Industrial Workspace Research Articles

Participatory workspace design: A new approach for ergonomists?

Ergonomics are rarely addressed directly in the design and re-design of industrial workspaces in Denmark. Often architects, engineers and other actors design the workspaces on the basis of for example spatial, technological or financial considerations, thereby making industrial ergonomics a by-product of the design process. However, by introducing ergonomists in the role of ‘workspace designers’ early in the design process, ergonomic considerations as well as the involvement of employees, can be integrated in the design process. In this article we demonstrate the use of the workspace design approach in a case study where an industrial manufacturer is undergoing a major technological change: going from labour intensive manual work to a highly automated production. The workspace design team, which included the company's OHS consultant, designed the intervention as a participatory design process by using visually based methods such as workbooks, layout workshops and use scenarios. Employees, management and external design engineers alike took actively part in the design process. The general outcome of the intervention was some very concrete changes in the proposed design layout, an enhanced clarity of the production procedures in the new plant, and an identification of potential future ergonomic problems. This case study indicates that workspace design can be a new approach for OHS consultants.

Determination of the normal and maximum reach measures of adult wheelchair users

Industrial workspaces intended to accommodate adults, who use a wheelchair, must consider the reach capabilities of the users. This research employed a direct anthropometric measurement approach to the study of the normal reach area (NRA) and the maximum reach envelope (MRE) of a sample of 42 male and 20 female, adult wheelchair users. A computerized potentiometric system for anthropometric measures (CPSAM) was designed, built and tested for use in this study. The CPSAM recorded the position of a movable pointer in 3-D space with respect to a table reference point. The subjects were positioned in front of an adjustable worksurface and asked to produce three trials of each of their normal and maximum reach. The 3-D Cartesian coordinate values were converted to cylindrical coordinates to model the reach surfaces. Using multiple linear regression of the reach surface separate linear equations were derived to describe the 5th, 50th and 95th percentile reach boundaries for males and females, separately. The overall root mean square error of the reach equations across the males and females ranged from 4 to 17 mm for the NRA and 12–39 mm for the MRE. Relevance to industry In order to design an industrial workspace the designer must know the capabilities of the worker. Reach is an important task for the operator to perform without undue stress and fatigue. The results of this study can be directly applied to workstation design for the placement of tools and work in an industrial workspace.

An inductive model for holographic decision making in industrial workspace design

The purpose of this research is to develop an inductive model for decision making about industrial workspace design using qualitative data. Working forward from an exploratory study and a number of case observations, an inductive theory development perspective was adopted. This paper has two objectives: firstly, the development of a prescriptive decision making approach for workspace design and re-design projects; secondly, a test of the validity of the decision making approach by seeking feedback from professionals involved in the case studies. The research reported in this article was carried out within the context of the Thematic Network Design of Workspace that was sponsored by the European Union, involving both academic institutions and industrial companies from Finland, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Multiobjective Navigation of a Guide Mobile Robot for the Visually Impaired Based on Intention Inference of Obstacles

Different from ordinary mobile robots used in a well-structured industrial workspace, a guide mobile robot for the visually impaired should be designed in consideration of multiple moving obstacles...

Males/females: An anthropometric comparison for modelling missing data

In many countries world wide, anthropometric data for use in ergonomic design does not exist or is insufficient. More male than female anthropometric data exist, since many countries have Military Standards available which specifies male body dimensions. In this comparison anthropometric data of international populations were used to find the relation between body dimensions of males and females. Data of 20 regions representing the populations of the world were used and the ratios between male and female measurements were calculated. By calculating the average, standard deviation and covariance of the data, helpful generalisations can be made for use in industrial ergonomic workspace design. These generalisations can be used to estimate female dimensions of populations for which only male dimensions exist. It was found that female dimensions (especially erect stature height) can generally be estimated at 93% of the male dimensions and that the greatest variability in the ratio between males and females are in the regions including the legs.

Complex mixtures in industrial workspaces: lessons for indoor air quality evaluations.

Acceptable occupational exposure levels for hundreds of airborne concentrations of dusts, vapors, fumes, and gases have been set by consensus organizations and regulatory bodies for decades. These levels have established tremendous precedent and are tempting reference values in the relatively new field of indoor air quality evaluations where validated criteria are greatly needed. The American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has been the most visible and productive group setting these guidelines for industrial exposure. The ACGIH Chemical Substances Committee has published an annual list of threshold limit values (TLVs) for more than 40 years. Currently the list covers more than 400 substances. In 1989, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published updated permissible exposure limits (PELs) for approximately 600 substances. Most PELs before this update were adopted from the 1968 ACGIH list of TLVs and consensus standards of the American Standards Association. This OSHA update has resulted in reductions of 212 PELs and the addition of 164 new levels. The magnitude of the problem of protecting workers can be seen by the small fraction that the OSHA PELs represent of the more than 60,000 entries in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances. None of these levels, whether guidelines or regulatory requirements, are established based on any possible synergistic effect with other chemicals. The only guidance given by the ACGIH for synergistic effects is that such cases must be determined individually. Clearly, there are major drawbacks in using occupational standards and guidelines for evaluating the health effects of chemical agents that can be found in office settings, often in concentrations orders of magnitude less than what is routinely measured in the workplace. These guidelines are even less valuable when the concern is the complex mixing of chemicals in nonoccupational environments.

Complex Mixtures in Industrial Workspaces: Lessons for Indoor Air Quality Evaluations

Complex Mixtures in Industrial Workspaces: Lessons for Indoor Air Quality Evaluations

Designing Industrial Workspaces to be More Livable

Industrial workspaces can be designed to be more livable. Achieving this goal is a function of implementing human factors engineering approaches and principles in the industrial workspace design process. Applying well-defined design principles can yield clear improvements in workspace livability without significantly increasing facility development costs. The benefits of such improvements are greater job satisfaction among workers and associated improvements in job performance.

Ergonomics in Workspace Design: Current Practices and an Alternative Computer-Aided Approach

A research project was conducted to identify current industrial workspace design practices, especially regarding the consideration paid to the human operator in manual workspaces, and to develop an approach for presenting ergonomic information to designers in formats conducive to the design process. Specific operator physical-stress-related performance factors considered in this research include strength capabilities, reach feasibility, and movement times. The paper presents selected results of a survey of 40 engineers/designers, and outlines the criteria for a computer-aided ergonomic design system for manual workspace design.