Int. J. Advanced Operations Management, Vol. 4, No.

4, 2012 283

Ergonomic work analysis: a case study in a sawmill

located in the Southern of Brazil

Mariana Fachin Saldanha*

Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA),
335 São João st, Getúlio Vargas – Bagé, RS, 96412-500, Brazil
E-mail: mariana_sf4@hotmail.com
*Corresponding author

Aline Falcão
Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)
342 Líbio Vinhas st, Menino Deus – Bagé, RS, 96402550, Brazil
E-mail: aline-f-falcao@hotmail.com

Adriana Dias da Silva

Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA),
335 São João st, Getúlio Vargas – Bagé, RS, 96412-500, Brazil
E-mail: dricaitq@hotmail.com

Luis Antonio dos Santos Franz

Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA),
45 Travessa st, Malafaia – Bagé, RS, 96413-170, Brazil
E-mail: luisfranz@unipampa.edu.br

Abstract: The wood and related products have a great economic and social
importance on worldwide market. In the particular case of Brazil, the sawmills
present a wide range of possibilities for ergonomic demands improvement. In
this sense, the present study aims at investigating ergonomic conditions in a
sawmill located in the southern of Rio Grande do Sul, a Brazilian state. To this
end, the study methodology consisted in the application of field surveys, in-site
observation and ergonomic analysis techniques. The results show the most
critical job is the hydraulic carriage drive (HCD)’s control, which demands an
immediate improvement of postural conditions. Furthermore, we identified a
few minor improvements that are necessary on the work environment,
including thermal comfort, noise and human-machine interface.

Keywords: ergonomic task analysis; postural adjustment; sawmill.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Saldanha, M.F., Falcão, A.,
da Silva, A.D. and Franz, L.A.d.S. (2012) ‘Ergonomic work analysis: a case
study in a sawmill located in the Southern of Brazil’, Int. J. Advanced
Operations Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp.283–296.

Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

284 M.F. Saldanha et al.

Biographical notes: Mariana Fachin Saldanha is an undergraduate student in

production engineering on the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA),
Brazil.

Aline Falcão is a Technician in business administration. Currently, is he

undergraduate student in Production Engineering on the Federal University of
Pampa (UNIPAMPA), Brazil. He also works in the areas of ergonomics and
quality management on urban public transportation sector.

Adriana Dias da Silva is an Accounting Technician and is currently an

undergraduate student in production engineering on the Federal University of
Pampa (UNIPAMPA), Brazil. He also works in the areas of quality
management and accounting.

Luis Antonio dos Santos Franz is a graduate in civil engineering from Federal
University of Rio Grande in 2001, Master in Production Engineering from
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in 2003, and PhD in Production
Engineering in co-supervision from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul,
Brazil and the University of Minho, Portugal in 2009. He has experience in
production engineering, on quality management and occupational safety and
health. His is a researcher on the following themes: production management,
quality management services, industrial maintenance, Six Sigma programmes,
ergonomics and health and safety management systems.

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Análise

ergonômica do trabalho: o caso de uma serraria na metade sul do Rio Grande
do Sul’ presented at Symposium on Production Engineering (SIMPEP), Brazil,
7–9 November 2011

1 Introduction

A company that aims at being competitive nowadays needs to focus its strategies in
differentiating its products and processes but having the concern about its employee’s life
quality, an essential factor to the company to achieve its goals. A particular case that
deserves special attention is the timber industry due to its importance to the economy of
Rio Grande do Sul.
The wood and its processing have always had economic importance for the society.
Despite the emergence of alternative materials and supplies, wood and its derivatives are
even used widely and in important parts of daily life in present societies (Martins and
Vieira, 2004). The movement of the timber and related products markets has reached the
90 in the total value of $98 billion annually, of which 15% came from developing
countries. This increase is present in products with a minor added value, and in products
that use high technology. This increasing tendency, however, is more evident in products
of higher technology and value (Nahuz, 2010). In this context, Brazil is one of largest
producers of wood, occupying the sixth position in reforested area and fourteenth
position in forest cover, totalling approximately 540 millions of hectares. This gives it
great advantages in the production of pulp, coal, lumber and wood panels, as soon as it
uses an advanced technology of cultivation, handling and exploration. Besides that, it has
an advanced technology in the forests plantation and enormous native forests with a
great potential for economic exploration (SEBRAE, 2008). According to the Brazilian
 Ergonomic work analysis 285

Association of Planted Forest Producers (ABRAF, 2010), in 2009 the forestal production
of Brazil timber wood, sustainable forest production of timber in Brazil, originated from
eucalyptus and pine forests, reached an estimated 250.3 million cubic meters/year.
Between the two groups of tree species planted, eucalyptus represents 73% of the total
sustainable production of timber while the pine is 27%.
In Brazil, the total amount of wood produced in forestry summed around 100 million
cubic meters, meaning an increment of 13 million cubic meters (15%) of increase
compared to earlier years registers. In relation to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the
quantity of log wood produced is approximately 35 cubic meters/year by hectare. The
particular case of Bagé city, the region covered in this study, the data regarding the
extraction of timber are 512 cubic meters per hectare per year (IBGE, 2010a).
The technique and the art of working the wood have evolved throughout the years,
since the manual and primitive process until the vast and ingenious modern industry. The
wood always had an important role for society, since it had been one of the first materials
used by men for defence, to heat, to cook, to shelter and even in the construction of the
first boats. Although the evolution of production technologies brings new materials, the
use of wood and its derivatives are still used in large scale and in important parts of
modern societies (Martins and Vieira, 2004).
In this way, the present study aims at investigating ergonomic conditions in a sawmill
located on southern of Rio Grande do Sul. Still, it carried out a discussion regarding the
possibility of making improvements in working conditions and of process production
performance under investigation.

2 The timber industry and ergonomy

Many work situations and everyday life can bring harmful risks to our health; among
them we can mention the diseases of the musculoskeletal system, especially back pain,
and those of psychological nature which together constitute the most important causes of
absenteeism and of disability to work (Dul and Weerdmeester, 2004). As causes to this
prevalence there are, for instance, factors like the projects that shrug off the human factor
or the incorrect use of equipments, systems and tasks. These factors are reached by
ergonomy and it is possible to reduce them and this way, improve the work conditions
and have better performance through it.
Therefore, the planning, the project and the evaluation of the tasks, functions,
products, environments and systems is indispensable to make it more compatible and
coherent to the needs, skills and limitations of the people. This way, it can receive
meaningful contributions from the ergonomy area professionals.
The playing field of this science in companies is wide, because where there is a
human being the ergonomy is present, through work condition analysis in terms of
physical space, temperature, noises, lighting, vibration, postures, energetic wear, stress,
training, group work, organisational culture, workloads, aspects of material handling, of
process or physical arrangements. In the specific case of labour activity, Iida (2005)
affirms that an employee can admit hundreds of different postures, and in each of them, a
different muscle group is used. It is from the mobilisation of these muscle groups that a
person can obtain the needed strength to the body to take a posture or do a movement.
The ligaments, on the other hand, perform an auxiliary function, and the joints allow the
286 M.F. Saldanha et al.

displacement of some parts of the body in relation to others (Dul and Weerdmeester,
2004).
Dul and Weerdmeester (2004) highlight that the posture comprehension and the body
movement have great importance for correctional ergonomy. Even in work as in daily life
the movements are determined by the task nature and by the place of work. The stay in a
same posture by a long period of time can result in specific pains in the muscles and
joints.
Studying the particular case of timber industry, it is possible to find work conditions
that are inadequate to workers and that lead to several problems related to ergonomy.
According to Souza (2002), these manufacturing industries occupy a prominent position
by the relative frequency and severity of accidents mainly because of the type of damage
caused to the worker, often permanent injuries, death and the long period of absence from
work.
Any growth of wood-based production is based mainly on the improvement of
manufacturing processes of wood with increasing levels of technology, productivity,
product quality and value. Some of the main industrial activities that use wood in general
and in particular, and generate value-added products, technology and quality are in
traditional activities, but have great potential for improvement (Nahuz, 2011).
The change stemmed from the raw wood of planted forests as logs is the main process
performed by the timber, and these sites are to generate a large amount and diversity of
waste. These, in most cases, are not used for the primary processing industry (unfold) and
secondary (processing) of wood, due to technological limitations or restrictions of the
market. In the primary processing, normally, the raw wood veneer is turned in wooden
blades. In this processing stage, the stage of sawmill has as most characteristic products
semi blocks, blocks, plates, beams, rafters, planks, and shingles. To obtain these products,
circular saw, band saw or the like are used to unfold, or trim. In the second stage of
processing, it is used the products obtained in the primary stage for processing, such as
the manufacturing of gates, fences, windows and similar materials.
In the cases previously cited, correction ergonomy can be applied aiming at solving
security issues, excessive fatigue, illness of the workers, and production quantity and
quality. Many of the attitudes that can be taken may have a low cost and ease, like
posture changes, including security devices and increase in lighting, but others can be
more complex and more expensive such as a reduction in mental workload or noises and
replacement of inadequate machinery (Prates, 2007).
The great problem of wood and furniture industries in terms of safety, according to
Veras (2006), is the lack of investment by the company in adequate protection of the
machines. He explains that the legislation prohibiting the sale of machines with no
protective equipment is not being obeyed as a way to lower the costs of acquisition. In his
opinion, the argument of the difficulty of importing is not an excuse, because there is
already national safe machinery. Another critical aspect of the timber industry is related
to the lack of qualification, and most of new employees are trained by older
professionals.
The union of these problems results in high rates of accidents which, according to
Veras (2006), occur either because the worker is inexperienced, as in cases where
accidents are caused by excessive confidence in the work activity. The official statistics
of work accidents in Brazil totalised 12.548 accidents between 2007 and 2008. In the part
of economic activity related to the ramification of the wood that comprises the
manufacturing of lumber, veneer, plywood, crowded and pressed wood, products for
 Ergonomic work analysis 287

construction, packaging, industrial, commercial and domestic use, occurs at a rate of

137 accidents related to occupational diseases such as repetitive strain injury and
work-related musculoskeletal disorders (RSI/WMSD).
The attribution of the accidents to random reasons is justified by ignorance or partial
knowledge from the owners or leaders about the risks inherent to the activities, because it
can be said that no accident occurs by chance. Accidents are caused by unsafe acts,
unsafe conditions or both factors together (Canto, 2009). The unsafe acts are procedure
practices that are opposed to safety rules, and these acts create opportunities for an
accident. The accidents are usually a result from inadequate interactions among men, task
and environment (Veras, 2006).
The particular case of occupational diseases, especially RSI and WMSD, in the
timber industry is a serious problem, but the mutilation of fingers for lack of use of
personal protective equipment (PPE) and collective protection equipment (CPE) are the
vast majority of accidents affecting many workers in this sector. One of the major causes
for the occurrence of these accidents is caused by the pressure for productivity, which
causes an increase in working hours and consequently mental and muscular fatigue
(Veras, 2006).
Studies in the industry of sawmills in relation to health and worker safety in their
daily work activities show, for example, that it is important the leadership to be aware of
the importance of the use of PPEs by employees, but only make them available is not
enough, since it is necessary to make them aware about the importance they have on their
working health. Santos and Schimidt (2006), for instance, mention that the ratio of
corporate social responsibility goes beyond meeting the legal requirements, aiming at
promoting awareness of the employee and the employer to improve working conditions.
They report that the awareness on the part of owners, in relation to PPE is critical, as they
should be aware of labour laws. Still, as shown in Andrade et al. (2009), a major
challenge for these sites remains exactly on playing in the prevention, since in fact there
are discrepancies between perceived health risks from the viewpoint of the employee and
the employer.
Observing the timber industry, several working conditions inadequate to employees
are identified, and that leading to ergonomics problems occurrences. In this sites it can be
verified the occurrence of occupational diseases, whereas RSI and WMSD are the most
serious and frequent incidence. There are also the cases of mutilation of fingers due to
absence or inadequate use of PPE and CPE. These patterns of accidents are occurring
more frequently with the workers of this sector. The pressure of productivity is the most
frequent cause for accidents occurrence, as well as of the increase in working hours and
also, of mental and muscular fatigue (Veras, 2006).
As causes for this prevalence it is verified factors as projects that ignore the human
factor or the incorrect use of equipments, systems and tasks. These factors are treated and
covered by ergonomy, which offers support to reduce them and thus improve the working
conditions and its performance. In this sense, a critical point in wood industry, and
specially sawmills, is lack awareness of the leaders about the importance to stimulate the
use of PPE by the employees. Usually, the employer provides these devices only but do
not explain to employees the importance of its use. Thus, social responsibility of business
goes beyond complying of the legal requirements considering that, the owners’ awareness
in relation to PPE is a critical element (Santos and Schimidt, 2006). In this way, one of
the great obstacles in these companies is to provide incentives to the prevention, since in
288 M.F. Saldanha et al.

fact there are discrepancies between the health risk perception from the viewpoint of the
employee and employer (Andrade et al., 2009).
In this way, many actions can present a low cost and ease, for example, changes in
posture, simple safety devices and increased lighting. Other cases may be more complex
and result in increased costs as a reduction of mental fatigue, noise reduction and
machines acquisition (Prates, 2007). The great problem on wood industries in terms of
safety is the modest investment by the company in the adequate protection of machines,
and the low-skilled worker. The combination of these problems, ultimately result in high
levels of accidents (Veras, 2006).
In fact, the wood processing industries are characterised by the high frequency and
severity of their accidents. These industries are responsible by the third highest rate of
frequency of fatal accidents in Brazil, second only to the industries of mining and the
civil construction industries (Souza, 2002). These coefficients can be easily reversed with
a subsequent implementation of appropriate actions and ergonomic analysis. Yet, despite
the economic importance of this sector and the possibilities of a better performance
related to the application of ergonomic solutions, the application of improvements should
be done with parsimony, it is a way to obtain the suitable results referring to the
adaptation of the work to the men. In turn, Guérin (2001) states that such actions can be
converted into gains by reducing of energy waste, quality improvement, cost reduction
and increase of competitiveness. In addition, the planning, designing and evaluation of
tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems in order to make them compatible with
the needs, abilities and limitations of people, are initiatives that can receive significant
contributions from ergonomic professionals (IEA, 2011). Thus, a study covering the
analysis and understanding of work conditions in sawmills, can provide bases for future
applications to improve the wellbeing workers and the performance of companies related
to the wood industry.

3 Methodological procedures

This study was carried using an ergonomic work analysis method (Guérin, 2001), which
is applied to analyse the tasks and activities through of observational stages. Although,
this method is only suggested during the ergonomic of correction of existent problems
(Iida, 2005), in this study application it was utilised to support proposed improvements in
ergonomic design. Therefore, we chose to use the phases:
1 Initial exploration and survey of ergonomic demands: Making the first visit to the
company’s locations, where it was possible to know the physical structure of the site,
its key processes, mission, vision and values. In this step both the business owner
and the local employees were approached.
2 On-site observation: Were carried out at the business place five visits utilising
random days and times. In these opportunities it was collected images (photos
and videos) and it was applied unstructured interviews at owner e employees.
3 Postural analysis: Analysis of information obtained using mainly rapid upper limb
assessment (RULA) method. This method allows us to observe and evaluate scores
via appropriate tables with classification of problems related to neck, legs, trunk and
upper limbs. Postural evaluation performed by this method begins by assessing the
 Ergonomic work analysis 289

employee performing the work cycles several times. The score of the evaluated
posture can be attributed considering the duration of the procedure, or taking into
account the worst position maintained by the employee in performing the task
(Lopes, 2004).
4 Workplace job analysis: Concurrent with the in-site visits and postural analysis, it
was also observed and analysed the layout of the place under study. At this stage,
it was defined the arrangement of processes, materials, equipment and personnel,
including even its physical structure and its visual appearance to then relate it to
working conditions.
5 Improvement proposals: Improvements were proposed at this stage, which were
made available to the company through a report containing the study data. This
document contained details of the suggestions for improvement, with guidelines
for implementation.

4 Results

4.1 The process under study

The location chosen to be studied consists in a small sawmill that, compared with the
standard sawmills of this region, has some advantages in terms of technology.
It was observed in the studied site that the job with a higher propensity to occur
postural ergonomic demands was the control operating of the hydraulic carriage drive
(HCD). This place centralises the key processes performed of the company, which makes
it the main equipment. Its physical structure is composed of electronic panel gauges,
traction system to gauge the wooden with 3CV motor-brake, pneumatic vacuum and
wheels rolling.
The pieces of wood taken from each log are used to create different types of
processing, resulting in several products like semi blocks, blocks, boards, beams, cutting
board and laths. The residues are used to produce organic manures, firewood, and they
are commercialised to the manufacturing of chipboards.
The function of the operator in this job is to operate the HCD using a step sequence
according to what is presented in Figure 1, which is repeated several times until obtained
the completed cut of the log.

Figure 1 Sequence of tasks performed by the operator

Activate o
Comandar Control o
Comandar Control thea
Controlar Control
as torasthe
de Positioning the
até a serra fita
the hydraulic
avanço hidráulico the eletronic
painel eletrônico tamble of
tombadeira treadmill
madeira dawith
esteira timber front of
vertical
control system panel quetimber
transporta timber band saw

The use of HCD allowed the process to be more productive and eliminated some of effort
inherent in it. However, it still remains in this workplace some risks to the health of the
290 M.F. Saldanha et al.

operator in his daily routine. The monotony, the presence of unwanted noise, lower-back
pain and other muscular pains caused by injuries as tendinitis are examples.

4.2 Ergonomic job analysis

By analysing the job under study it was identified that the operator used predominantly
the right side of his body to control operation of the HCD. The main control of the
machine is allocated on the right side. The commands of the equipment are not
distributed uniformly and induce the operator to keep his body leaning forward and
resting on his right. These factors strongly influence the occurrence of back pain, which
in turn, often result from improper use of biomechanics and the ignorance of the
limitations of the spine.
Inadequate postures, as it was verified in this study, can lead to anti-ergonomic
conditions in the work places, like lumbalgia (a pain in the lower part of the back) and
dorsalgia (a pain in the dorsal part of the back). That happens because many of these
problems are caused by the incorrect biomechanics of the human machine and by the
discovery of the limitations of the spine. The main problem of this kind of work,
however, is not the weight over the muscles, but mostly the spine wear, especially in the
intervertebral discs of the lower-back region, with an increasing risk of disorders.
In addition, there is no seat available to the operator, and he needs to use a piece of
tree trunk to sit in front of the panel. As a result, he needs to keep his torso (cervical and
lumbar) in isometric muscle contraction (IMC) and at angles that can lead to the
occurrence of severe pains at the end of the workday. Nevertheless, the arms and
forearms are also suspended during the entire period of operation of the machine, forcing
the operator to make constant change of their positions to minimise the discomfort caused
by IMC. The operator pointed out that he would feel better if he could do the operation of
HCD on a place of approximately 50 cm above the level of the track where the logs
move. As an aggravating to the postural conditions in which the worker is under, the
conditions of the work environment also bring some important challenges in relation to
comfort, because it is interesting to all companies the construction of places that give
motivation and cooperation among their employees.
The ergonomic analysis using the RULA method revealed a significant wear of the
operator according to their positions. The body side most compromised during their work
activities is the right, which is the same of the operate control of HCD. The RULA
analysis also reveals that while in the upper left side of the operator never reaches a score
that requires postural changes (score 5 or more), the right limb most of the time (64%)
requires postures that need urgent action. As an aggravating, the operator remains during
most of the time that he operates the machine (65%) under potentially harmful postures
of the trunk, with scores between 4 and 6. The set of images in Figure 2 provides some
examples that represent the postures imposed during operation of HCD.
When performing the joint analysis considering the limbs and trunk, according to the
complete protocol provided by the RULA method, it was noted that the unfavourable
trunk postures lead to a significant increase in the severity of the conditions imposed to
the operator. In this case, and observing only the right side, it was noticed that at least
11% of the time the operator remains in postural conditions that require immediate action
to improve its working conditions. 60% of the time during their stay in station the
operator keeps on conditions with class 2 or higher, and 40% of the time he is in a
condition of class 3 and class 4, that means, conditions that require investigation and
 Ergonomic work analysis 291

changes immediately. A detailed analysis of the data reveals that the maintenance of
trunk posture in IS is the main cause of the high scores identified by RULA. Even when
viewing the left side, which proved to be less critical, the combined result of the
combination trunk and limbs reveals the need for improvement actions. The chart in
Figure 3 summarises the results obtained by the RULA analysis.

Figure 2 Posture examples observed during the operation of the machine (see online version
for colours)

Figure 3 Results obtained with the RULA analysis

Left side of body Right side of body
70%
% time under according RULA escore

58%
60%

50% 47%
40%
40%

30% 27%

20%
13%
11%
10%
2% 2%
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
0%
Class 2 - Score 3

Class 2 - Score 4

Class 3 - Score 5

Class 3 - Score 6

Class 4 - Score 7

Class 2 - Score 3

Class 2 - Score 4

Class 3 - Score 5

Class 3 - Score 6

Class 4 - Score 7
Class 1 - Score 1

Class 1 - Score 2

Class 1 - Score 1

Class 1 - Score 2

Class of RULA analiysis

292 M.F. Saldanha et al.

4.3 Improvement proposals

According to the aspects identified during the research application, it is a clear need to
carry out some actions to achieve improvements not only in the field of occupational
biomechanics, but also related to the physical space and safety in the workplace.
Regarding the layout of the studied site and the general working conditions, it was
observed that the space is ample, facilitating the displacement of employees. However,
the site is totally open and weakly protected from the wind, rain and excessive heat,
which makes the environment uncomfortable for the worker. A suggestion that is simple
and has a low cost is to take advantage of the wood processed in the company itself to
close part of the workspace and using the guidance of an expert, providing more comfort
to the employees, while protecting the logs, avoiding that they stay totally exposed to
some damaging drifts, for example the temperature variations and rain.
The environment under study offers daily a great number of risks to workers during
the operation of machinery and equipment. The protection of these workers is legally
required by the Brazilian regulatory norm NR 06 (MTE, 2006), which requires that the
companies provide PPE to all employees. These equipments should be freely available, in
perfect use condition and operation, and adequacy for the type of risk. The studied
company fulfils its obligation, but the employees do not use the equipment frequently.
Thus, it is strongly recommended that the company not only complies with his duty, but
that shows to their employees the importance of using the PPE.

Figure 4 Currently seat e improvement suggestion, (a) identified situation (b) improvement
proposal (see online version for colours)

(a) (b)

The seat currently existing on site (trunk wood) should be replaced immediately because
it does not have appropriate conditions (it does not have backrest, armrests, comfort and
ideal height). According to Dul and Weerdmeester (2004), the seat height should have
continuous adjustments and smooth rather than degrees adjusts. The optimum height is
obtained when the thighs are well supported on the seat without crushing of the underside
of thigh, and the feet are entirely supported on the ground. Thinking this way, according
 Ergonomic work analysis 293

to the necessity of the operator, it is suggested that the company should reuse the leftover
wood to build a chair to the sawmill employee, avoiding higher expenses on buying
materials. The ergonomic requirement suggested are: the backrest of the chair should
provide support to the lower back (in the abdomen region); a free space of 10 to 20 cm
should be left between the seating and the backrest; the backrest should be 30 cm high
(therefore, the total height should be between 40 to 50 cm above the seating); the person
should not use this lower backrest to lend the back when the it is relaxed; the lower
backrest (near the seating) should be convex to place the buttock curvature, or it should
be leaked (in this recommendation, the size of the free space should be adjustable, about
10 to 20 cm between the seating and the backrest). Considering all these ergonomic
characteristics and recommendations, the model suggested by the authors is shown in
Figure 4.
For the human machine interface in the post studied, it is suggested to replace the
current control lever for a more appropriate model. The adequate format of the command
lever must include features that allow both large movements (low precision) and fine
movements (high precision), it should happen in a way that it does not require great effort
from the operator, according to Figure 5. This change can be implemented easily by
mechanical technique; it is not necessary constructive changes in HCD.

Figure 5 New command lever suggested to machine control (see online version for colours)

Wide Movements
(low sensibilit) Fine Movements
(high sensibilit)

The operator’s function is quite important in the company since it is required much
attention and responsibility, because it is from the speed that he controls the HCD that
depends the continuation of other employees work. If HCD is not being well-controlled
and if the operator does not take the right decisions, some serious accidents implicating
several employees may occur. This system that is so complicated is known as the
human-machine system and it means that the person and the machine have a reciprocal
interface. It means that it is a closed cycle in which the person has the key position, as
soon as it is him that takes the decisions. The way that the information goes to the system
is the following: the control panel shows information about the progress of the
production; the operator notices this information and needs to understand it and access it
correctly. Based on his interpretation and acquired previous knowledge, the person takes
a decision. The next step is to communicate his decision to the machine by the means of
controls, and then the machine processes what was programmed.
The control panel included key triggers and buttons that can continue to be driven by
the fingers (low manual effort). However, the buttons and switches are arranged so that it
can cause difficulties in interpretation and consequent risk of failure of operation. Thus, it
294 M.F. Saldanha et al.

proposes the use of logical ordering of space, using as reference the sequence of steps,
HCD and process layouts. The current control panel and the improvement suggestion are
presented in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Current control panel and the improvement suggestions, (a) current panel control
(b) control panel suggested (see online version for colours)

TURN ON LIGHT EMERGENCY

SAW BUTTON

DISPLAYS HORIZONTAL DISTANCE

CLAWS

ON OFF 1 2 3 4

ACTIVATION HORIZONTAL DISTANCE WAKE TOMBLE CAR

(a)

LIGHT TURN ON EMERGENCY TURN ON EMERGENCY

SAW BUTTON SAW BUTTON

CLAWS

1 2 3 4
WAKE TOMBLE CAR

ON DISPLAYS HORIZONTAL DISTANCE OFF

ACTIVATION HORIZONTAL DISTANCE

(b)

Finally, the band saw that is currently installed on the machine does not have any
protection, being fully exposed to the worker, which creates a great risk of serious injury
incidents. Therefore, it is proposed to construct a protective enclosure using wooden parts
of the process itself. This is a low-cost action and can be easily implemented by the
company.
 Ergonomic work analysis 295

5 Discussion and conclusions

This research has a medium size sawmill as field of work. It has twenty employees that
do the processing of the wood, being all these processes semi-automated and need the
control and the human force, and a task is shared by a machine and a worker.
It can be seen in the environment studied a number of peculiarities relating to
respondents’ perceptions of the risks. The responses highlight the need for attention to the
sawmill industry in respect to the culture for occupational health and safety. In addition,
activities aimed at raising awareness and training of workers in the region under study
proved to be precarious.
As an aggravating factor, the implementation of efficient management programmes in
the productive sector of wood become difficult, mainly because of the low level of
instruction of the people involved. In this sense, it is assumed that actions to improve
cultural nature should be encouraged on a more comprehensive and collective community
connected with the timber companies in the region. This study contributes in this sense,
showing that investments in ergonomics are important, since spending on sick
employees, the loss of materials, the delays in production and lack of motivation to work,
due to working conditions and lack of training, are very significant in context of the
business. Nevertheless, several times it is difficult to quantify the profits from the
application of the Ergonomic in companies, when a worker is exposed to uncomfortable
and embarrassing situations, aggressive conditions that affect the worker physically or
psychologically in his/her yield, motivation and moral affected, it results in the
compromising of the expected results.
By applying the suggested recommendations, it is estimated that the company will
have the basic settings for improving the working conditions of its staff and hence the
productivity of their processes. With it, the industry can obtain the minimum conditions
to improve their competitiveness and market positioning.

Acknowledgements

This paper is the extended version of a document submitted and awarded during the
Symposium on Production Engineering (SIMPEP) in 2011. The authors thank SIMPEP
organisation for their support in the preparation and submission of this research.

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