How to benefit from ergonomic interventions through participation by workers, managers and the company: an example of a small- to medium-sized factory with no ergonomic knowledge.
Many of the managers, and supervisors in small- and medium-sized businesses are technicians. These are workers with many years of experience in one specialized technical area. They know, in their minds, what should be improved, and how, in order to make the work easier to do. However, their knowledge of work improvement techniques, and how to think together with the workers, and further how to best lead their troops, is nil. This report focuses on managers and supervisors who had never even heard the word "ergonomics," and touches on cases of successful implementation of ergonomic work improvements. The subject work-places are part of an automobile parts manufacturing plant operating under a typical production system of small amounts of many product types: cutting process machinery workshop, press workshop and packing and distribution workshop. At the stage when they became aware of ergonomics, the key words for improvement which they mentioned were "manual lifting" and "working posture." As a result of various observations, analysis techniques and meetings, they introduced a push car with lifters as support equipment. However, the most significant result was that they were able to convince the company's owner of its contribution to productivity improvement, using objective data. Also, with regard to the push car manufacturer, they designed the specifications for the push car themselves and participated in its production. Of course, they were also praised by the workers for achieving a work method involving no strain or waste.
Department of Ergonomics, IIES, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
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Kumashiro
D001336:Automobiles; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D004526:Efficiency; D006804:Ergonomics; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D009936:Organizational Innovation