Transcript No Slide Title

A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF REDUCING BELT SPEED
IN THE WAREHOUSE OF A IN THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR
0: Start Up:
a) Establish Support
b) Team Formation
c) Initial Training
H+S Management Program
Participation and Consultation
Training and
Education
Ergonomics Process
Reactive
REFERENCES:
1. St-Vincent, M., Chicoine, D., &
Beaugrand, S. (1998). Validation of a
participatory ergonomic process in two
plants in the electrical sector.
Ergonomics. 21, 11-21.
2. Wells, R., Norman, R., Frazer, M., &
Laing, A. (2000). Ergonomics Program
Implementation Blueprint. Ergonomics
and Safety Consulting Services,
University of Waterloo, Waterloo,
Ontario.
3. Wilson, J.R., & Haines, H.M.
(1997). Participatory ergonomics, in
G. Salvendy (ed.), Handbook of
Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2nd
Edn (New York: Wiley), 490-513
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The authors acknowledge the funding
and active support of the Workplace
Safety and Insurance Board, the
Institute for Work and Health (Toronto,
Canada). Also many thanks to the
participating workplace groups for their
hard work and support of this project.
(Medical
Management)
Management
Support of
Ergonomics
and Resources
1: Identify
Opportunities for
Improvement:
Health Outcome, Risk
Factor
Identification
and
2: Assess
Ergonomic
Integration
Risk
Factors and
Priorize Jobs for
Improvement
Proactive
6: Adopt
Solution
5: Evaluate
Prototype
4: Implement
Prototype
3: Build Solutions
7a: Use
Feed-back
from
Previous
designs
and
+plants +
Corporate
Ergonomics Policy
Ergonomic
Tools,
Techniques
and Skills
7b: Employ
Ergonomic
Design Criteria
and Purchasing
Guidelines
Evaluation
Process
(Compliance
Assurance)
Documentation
Ergonomics Program Management
Introduction
Participatory Ergonomics has been reported to be an effective
method for implementing ergonomic interventions [1]. Part of this
effectiveness can be contributed to its potential worker “buy-in”
and exchange of information created through worker participation
[1, 3].
Utilization of participatory ergonomics programs can also produce
changes that result in significant reduction of physical loading and
improvement in productivity if the program provides an avenue to
identify root causes of the problems and opportunities to build
solutions.
During the solution building phase of this process, the ECT
determined that slowing down the line speed would allow workers
more time to sight and process the appropriate freight for their truck
sorts. It was determined that a reduction in speed from 18m/min to 9
m/min would overcome the root causes determined in step 2 of the
ergonomic process and performance issues highlighted by internal
documentation.
The evaluation was done utilizing pre-intervention and postintervention videos that were then analyzed using a time analysis
software (Observer 4.0, Noldus, Netherlands). In addition, oneminute surveys (brief questionnaires) that the ECT utilized as an
evaluation process were also examined. The worker activities were
group into 4 categories (planning, retrieving/placing, transporting
freight, organizing freight) and performance indicators (% line down
time, % line without freight, # bins rework) were examined . In
addition one-minute surveys were also used to examine the
effectiveness of the ergonomic change.
50
18 m/minute
9 m/minute
35
30
25
20
15
5
0
Transporting Boxes Placing/Retrieving
Planning
Organizing
Results and Discussion
The ECT utilized a participative ergonomics approach to successfully
initiate and implement an ergonomic intervention that addressed the
root cause of the problems identified for the AM sorter position in the
warehouse.
The reduction in line speed improved performance by allowing the
sorters to sight and remove freight from the line and place it in the
appropriate place. Therefore there was less time required to
reorganize the loaded freight.
The increase in worker effectiveness had a positive effect on the
measured AM shift performance indicators. Line stoppages were
reduced from 27% down to 0 and rework was reduced from 21 bins
per night down to 3 bins per night.
Overall, workers and management were very please as their use of
the participatory ergonomic process increase worker “buy-in”
producing an intervention that decreased physical loading thereby
reducing risk of injury, and improved productivity and job
satisfaction.
40
35
30
25
20
Work of the ECT may have applications in other parts of the
company providing similar benefits to all mall couriers.
15
10
5
This poster demonstrates the effectiveness of these ergonomic
changes in reducing or eliminating the root causes identified during
the Ergonomic Change Process.
40
18 m/minute
9 m/minute
10
Methods
45
45
Average Duration (s/task)
1- University of Waterloo
Department of
Kinesiology
Waterloo, ON
Members of an Ergonomic Change Team (ECT) of a courier
company utilized a participatory ergonomic approach to address
several identified problems associated with their AM sort. The
intervention was a reduction in main conveyor belt speed from 18
m/min to 9 m/min. The impacts of this change included improved
shift performance where the amount of time the line was stopped
decreased by 27%, and the number of pieces of “rework” was
reduced by 85%. These improvements were a result of increased
time spent during planning tasks (25%) and a reduction in time
spent organizing freight (24%) by the worker. Overall, the ECT
introduced an ergonomic change that eliminated root causes of
the identified problems thereby increasing worker effectiveness
and improving productivity and job satisfaction, which had a
positive impact on the shift’s performance.
An Ergonomics Change Team (ECT) consisting of management,
workers and union from a courier company were assembled and
trained by researchers on the University of Waterloo’s Ergonomic
Change Blueprint [2] in basic ergonomic principles and various
ergonomic assessment tools. This group then followed the 6 steps of
the ergonomic change blueprint and made interventions as they
determined appropriate. One of the researchers acted as a facilitator
for the group for 18 months to ensure understanding of the process
and that appropriate tools were being utilized.
Total Duration (% of observed time)
Reid, Michael J1,
Enns, Jennifer1,
Frazer, Mardon1,
Wells, Richard1,
Abstract
0
Transporting Boxes Placing/Retrieving
Planning
Organizing