Significance of Ergonomic Solutions for Improvement of Work Environment Quality within an Organization
2012
Henrijs Kaļķis, Valdis Kaļķis

In research, the ergonomic conditions were studied in work environment of woodworking enterprises in connection with physical work risks, process and product quality management, and economic performance. Sawing operators (n = 30) and assistants (n = 20) participated in the study. Despite technical improvements, some work phases in woodworking still require hard manual handling; thus, ergonomics interventions should be applied. Data about technological quality and ergonomics problems was gained from plant workers with the help of interviews and checklists before and after the technological process improvements. Ergonomics risk assessment methods (Key Item Indicator method, Quick Exposure Check method, Revised NIOSH Lifting Equations) and quantitative tools (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis, Fault Tree Analysis, Six Sigma Methodology, Cost-Benefit Calculation) were applied to analyze the human well-being and financial aspects of ergonomics interventions and quality improvements. Using these methodologies, it was shown that ergonomic solutions in the work environment significantly improved the quality of the work environment, increased the capacity of employees, ensured the safety of production technology, giving an important contribution to the organization in a sustainable and competitive development. The cost-benefit analysis has proved that ergonomics intervention in these six middle-scale woodworking enterprises pays off in one year, while the benefits will continue to grow in next five years.


Keywords
ergonomics, woodworking, process and product quality management,work environment, safety of production technology

Kaļķis, H., Kaļķis, V. Significance of Ergonomic Solutions for Improvement of Work Environment Quality within an Organization. Materials Sciences and Applied Chemistry. Vol.25, 2012, pp.84-90. ISSN 1407-7353. e-ISSN 2255-8713.

Publication language
Latvian (lv)
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