WORK STUDY

Navanendra Singh
Assistant Professor
National Institute of Fashion Technology
Patna
WHAT IS WORK STUDY?
• Work study is a generic term for those techniques, particularly
method study and work measurement, which are used in the
examination of human work in its contexts, and which lead
systematically to the investigation of all the factors which affect the
efficiency and economy of the situation being reviewed, in order to
effect improvement
Work Study
• Work study is thus especially concerned with productivity.
• It is most frequently used to increase the amount produced from a
given quantity of resources without further capital investment except,
perhaps, on a very small scale.
• Work study was widely known for years as "time and motion study“.
• The term "work study" entered the English language only after the
Second World War, but it is now generally accepted; "motion and
time study" is however still used in the United States.
Work Study
Work Study
• Work study is simply the study of work.
• It is the analysis of work dividing it into smaller parts followed by
rearrangement of these parts to give the same effectiveness at lesser
cost.
• It examines both the method and duration of the work involved in a
process.
• Work study has a direct relationship with productivity.
Nature of Work-study
• Work study/Time and motion study is primarily concerned with
discovering the best ways of doing jobs and with establishing
standards based upon such methods.
• Work study is to minimize costs either by designing work for higher
productivity or by improving productivity in existing work through
improvements in current methods and by reducing inefficient or
waste of time.
Objectives of Work-Study
• To recommend and implement the desired improvements in work
methods by establishing the most economical way of doing work.
• Investigation and analysis of existing situation.
• Examination of weakness if any in the production process.
• Most effective use of the existing or proposed plant.
• Efficient use of human efforts.
Importance of work-study
• It is a mean of raising productivity of a factor by reorganization of the
work involving little or no capital expenditure on plant and equipment.
• It is systematic study where no factor of production is overlooked.
• It is most accurate method of determining the standards of
performance on which effective planning and control depends.
• It results in savings and efficient use of resources by increasing output
and reducing scrap.
• It is a “tool” which can be applied everywhere.
• Results in improved safety.
• Reduction in training time.
Benefits of work-study
• It improves the production flow and make it uniform so that production can be
completed in minimum possible time.
• Efficient utilization of men, materials and machinery & reduces manufacturing costs
and makes the process more efficient.
• The process takes less time, so fast and accurate delivery dates can be achievable.
• Better relation between employee and environment.
• It helps to provide a better working environment, less fatigue for workers and job
satisfaction will be there.
• Higher wages for workers, reduce health hazard.
• The resultant savings start at once and continue for as long as the operations
continue in the improved form.
• No tolerance to waste in any form, whether material, time effort or human ability.
Procedure of Work study
Procedure of Work study
• Select the job or process to be studied.
• Record or collect all relevant data about the job or process, using the most
suitable data collection techniques, so that the data will be in the most
convenient form to be analyzed.
• Examine the recorded facts critically and challenge everything that is done,
considering in turn: the purpose of activity ;the place where it is performed;
the sequence in which it is done; the person who is doing it; the means by
which it is done.
• Develop the most economic method, taking into account all the circumstances
and drawing as appropriate on various production management technique, as
well as on the contributions of managers, supervisors, workers and other
specialists with whom new approaches should be explored and discussed.
Procedure of Work study
• Evaluate the results attained be the improved method compared with
the quality of work involved and calculate a standard time for it.
• Define the new method and the related time and present it to all
those concerned.
• Install the new method, training those involved, as an agreed practice
with the allotted time of operation.
• Maintain the new standard practice by monitoring the results and
comparing them with the original targets.
Components of work study
1. Method Study - Search for a better method
2. Work measurement - How long should a job take to complete
3. Ergonomics - Movements Vs. Health Vs. Work place environment
4. Job evaluation - Functional/ Non functional

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Method Study
• It is the systematic recording, examination and improvement of doing
work in order to develop a better method.
• It is some sort of MOTION STUDY.
Work Measurement
• It is the determination of amount of time required to perform a
job/task by a worker following a particular/prescribed method.
• It is some sort of TIME STUDY.
Ergonomics
• Ergonomics is the study of relationship b/w worker and his working
environment. It includes a mix of working environment, working place
and human physiological considerations.
THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE APPLICATION
OF WORK STUDY
• GOOD RELATIONS MUST BE ESTABLISHED BEFORE WORK STUDY IS
APPLIED
• If work study is to contribute seriously to the improvement of productivity,
relations between the management and the workers must be reasonably
good before any attempt is made to introduce it
• The workers must have confidence in the sincerity of the management
towards them
• Otherwise they will regard it as another trick to try to get more work out of
them without any benefits for themselves.
THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE
APPLICATION
OF WORK STUDY
WORK STUDY AND THE MANAGEMENT
• If the application of work-study in an enterprise is to succeed it must have the
understanding and the backing of the management at all levels, starting at the top.
• If the top management, the managing director, the managing agent or the president of the
company does not understand what the work study man is trying to do and is not giving
him his full support then it cannot be expected that managers lower down will accept and
support him.
• If the work study man then comes into conflict with them, as he may do in such
circumstances, he may well find that he will lose his case, however good it may be, if an
appeal is made to the top.
• Do not forget that in any organization people lower down tend to take their attitudes from
the man at the top.
THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE
APPLICATION
OF WORK STUDY
• WORK STUDY AND THE SUPERVISOR
• Before the work study man starts work in the shop, the whole purpose of
work study and the procedures involved must have been very carefully
explained to the foreman, so that he understands exactly what is being done
and why.
• Unless this is done the foreman is likely to be difficult, if not actually
obstructive, for many reasons; among them the following:
• He is the person most deeply affected by work study
• The work for which he may have been responsible for years is being challenged
• If disputes arise or the workers are upset he is the first person who will be called upon to
clear matters up
THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE
APPLICATION
OF WORK STUDY
• The work study man will only retain the friendship and respect of the
foreman if he shows from the beginning that he is not trying to usurp
his place. The following rules must be observed:
• The work study man must never give a direct order to a worker.
• Worker should never go to the work study man for any decisions
• The work study man must not allow the workers to "play him off" against the
foreman or to use him to get decisions altered which they consider harsh.
• The work study man should seek the foreman's advice in the selection of jobs
THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE
APPLICATION
OF WORK STUDY
• WORK STUDY AND THE WORKER
• There are some important factors which may cause workers to resist the
introduction of work study.
• There may be strong resistance to changes in method proposed following method study,
especially from older, skilled workers.
• Many workers resent being timed; this may be due to either a suspicion of the stopwatch
which can usually be dispelled if its use is properly explained or simply that having
someone standing watching them worries them.
• Here the position which the work study man takes up and the way in which he goes
about it is extremely important. He must take care to allow the worker to become
accustomed to his presence before attempting to record times.
• There is often a fear that redundancy may arise out of the results of work study, leading
either to unemployment or transfer to another department.
THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE
APPLICATION
OF WORK STUDY
• THE WORK STUDY MAN
• Education
• Personal Experience
• Personal Qualities
• Sincerity and Honesty
• Enthusiasm
• Interest in and sympathy with the people
• Tact
• Good Appearance
• Self confidence
WORKING CONDITIONS
• Cleanliness
• Drinking water and hygiene
• Housekeeping
• Lighting
• Ventilation, heating and cooling
• Colour
• Noise
• The workplace: working space and seating
• The prevention of accidents
• Fire Prevention
• Nutrition
Thank You