Ergonomics as a tool to improve the sustainability of the workforce

Analyzing the territorial dimensions of work through a comparative study of waste recovery facilities in France and Brazil

BACKGROUND

Waste production and management from residents and collection for sorting are systems heavily dependent on territorial dimensions. Ergonomic research needs to better integrate such territorial determinants to improve work conditions and design sustainable work systems.

OBJECTIVE

Through studies in France and Brazil, this paper analyzes the territorial relations that raise work systems' sustainability challenges for materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and waste management in both countries and examines the links between work activity and territory in MRFs.

METHODS

Both studies were based on the principles of activity-oriented ergonomics and used analyses of work activity and sociotechnical systems. The French study focused on interventions conducted over a 42-month period in five MRFs. The Brazilian study was based on a 20-month longitudinal qualitative and quantitative study.

RESULTS

In this paper, we argue that territory is a key determining factor in waste production and work. Notably, the consumption patterns of residents and the economic flows within a geographic space determine the waste composition; and the territorially specified public policies, which define technical and social dimensions of waste collection and sorting. However, the territorial dimensions of waste are poorly considered in facility design. Workers' health and sorting system performance are thus affected and negatively compromising plant performance.

CONCLUSION

The territory appears as a blind spot in the design of work systems. One of the challenges is to create interfaces and devices that could help to integrate better human activity and waste territorialized anchorage, in a multilevel organization, from local communities to the global recycling chains.

Vision Zero for industrial workplace safety innovative model development for metal manufacturing industry

This study target is to investigate Vision Zero strategy & develop a model that contributes to the reduction of injuries, accidents, and fatalities. In turn, this model aims to enhance the well-being, safety, and productivity of the manufacturing sector. The study has conducted comprehensive theoretical reviews from reputable journals that are relevant to Vision Zero, manufacturing industries in general, and specifically the metal manufacturing industries. The study also underwent a validation of the Vision Zero strategy model by discussing with a selected professional team in this field from the industry. The results of this study shows that research related to the Vision Zero strategy has not been widely disseminated or popularized. It further reveals that manufacturing industries predominantly operate based on traditional work environmental principles, rather than actively embracing the concepts and principles of Vision Zero. The study has also uncovered that previous research on Vision Zero primarily focused on road accidents, injuries, and fatalities. In contrast, studies conducted in the manufacturing sector primarily examined aspects related to safety, health, and worker well-being. However, these studies often failed to sufficiently align their objectives with the overarching priority of enhancing productivity, especially within the context of the industrial revolution. Due to the limited studies related to Vision Zero and a new area for the research database, setting comparative goals and developing a stringent strategy may not be the final outcome here with the developed model. The results of this research could provide valuable insights to policymakers & lawmakers in order to enhance workplace health and safety regulations which support industries' productivity. This study represents a pioneering effort in developing a new Vision Zero strategy model that aligns with productivity goals and emphasizes knowledge-based approaches for reducing or eliminating injuries, accidents, and fatalities.

Contribution of ergonomics and human factors to sustainable development: a systematic literature review

Although a significant amount of research has already been published, the field of ergonomics/human factors and sustainability (E/HF-S) has not yet been systematically profiled based on recent studies. Conducting a systematic review of the literature, this article aims: (i) to identify the main emergent research themes in this subject area and (ii) to provide future directions for applied research and practice on E/HF-S. Six emergent research themes were identified in this literature allowing for a proposal to synthesise the main concepts related to E/HF-S. However, it was noted that there are still relatively few empirical papers which assess the models being developed or that apply E/HF principles to sustainability challenges. Thus, this paper identifies the opportunities for practical application related to E/HF-S. The last part of the paper explores the E/HF-S opportunities using an external framework; the United Nations' sustainable development goals.Practitioner summary: The field of ergonomics/human factors and sustainability (E/HF-S) has not yet been organised by recent studies. Conducting a systematic review of the literature, this article identifies the main emergent research themes in this subject area, and it provides future direction for applied research and practice on E/HF-S.Abbreviations: ACE: activity-centred ergonomics; E/HF: ergonomics/human factors; E/HFS: ergonomics/human factors and sustainability; IEA: International Ergonomics Association; PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses; SDG: Sustainable Development Goal.

Assessment of a Workforce Sustainability Tool through Leadership and Digitalization

As organizational environment develops, the working environment increases in physical and mental demands. As a result, risk inadvertences could arise, along with organizational emotional and financial challenges. Within their efforts to diminish such risks, organizations strive for developing and training their workforce; a sustainable workforce can only be achieved through cultivating aptitudes and positive attitudes that will lead to organizational but also personal growth. Considered to be an important measuring instrument for social sustainability, workforce sustainability enhances organizational leadership projections and trajectories, along with digitalization initiatives. The aim of the current study is the development of an assessment tool for state and private organizational workforce sustainability, and to study it in relation to leadership and digitalization components. Through a quantitative approach, data was gathered by issuing an online survey that delivered 463 responses. By using structural equation modelling, the authors examined the aims and found that the designed workforce sustainability tool is reliable and valid; as predicted, all the leadership components contribute to organizational stability and a more favorable workforce sustainability development, along with enhancing digital learning. This study stresses the importance for state and private organizations to achieve workforce sustainability, while nurturing and providing the necessary tools for the development of leadership and digital learning.

Ergonomic risk and physiological assessment of plogging activity

BACKGROUND: Plogging, an environment friendly trash workout is a combination of jogging with litter collection. People who are involved in the plogging carry a baggage for collecting the litter. Walking with a weight on one side causes the opposite side of the body to engage for stability and are also exposed to repetitive bending during the activity. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the postural and physiological aspects of plogging activity. METHODS: Thirty six subjects performed the litter collection in stoop, semi-squat, full squat and lunge postures respectively. Postures were analyzed using Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). Physiological aspects of plogging, as well as a comparison of physical activity assessment during jogging and plogging, were investigated using a Polar M430 optical heart rate monitor. Statistical analysis were performed using SPSS version 23. RESULTS: Mean±SD of full squat (5.13±0.59) and lunge (6.64±1.15) posture was found to have lesser risk score in comparison with the other two postures such as stoop (10.31±0.88) and semi-squat (8.11±1.40). Analysis from the Kruskal-Wallis and post hoc test showed that there is no significant interaction between the postures (p < 0.05). Paired Sample t-test showed that the energy expenditure for plogging and jogging are found to be similar (p > 0.05), but the fat percentages of calories burned is more in plogging (p < 0.05). Howerver plogging can be considered as a strenous activity as the % Cardiovascular strain of the activity had a mean value of (99.261%). CONCLUSIONS: Ergonomic interventions are needed to play a vital role in minimizing the musculoskeletal related injuries and the physical strain of the task.

Linking the Use of Ergonomics Methods to Workplace Social Sustainability: The Ovako Working Posture Assessment System and Rapid Entire Body Assessment Method

This article concretizes the continuous development of social sustainability in organizations based on ergonomics methods and tools, among others. Numerous scientific studies have already revealed many reasons for justifying balanced efforts towards organizational sustainability, including its economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Because the social dimension is recognized as the weakest and is often neglected, it is placed at the forefront of the present research. The link between social sustainability in the workplace and the ergonomics concept is provided through 17 underlying indicators of the workplace sustainability framework proposed in a previous study. The OWAS and REBA ergonomic risk assessment methods were used in a toolmaking company to study how results can be used directly or indirectly to determine the size or value of indicators used in the sustainability framework. The research finds that direct use of the OWAS and REBA results is not possible, but it is certain that the implementation of proposals in response to identified levels of risk affects up to four out of five factors that constitute the sustainability framework. The use of OWAS and REBA is not suitable to address environmental concerns. This study encourages companies to use ergonomic methods and tools to develop social sustainability in the workplace. It is often necessary to decide between the pen-and-paper approach and an advanced one using artificial intelligence (e.g., supported by the ErgoIA software tool). Not only the method but also the technique chosen affects the degree of sustainability achieved. Finally, relevant aspects of knowledge exploitation in the field of ergonomic education for social sustainability were summarized.

Identification of Workplace Social Sustainability Indicators Related to Employee Ergonomics Perception in Indonesian Industry

Sustainability indicators have provided a breakthrough for companies to assess their performance in supporting corporate sustainability. There is no standard framework for these support-defining indicators to conduct a social sustainability performance assessment. There is a limitation of quantitative social sustainability indicators appropriate for performing ergonomic concept assessments. Ergonomics, as a field concerning people and their interactions with the environment, in particular, the workplace, can play a role in social sustainability, besides its conventional approach of workplace re-engineering. Three major areas of ergonomics were analyzed. The indicators were established based on a review of the literature and confirmed using a factor analysis that covered all major aspects of workplace ergonomics. The factor analysis aimed to reduce the complexity of workplace social sustainability indicators related to ergonomics. The final result integrated 73 indicators into 17 indicators based on three major areas of ergonomics. The findings showed that the best workplace social sustainability indicators were divided into five factors: employee well-being, safety concerns, workplace comfort, musculoskeletal health, and environmental concerns. It would be very beneficial for the industry and the government to support corporate social sustainability and the global sustainability index.

The impact of the applied technology on health and productivity in manual "picker-to-part" systems

BACKGROUND

Manual "picker-to-part" order picking takes place in a labour-intensive and time-consuming working environment where humans are the central actors and co-determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Throughout Europe, work-related musculoskeletal disorders affect millions of workers, especially in the logistics sector, and cost employers billions of euros.

OBJECTIVE

This paper studies how order pickers relate the use of technology as well as their relationship with the logistics company to their well-being, health and productivity.

METHODS

To obtain data, a survey consisting of questions regarding work characteristics, health problems and the logistics company's relationship with employees was conducted in Poland, Slovenia and Croatia.

RESULTS

Workers who carry most items manually experience more health problems than cart and forklift users. The most common complaint is lower back pain - only 6% of order pickers (n = 221) never experienced it. The use of barcode or RFID scanner/terminal/smart phone correlates with more health problems than the use of other technologies. Participation in the selection of transport means or in training on health preservation can reduce the perceived health problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Workers' perception of the impact of the applied technology on health and productivity can differ from the impact that is calculated or measured. Through their relationship with employees, logistics companies can influence employees' perception of their health problems.

A structural framework for sustainable processes in ergonomics

Considering today's globalised world, new concepts that assist ergonomics are needed to provide human well-being. Accordingly, the sustainability concept is used in this study to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, put environmentally-friendly and cost-effective interventions into practice and provide ergonomically well-designed and easily managed processes that are more flexible, adaptable and human-sensitive. To achieve this, a practical and easily adaptable framework, which integrates ergonomics and sustainability by presenting the relations between fundamental elements of ergonomics and sustainability dimensions (SDs), is proposed. Within this base framework, ergonomic indicators (EIs) and sub-dimensions proposed for the classification of EIs are structured for ergonomics under a sustainability point-of-view. The sub-dimensions proposed in this study, which have direct or indirect relations to humans, are 'Loss', 'Investment', 'Conditions', 'Contribution', 'Self-Development', and 'Satisfaction'. This structural framework, which can be easily used by ergonomists or managers, ensures a good starting point for providing sustainable processes in ergonomics. Practitioner summary: This study proposes a structural framework to present the relations between ergonomics and sustainability. In the context of ergonomics, fundamental elements of ergonomics are chosen, while three dimensions of sustainability and proposed sub-dimensions are used in the context of sustainability. The adapted ergonomic indicators are also classified within these sub-dimensions.Abbreviations: SDs: sustainability dimensions; SIs: sustainability indicators; EIs: ergonomic indicators.

Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in agriculture workers in Korea and preventative interventions

BACKGROUND

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are estimated to be the most common and frequent of all occupational diseases in agriculture in Korea, but the full extent of the problem has yet to be surveyed.

OBJECTIVE

This paper presents the results of a survey investigating the extent of WMSDs among self-employed farmers in Korea. It also describes ergonomics based preventive interventions initiated by the Korean government.

METHOD

The prevalence of WMSDs was surveyed among 358 farmers using a questionnaire adapted from the Nordic questionnaires, employing three case definitions.

RESULTS

The results showed that the overall prevalence rates of WMSDs by case definition 1 (any symptoms), 2 (symptoms with a pain intensity of moderate or greater), and 3 (symptoms with a pain intensity of high or greater) were 97.2%, 83.2%, and 39.7% respectively and that the shoulder, knee and lower back disorder rates were higher than those of other body parts. Compared to the prevalence rates of WMSDs for workers in other industries in Korea as well as USA farmers, the overall rates for farmers in Korea were much higher. The interventions, which adopted a participatory approach involving government, farmers, ergonomics, technical and industrial hygiene experts, showed benefits in terms of work efficiency, safety and farmer satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

The high WMSD symptom prevalence showed that agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries in Korea, and the Korean government's interventions were effective and successful.

Ergonomics-Based Factors or Criteria for the Evaluation of Sustainable Product Manufacturing

The issue of sustainability has received substantial attention internationally. It is spreading widely through policy, industry, commerce, research, academia, and other arenas. However, most previous studies on product sustainability were conducted based on a consideration of environmental protection, economic prosperity, and social wellbeing criteria, but there was less representation of specific social wellbeing criteria. The main objective of this study was to formulate well-defined ergonomics-based criteria for product sustainability evaluation and to validate the importance of the identified factors using a fuzzy Delphi method. In this paper, ergonomics-based product sustainability factors are organized by sustainability categories and grouped into employee wellbeing, the economy, and the environment. In the context of manufacturing, evaluating product sustainability from an ergonomics perspective provides more comprehensive social dimension criteria by addressing human characteristics, behavior, performance, human interaction with a product, workplace, working environment, and the product across its life cycle. In addition, a Delphi questionnaire, designed with a nine-point scale, was applied to obtain expert opinions on the importance of each factor; the opinions were combined for each factor by considering the degree of importance assigned to the experts, and the similarities and differences between expert opinions. Finally, high-priority factors were screened from the sustainability categories based on their respective threshold value. Knowing these high-priority factors will help manufacturing industries allocate their resources accordingly for sustainability improvement.