Abstract
Lean manufacturing has created an environment where industrial jobs are continually changing and becoming more complex in nature. In current practice, each of these job changes would require a new ergonomic analysis. This research proposes that the analysis of individual tasks within a job can be added to understand the overall exposure of the job. Using this relationship, one can obtain an understanding of job exposure without a complete reanalysis. In this study, nine jobs were analyzed using observational techniques in which generic ergonomic stresses were rated on a scale from 0 to 10 at both a task and job level. When the task observations were added together and compared to the entire job, the ratings of radial/ulnar deviation differed by an average of 1.4 points on a 10-point scale. Peak force differed by an average of 1.1 points. The other ratings were all within 1 point on a 10-point scale, which is considered within consensus as defined by the scales. These support the proposed method.
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