Engineering Ergonomics

and Work Study

Work organization
Work Organization is a human Tool

 Dev of tools and tech

 Organize in order to expand human capabilities
 Distribution of work
 Humter-gathers
 Agriculture
 Industry
Work Organization is a human Tool

 Task Allocation
 Broad Division - Equally capable – many tasks
 Narrow division – highly qual – specific tasks
 Assy Line or Work Cells
 Designed for tasks Narrowly def
 Designed for team activity
 Shift Work
 Reward System
 Hours and effort
 Quality and Quantity
Work Organization is a human Tool

 Structure
 Verticle Layers
 Horizontal segmentation
 Amount of centralization
 Decision making
 What decisions at what level
 Strategic issues for top management or for rank and files
What Ergonomics has to do with it

 As with any other tool, ergonomics seeks to analyze and

improve the fit between system of organization and the
people who make up that organization
 Design an organization that matches human
requirements
 Overall efficiency of the system
 Personal fulfilment and well-being of the people
Organization as a Flexible Tool

 The value of thinking Organization as a tool is that it can

be considered as software or furniture
 Organization becomes a factor that can be modified
Taylorism – The Separation of Planning
from Doing
 The Priciples of Scientific management, 1911
 Careful structuring of each step of a task
 Time-method analysis
 Increase in productivity in the first part of twentieth
century
Workplace Stress – A Criterion to
evaluate Work systems
 Work organization is a broad, generic term that includes
controversies, studies, and a tremendous amount of opinion.
 Work evaluation
 Objective criteria
Production output on different methods of organization
Ways to improve product quality
 No objective
Whims and egos – Example: authoritarian systems with no regard
to efficiency
 Work Organization and Mental Stress
The Stress Reaction
 Stress is a Pysiological reaction, when confronted with threat.
 Physiological changes include increases in:
 Adrenaline
 Heart rate
 Blood pressure
 Respiration
 Muscular tension
 The body gears up for a physical attack – fight or flight syndrome.
It’s a very useful biological phenomenon aginst physical threat
 Unfortunately the stress reaction can be triggered by other events
as well
 Though useful in meeting deadlines, sometimes it’s totally irrelevant
to the task
 Work Organization and Mental Stress
Stress and Disease

 Prolonged Stress Reaction and the Pysiological changes continued

unabated produce harmful effects.
 Primarily illness, but also include maladaptive behaviours such as
absenteeism or overeating.
 Mental stress is physiological reaction.
 Work Organization and Mental Stress
Common Sources of Workplace Stress

 Time pressures
 Work overload
 Boredom and lack of opportunity to use skills
 Machine-paced work – epitomized by the assembly line
 Jobs requiring high levels of mental concentration to perform
elementary and highly repetitive tasks, paced by machine
 Work environment-
 Noise
 Lack of privacy and crowdingof people
 Interpersonal relationships
 Role ambiguity or role conflict
 Work Organization and Mental Stress
Common Sources of Workplace Stress

 Large organizations
 Organizational disruptions
 Lack of control over many events of daily life
 Managers vs workers
 Response changes from person to person
 Life in general and social life buffers the stress response
Work Organization and Mental Stress
Engineering out Sources of Stress
Work Organization and Mental Stress
The Quality Improvement Process
Thanks