Paul S. Ray

The need for worker training in advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) environments: A white paper

The international globalization of the World markets for manufactured goods, particularly consumer goods, has placed an emphasis on nations to improve manufacturing productivity. This need to improve productivity is further prompted by a potential loss of competitive edge in the global marketplace. The market competitiveness and e

Efficacy of the components of a behavioral safety program

ciency of any nation is primarily dependent upon the economy, reliability, quality, quickness, and ease of its manufacturing processes and the resulting quality of outcomes (products). To a major extent, the skills of the workforce determine the e!ectiveness and the e

Control Charts for Monitoring Field Failure Data

ciency of the process of manufacturing and the quality of goods produced. And yet, there is a severe lack of standardized and consistent worker training programs for skills needed by workers in modern manufacturing organizations. This review paper shows that there is a dire need to train workers in manufacturing organizations and thereby improve the overall e!ectiveness and e

Behavioral safety program: Creating a new corporate culture

ciency of such organizations. Relevance to industry As technology changes, so do the skills workers need. In order to compete successfully in the global market, manufacturing organizations must aim at training workers in skills necessary to produce quality goods. ( 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of a Novel Ice-Cooling Technique on Work in Protective Clothing at 28°C, 23°C, and 18°C WBGTs

Abstract Since Komaki et al.s (1978) pioneering work of applying behavioral analysis for industrial safety, several researchers reported successful applications of behavioral safety programs in different work situations. However, most of these programs consisted of a number of components, e.g., safety training, safety performance feedback, goal setting, incentives to performance safety, (e.g., praise, coupons, T-shirts, etc.), consolidated into a single treatment. Although these programs led to improvements in safety behavior of workers, and in a few instances to lower accident rates during the program, it is not clear which components of the safety programs contributed most to the improvement. The present study was conducted to assess the individual effectiveness of training, performance feedback, and goal setting on the safe behavior of workers in an industrial setting. Two groups of workers performing similar operations were selected for the experiment. While the experimental group was treated with safety training, feedback, and goal setting, the control group continued working without any treatment. The safety performance index (SI), a ratio of number of observations safe divided by the numbers safe and unsafe, (Komaki et al., 1978) was used to measure the status of safety on the shop floor. The experimental group did not show any significant change in the safety behavior until safety performance feedback was introduced. This observation indicates that training alone may not be adequate to ensure safe behavior in a workplace. The safety performance index improved further with the introduction of goal setting for the performance. The improvement was significant indicating that feedback with goal setting may begin to maximize the effectiveness of a behavioral safety program in the workplace. The study will be useful in allocating resources to improve safety in the workplace.

A review of the ergonomics of work in the US military chemical protective clothing

One responsibility of the reliability engineer is to monitor failure trends for fielded units to confirm that pre-production life testing results remain valid. This research suggests an approach that is computationally simple and can be used with a small number of failures per observation period. The approach is based on converting failure time data from fielded units to normal distribution data, using simple logarithmic or power transformations. Appropriate normalizing transformations for the classic life distributions (exponential, lognormal, and Weibull) are identified from the literature. Samples of size 500 field failure times are generated for seven different lifetime distributions (normal, lognormal, exponential, and four Weibulls of various shapes). Various control charts are then tested under three sampling schemes (individual, fixed, and random) and three system reliability degradations (large step, small step, and linear decrease in mean time between failures (MTBF)). The results of these tests are converted to performance measures of time to first out-of-control signal and persistence of signal after out-of-control status begins. Three of the well-known Western Electric sensitizing rules are used to recognize the assignable cause signals. Based on this testing, the ―X-chart with fixed sample size is the best overall for field failure monitoring, although the individual chart was better for the transformed exponential and another highly-skewed Weibull. As expected, the linear decrease in MTBF is the most difficult change for any of the charts to detect. Copyright

Empirical prediction of physiological response to prolonged work in encapsulating protective clothing.

Abstract The traditional approach to safety in the workplace has been based on Heinrichs analysis of insurance data which he interpreted to conclude that most accidents are caused by “unsafe acts”. To reduce the number of ‘unsafe acts”, safety training, employee selection and supervision were applied as remedial steps. However, after many years of applying this approach, as well as incorporating workplace inspection through the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct), no substantial improvements have occurred in workplace safety. Thus the classical approaches to workplace safety have plateaued. Several field experiments have found that a behavioral modification approach to safety is an effective means to move from the existing plateau. The essential ingredient in the improved approach is motivation. An experiment conducted in a large industrial setting demonstrated the effectiveness of a well-designed behavioral safety program. A follow-up study at the same facility after two years indicated that the program did not produce a lasting effect. However, a few recent studies with a focus on the outcome of behavior rather than on the behavior itself have shown a more lasting effect on the safety behavior of workers.

A framework for training workers in contemporary manufacturing environments

This study tested a new ice cooling system that permits ice cooling system recharge without personal protective clothing removal. Six male volunteers (22.1±1.2 years) underwent tests with the new ice cooling system (COOL) and without (NOCL) at a moderate work rate (450 W) in three environments of 28, 23, and 18±1°C wet bulb globe temperature. Walks at 28°C were carried out first with NOCL and COOL counterbalanced, then test order and environment were counterbalanced. At 28°C, mean work time in COOL significantly increased by 37.5 min (188%) over NOCL (p<0.05). At 23°C mean work time in COOL was significantly increased by 44.3 min (171%) compared with NOCL (p<0.05). Mean work times at 18°C were not significantly different, although all subjects completed the 120 minutes of work in COOL compared with a mean work time of 109±20 min for NOCL. During rest, mean reductions in rectal temperature were significantly greater in COOL than NOCL (p<0.05) at 28 and 23°C. Mean heart rate calculated for the same point in...

A knowledge-based approach to maintenance project planning

Abstract Encapsulating protective clothing (PC) is often employed in industry; however, its use often limits worker productivity. Because there are many potential variables including PC type, work rate and work task, environment, workers physical status, and workers fitness, synthesis of the research literature is difficult. This paper reviews some of the key issues in PC use, and attempts to extend the observations from a military PC to industrial PC types. Work tolerance was found to be decreased in all PC work even in cool (18°C WBGT) environments. Liquid, air and ice cooling were found to provide beneficial effects in industrial type set rags. Prediction of work tolerance in PC has been attempted on both a global and individual basis with some success. Individualized prediction may permit more liberal tolerance limits, and may improve voluntary compliance with safety standards. Cognitive performance in PC was found to decrease in certain situations. Considerable additional basic research on increasing worker productivity and safety in PC is needed.

Application of total quality management techniques to safety analysis in software product development

Work in moderate or hotter environments while wearing encapsulating protective clothing (PC) results in heat storage and substantial diminution of work productivity, as well as being a potential health risk. An ability to predict the responses of workers using PC would be very useful. Predictions were made of work times at 21 degrees C of 15 subjects performing prolonged hard work (450 W gross) while wearing PC, based upon prior measures of short-duration bench stepping in PC and heart rate responses. A simple model was derived that shows good potential for predicting work time in moderate temperatures in PC; Total Time = 7.2 (bench step duration) - 34 (bench comfort) + 4 (height); R2 = 0.83, C.V. = 13. Unexpectedly, models that incorporated recovery heart rate as a variable were not as effective. With further refinement, the prediction approach tested in this study would be immediately useful for managing military and civilian personnel working in PC. Additionally, it could be utilized at minimal cost during routine training.