomic facility interventions based on local wisdom are effective to reduce musculoskeletal disorder complaints among informal laborers and improve their productivity. This advancement advocates for the incorporation of occupational safety and health programs within primary healthcare services.

Keywords: Ergonomic Intervention; Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs); Informal-Sector Workers; Female Seaweed Farmers; Occupational Safety and Health.