<![CDATA[The oil palm plantation industry is currently expanding rapidly, making Indonesia the world's largest producer, followed by Malaysia and Thailand, which are also major producers. However, one negative consequence is the increasing prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among oil palm farmers. A large portion of this problem is caused by the extremely heavy physical workload and non-ergonomic postures adopted during work. A systematic search was conducted using databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar. Articles meeting the inclusion criteria were published between 2020 and 2025, and were relevant to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) complaints, disorders in oil palm farmers, and non-ergonomic work postures, which were then further analyzed. An analysis of 9 selected articles showed that the most common musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) complaints occurred in the neck, shoulders, wrists, lower back, feet, and knees. These complaints stem from manual harvesting activities, such as cutting fronds and fresh fruit bunches (FFB) using egrek and dodos tools, as well as transporting the fruit during harvest. Identified risk factors include awkward postures, repetitive movements, long working hours, heavy physical loads, age, and years of service. The manual harvesting tools force farmers to work at extreme joint angles, leading to muscle fatigue and injury. Although efforts to modify manual harvesting tools into mechanical ones can reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), their success is highly dependent on ergonomic design and the farmers' readiness to adopt them. The use of advanced sensor technologies such as Electromyography (EMG) and Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) has proven effective in measuring muscle activity and risky postures, offering a solution for preventing musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) complaints. Therefore, the main recommendations include coordinating with the industry to design more ergonomic harvesting tools, implementing regular training on safe harvesting techniques, and conducting early health monitoring for workers. ]]>
