Industrial Engineering and Management

Design of Work Areas and Station

Design of Work Areas and Stations

ƒ Work area may be thought of as the area within a building

or other facility within which people do their tasks.

ƒ A work area is likely to contain one or more workstations

along with equipment or tools.

ƒ In some cases, several people may be using the same

work area, but normally will be at different workstations
Design of Work Areas and Stations

ƒ Some work areas, and buildings in general, will also have

traffic areas, through which people pass as they perform
their activities, such as:
ƒ passageways,
ƒ aisles,
ƒ corridors, or
ƒ stairs

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
A lot of information is available containing a variety of
general requirements for stairs, aisles, ramps, floors, and
other traffic areas. Such as:
1. Aisles and work areas should not occupy the same
floor space to help prevent interference and collisions

2. Providing necessary pullouts or turning space in aisles

for passage of wheelchairs or material-handling
devices or equipment
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
3. Ensuring that adequate space is marked out and
allocated for placing materials in storage areas, to
eliminate interference with work or passage

4. Appropriate markings of aisles and passageways

5. Adequate clearance dimensions for aisles and

passageways

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
6. Stair dimensions such as appropriate tread depth, riser
height, handrail height, handrail diameter, and overhead
height are also related to body size in important ways

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
7. Appropriate flooring materials free of protruding objects
that might create tripping hazards

8. Eliminating obstacles that might be collided with

9. Avoiding blind corners

10. Making sure there is a connected, accessible path, by

which disabled users can reach most of the facility
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
11. Ensuring that doors don’t open into corridors

12. Avoiding one-way traffic flow in aisles

13. Special requirements for emergency doors and corridors

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
ƒ The potential presence of wheel chairs, is also a concern.

Clearance dimensions for a traditional wheelchair.

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Traffic Areas
ƒ A quick comparison to the clearance dimensions shows
that wheelchairs require significantly more space to pass
without risking a collision in a passageway than walking
people do.

ƒ Consequently, it may be necessary to provide turnaround

spaces or pullout areas for wheelchairs in corridors

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ People do many of their tasks while standing or sitting in
front of tables, work benches, desks, conveyer belts, or
other flat work surfaces.
ƒ In some cases, as when people write on a piece of
paper, the activity is performed on the surface itself.
ƒ In others, much of the activity is performed
immediately above the surface, as when people pick
up an object and manipulate it in some way, before
setting it down again.
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ If we wanted to describe the spatial element of the
particular task setting, or workplace, accurately, several
workplace dimensions might be recorded, such as:
1. the height of the work surface,
2. the height of chairs, and
3. the location and distance of objects from the person doing
the task.

ƒ It turns out that each of these measures is important, as

expanded upon next

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ The height of a work surface above the floor has been
shown to be an important factor that can influence how
easily and efficiently people can do their tasks.

ƒ Over the years, the consensus opinion was that table

tops or other work surfaces should be slightly below the
elbow of a person whose upper arms are hanging down
naturally.

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Later, Grandjean showed that the table height should be
lower when the physical work was heavier and required
less precision.

ƒ Grandjean’s results lead us to a basic ergonomic design

principles
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

Grandjean basic ergonomic design principle:
ƒ Principle 1. For high-precision work, tables should be up to
10 cm higher than the normal elbow height and for heavy
work as much as 20 cm below normal elbow height.

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Principle 2. For seated people, the appropriate table
height depends on chair height.
ƒ chairs that are too tall are obviously a problem. In general,
chair heights above 26 in are discouraged
ƒ One other issue is that people will often be reaching out to
different locations on the work surface and elsewhere while
they do their task.
ƒ The fact that it is easier for people to reach to particular
locations provides a basis for several other principles on
how the objects should be laid out on or about the work
surface
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Principle 3. Tools, materials, and controls should be
located close to the point of use. More frequently used
items should be in the normal or primary area of the reach
envelope. Less frequently used items should be placed in
the maximum (or secondary) region if space is limited.
Items that are very infrequently used may be placed
outside the secondary region. However, extreme reaches
should not be required

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Principle 3.
ƒ Longer reaches and motions by the hands take more time
and effort
ƒ Bringing the items one must grasp closer to the usage point
simply reduces the work that must be done by the operator
ƒ Another issue is that reaches outside the secondary region
will require body movements. Locating all materials and
tools in the normal and secondary reach areas keeps
everything in front of the worker
ƒ Extreme reaches are potentially dangerous, as they may
cause bodily strains or falls
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Principle 4. There should be a definite and fixed place for
all tools and materials
ƒ Providing definite and fixed locations for tools and
materials reduces the need for visual search and eye-hand
coordination
ƒ When this principle is satisfied it usually doesn’t take long
before people can select tools and materials with little if
any visual guidance

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Principle 5. Gravity feed bins and containers should be
used to deliver materials close to the point of use
ƒ This principle also follows directly from the idea that the
parts and other components needed in assemblies should
be located near the point of use
ƒ Shorter movement distances and time result in less effort
expended per part assembled
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Principle 6. Materials and tools should be arranged in the
sequence of use
ƒ Materials and tools should be located so that they can be
easily and quickly accessed at each stage in the task
sequence.
ƒ Arranging items in the sequence of use reduces movement
and transportation times, and also helps operators keep
track of where they are in the operational sequence

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Workplace Dimensions and Layout Principles

ƒ Principle 6. Materials and tools should be arranged in the
sequence of use
ƒ Such an arrangement reduces learning time by eliminating
the need to memorize the task sequence; the operator
needs only to look at the materials and tools and the
sequence is obvious.
ƒ After the sequence is well learned, people can go through
the motions without thinking about each step.
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Principle 7. The design should allow the sitter to change
posture
ƒ This principle appears in a number of different places and
reflects the fact that posture changes are necessary for
blood to flow properly to different parts of the body.
ƒ Posture changes help muscles relax and prevent people
from becoming stiff and sore

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Principle 8. The primary region of weight distribution
should be in the buttocks
ƒ Seats that distribute the load to the thighs will inhibit blood
flow in the legs (Most of us can recall instances when our
legs have tingled or gone to sleep because of being
cramped too long)
ƒ Padding and shaped contours are ways of improving
weight distribution.
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Principle 8.

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Principle 9. The height of the seat should be adaptable to
specific users, if possible.
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Principle 10. More seat depth is needed for long-term
seating than for short-term seating
ƒ Deeper seats provide greater support

ƒ Principle 11: The chair should provide support in the

lumbar region of the sitter’s back.
ƒ Because of the curvature of the human body in the
horizontal plane at the lumbar region, many people
recommend that the portion of the seat back providing
lumbar support be curved.

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Principle 12. Space should be provided under the seat and
in front of the person for their feet
ƒ This allows a person to change the position of their feet.
Foot room under the chair is most important for getting out
of the chair

ƒ Principle 13: Flat footrests should be provided for stools

and high chairs .
Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Principle 12. Chairs must be matched to the use and
related context. Typical multipurpose chairs are adequate
for many applications, but do not meet the requirements of
offices, comfort seating, or elderly users

Design of Work Areas and Stations

Design of Seating
ƒ Seats such as those used
in automobiles must
provide comfort for
unusually demanding
conditions. Automobile
seats are generally lower,
wider, softer, and tilted
back further than office
chairs