Ashraf A. Shikdar

Worker productivity, and occupational health and safety issues in selected industries

The main objective of this research was to identify factors that affected worker productivity, occupational health and safety in selected industries in a developing country. Fifty production managers participated in the study. Fifty-four percent of the managers reported hot environmental conditions, 28% a noisy environment, and 26% a lack of resources and facilities. Managers received worker complaints of fatigue, back pain, upper-body pain, hand and wrist pain and headaches. Management (88%) acknowledged not having knowledge or access to ergonomics information. Ninety-four percent of the companies did not carry out ergonomic assessments. A significant correlation (p < 0.01) was found among productivity indicators and health and organizational attributes. Lack of skills in ergonomics and training, communication and resources are believed to be some of the factors contributing to the poor ergonomic conditions and consequent loss of worker productivity and reduced health and safety in these industries.

Ergonomics, and occupational health and safety in the oil industry: a managers' response

The main objective of this research was to investigate ergonomics, occupational health and safety problems of an oil industry in a developing country. Fifty-six industrial unit managers participated in the study. Forty-eight percent of the managers received worker complaints of back pain, 36% of fatigue, 32% of upper-body pain, 48% of stress and 46% of dissatisfaction. Fifty-seven percent of the managers reported a hot environment, 36% a noisy environment, and 41% a lack of resources and facilities. Sixty-two percent had no knowledge or access to ergonomics information, while 64% of the managers did not carry out an ergonomic assessment of their units. A significant correlation (p < 0.01) was found among ergonomics and safety indicators and average injury rates. Lack of skills in ergonomics, communication and resources are believed to be some of the major factors contributing to the poor ergonomic conditions and consequent increase in health and safety problems in this industry.

The relationship between worker satisfaction and productivity in a repetitive industrial task

The objective of this investigation was to determine the manner by which production standards or goals, performance or production feedback and monetary or wage incentive affected or moderated the relationship between worker satisfaction and productivity in a repetitive production task in a fishing industry. The industrial study was conducted to measure worker satisfaction and productivity under various experimental conditions involving production standards, performance feedback and monetary incentive. Only the participative standard and performance feedback condition affected the worker satisfaction-productivity relationship significantly for the fish-trimming task. The positive correlation coefficient (0.87) for this condition was found to be highly significant. This has an important implication for setting a strategy for achieving higher worker satisfaction and productivity in such an industry. Production standards with feedback generally improved worker satisfaction and productivity. Monetary incentive further improved worker performance but added no incremental satisfaction gain. The incorporation of production standards, performance feedback and monetary incentive affected worker satisfaction and productivity differently and this had an effect on the worker satisfaction-productivity relationship. In an earlier laboratory study, no significant worker satisfaction-productivity relationship was found when subjects (college students) were provided with similar experimental conditions.

Office ergonomics: deficiencies in computer workstation design.

The objective of this research was to study and identify ergonomic deficiencies in computer workstation design in typical offices. Physical measurements and a questionnaire were used to study 40 workstations. Major ergonomic deficiencies were found in physical design and layout of the workstations, employee postures, work practices, and training. The consequences in terms of user health and other problems were significant. Forty-five percent of the employees used nonadjustable chairs, 48% of computers faced windows, 90% of the employees used computers more than 4 hrs/day, 45% of the employees adopted bent and unsupported back postures, and 20% used office tables for computers. Major problems reported were eyestrain (58%), shoulder pain (45%), back pain (43%), arm pain (35%), wrist pain (30%), and neck pain (30%). These results indicated serious ergonomic deficiencies in office computer workstation design, layout, and usage. Strategies to reduce or eliminate ergonomic deficiencies in computer workstation design were suggested.

A strategy for improving worker satisfaction and job attitudes in a repetitive industrial task: application of production standards and performance feedback

Worker satisfaction improved significantly as a consequence of the provision of the assigned and participative standards with performance feedback in a repetitive industrial production task. The maximum improvement in worker satisfaction was found for the participative standard and feedback condition. Only this condition had a significant positive effect on worker job attitudes. Monetary incentive, when provided with an assigned or participative standard with feedback, added no incremental worker satisfaction or job attitudes gain. The participative standard with feedback condition emerges as the optimum strategy for improving worker satisfaction and job attitudes in a repetitive industrial production task.

Participative versus assigned production standard setting in a repetitive industrial task: a strategy for improving worker productivity.

The participative standard with feedback condition was superior to the assigned difficult (140% of normal) standard with feedback condition in terms of worker productivity. The percentage increase in worker productivity with the participative standard and feedback condition was 46%, whereas the increase in the assigned difficult standard with feedback was 23%, compared to the control group (no standard, no feedback). Worker productivity also improved significantly as a result of assigning a normal (100%) production standard with feedback, compared to the control group, and the increase was 12%. The participative standard with feedback condition emerges as the optimum strategy for improving worker productivity in a repetitive industrial production task.

Smart workstation design: an ergonomics and methods engineering approach

The objective of this research was to design and develop a smart workstation for performing industrial assembly tasks. A fully adjustable ergonomically designed workstation was developed, with special features such as a motorised table for upward, downward and angular movements, an ergonomic chair with adjustable seat pan, arm support and back support, and a mechanism for bins and tools locations. The workstation could be used as a sit, stand or sit-stand workstation. The range of table height movement was 700–1050 mm, with an angular movement of 45°; chair height was 430–560 mm, back-support tilt 30° and elbow support height 230–330 mm. There was a significant difference in workstation set-up parameters of the participants and fixed parameters of an existing assembly workstation. The performance of the participants was 42.8% higher in the smart workstation compared to the existing workstation. Flexibility in workstation set-up can eliminate the anthropometric and ergonomic problems of fixed workstations and boost the operators performance.

Analysis and estimation of complexity level in industrial firms

Nowadays, industrial firms require a reduction in their complexity. Complexity in industrial firms presents a new challenge in this decade, especially, during the global recession. Estimation of the level of complexity in industrial firms is still unclear due to the difficulty of analysis of important issues. This research will put a framework to in-depth analysis of these issues and concepts to estimate the expected complexity level in industrial firms. In this paper, a fuzzy logic approach was proposed to estimate the complexity level of the industrial organisations and a computer software package was created to manipulate a huge amount of collected data. Several case studies were conducted to obtain a clear understanding of the causes of complexity in industrial organisations to demonstrate the proposed methodology of analysis and estimation. The results show that the complexity of industrial organisations is still an ill-structured multi-dimensional problem and needs more attention from manufacturers and academics.

Identification of Ergonomic Issues That Affect Workers in Oilrigs in Desert Environments

The main objective of this research was to conduct an assessment of ergonomic-related problems in oilrigs in a desert environment. A checklist, physical audit and medical records were used in the investigation. The results showed significant health, environment and work-related problems that could be attributed to ergonomic deficiencies in the work system of the oilrig. Some major ergonomic issues identified were hard physical work, back pain, discomfort, hot environment, long shift, and diverse schedule. Ninety-four percent of the employees perceived the workday as very long, 79% were dissatisfied with the work schedule, while 61% of the employees perceived the summer work environment as extremely hot. Ergonomics should be considered in the work system design so as to reduce or eliminate problems in oilrigs in hot desert environments.

Development of a software package for ergonomic assessment of manufacturing industry

A computer software package has been developed to be used as a self-assessment tool to evaluate ergonomic improvement potential of production systems by engineers, managers and safety professionals. Production managers of manufacturing industries with no prior knowledge of ergonomics were able to identify ergonomic deficiencies successfully (81%) in the shop floors as a result of the application of the ergonomic assessment tool. This enabled them to formulate intervention strategies to improve ergonomic conditions in their industries. The software package is user friendly, self-explanatory and provides relevant information, data and guidelines. It is unique, as the users will have access to necessary ergonomics information, which is often lacking in the manufacturing industries, especially in developing countries.