Jurnal Makro Ergonomi

7/22/2019 Jurnal Makro Ergonomi

1/8

i .~ : : '

E L S E V I E R International Journal o f Industrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 389-396

Intprn~l;ona[lou~r ~Jc2I n d u s t r i a lE r g o n o m i c s

p a r t i c i p a t o r y e r g o n o m i c s a p p r o a c h t o r e d u c e m e n t a la n d p h y s i c a l w o r k l o a d

P. V i n k , M . Pee ter s , R . W . M . G r i i n d em a n n , P . G . W. S m u l d ers , M . A.J . K o m p i er ,J . D ulTN O Preven t ion and Heal th , Div i s ion Wo rk ing Env ir onm ent and Heal th , P .O. Box 2215, 2301 CE Le iden , The Ne ther lands

A b s t r a c tA s t e p - b y - s t e p a p p r o a c h t o b e t t e r w o r k , a i m e d a t r e d u c i n g m e n t a l a n d p h y s i c al w o r k l o a d i n o ff i c e w o r k , i s

e v a l u a t e d . T h i s a p p r o a c h i s b a s e d o n a s t r o n g c o m m i t m e n t o f th e m a n a g e m e n t i n t h e e n t e r p r i s e , a n d o n a s m u c hd i r e c t w o r k e r p a r t i c i p a t i o n a s p o s s i b l e . A f t e r e v e r y s t e p t h e w o r k e r s p r o p o s e d h o w t o c o n t i n u e a n d a s t e e r i n g g r o u pl e d b y t h e m a n a g e m e n t d e c i d e d o n t h i s p r o p o s a l . T h e w o r k e r s i d e n t i f ie d t h e p r o b l e m s , d e v e l o p e d i d e a s f o ri m p r o v e m e n t , t e s t e d i m p r o v e m e n t s a n d c h o s e t h e m ,

A s a r e s u lt , m o s t w o r k p l a c e s w e r e a d j u s t e d a n d m o r e t h a n h a l f o f th e s u b j e c t s t o o k o r g a n i z a t i o n a l m e a s u r e s . T h ea p p r o a c h w a s c o n s i d e r e d w o r t h w h i l e , d e s p i t e t h e f a c t t h a t i t i s t i m e c o n s u m i n g b e c a u s e i t t o o k a b o u t o n e y e a r t oa r r iv e a t b e t t e r w o r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s .R e l e v a n c e t o i n d u s t r y

R e d u c t i o n o f p h y s ic a l a n d m e n t a l w o r k l o a d i s o f t e n p u r s u e d i n i n d u s tr y . I n t h is p a p e r a n a p p r o a c h i s d e s c r i b e dw h i c h h a s b e e n s u c c e s s fu l in i m p l e m e n t i n g i m p r o v e m e n t s a i m e d a t r e d u c t i o n o f m e n t a l a n d p h y s i c a l w o r k l o a d .K e y w o r d s : P a r t i c i p a t o r y e r g o n o m i c s ; W o r k e r s p a r t i c i p a t i o n ; S t a t i c w o r k ; m e n t a l w o r k l o a d ; M u s c u l o s k e l e t a l D i s c o m -f o r t; I m p l e m e n t a t i o n

I I n t r o d u c t i o nI n t r o d u c i n g e r g o n o m i c i m p r o v e m e n t s i n a

c o m p a n y c a n b e v e r y d i ff ic u lt . S o m e t i m e s t h e

* Corresponding author

w o r k e r s f i n d t h e s e h a r d t o a c c e p t , s o m e t i m e st h e y a r e t o o c o s t l y , o r s o m e t i m e s w o r k e r s m a yr e f u s e t o u s e t h e n e w w o r k i n g m e t h o d s . I t isi m p o r t a n t t o f i n d t h e m o s t a p p r o p r i a t e i m p r o v e -m e n t ( s ) a i m e d a t r e d u c t i o n o f th e m a j o r p r o b -l em s . T o f i n d th e m o s t a p p r o p r i a t e i m p r o v e m e n t sa n d i n c r e a s e t h e c h a n c e o f s u c c e ss f u l i m p l e m e n -

0169-8141/95/$09.50 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reservedS S D I 0 1 6 9 - 8 1 4 1 ( 9 4 ) 0 0 0 8 5 - 9


2/8

39 P. P ink e t al . / In terna t iona l Journa l o f lndus t r ia l Ergonomics 15 1995) 389- 39 6tation, in this study a stepwise and participatoryapproach is used. This approach is based on astrong commitment of the management in theenterprise and on as much direct worker partici-pation as possible. Based on several studies (Kogi,1985; Vink and Kompier, 1991; Vink and Kon-ingsveld, 1991; Cotton e t al., 1992; Hugentobleret al., 1992; Noro and Imada, 1992; Vink et al.,1992) an ideal participatory ergonomics ap-proach to reduce mental and physical workloadwas developed. The purpose of the present studywas to apply and evaluate this ideal approach.

(4)

5 )

place the workers choose the improvementsthemselves. This is also essential for a suc-cessful implementation;implementation: Since workers have selectedthe improvement themselves, this stage canbe reduced to the facilitation of the realiza-tion by promotion, training and instruction;evaluation: This step should provide informa-tion about the effectiveness of the measuresand indicate if additional measures areneeded.

2 .2 . Sub jec ts2 M e t h o d s

2 .1 . The idea l approachThe ideal approach contained the following

steps:(1) preparation: before starting, commitment and

sometimes organizational facilities (for in-stance a steering committee responsible forthe project) should be created. Besides this,cooperation within the organization and abudget are conditional for an effective changeproject. In this stage the goals of the projectand the general framework should be formu-lated and agreed by all participants. This isessential in order to ensure that at a laterstage decisions which have unfavourable con-sequences for one or more parties will bemore easily accepted by these parties;

(2) analysis of work and health: in the secondstep the actual monitoring takes place. Oftenseveral instruments (such as checklists, ques-tionnaires and observation methods) need tobe administered in order to identify risk fac-tors and risk groups. The results of this stageshould be known and recognized by all in-volved. This is essential because at a laterstage implementation could become a prob-lem if some people were not aware that therewas a problem;

(3) choice of solutions: For the largest risk fac-tors and risk groups, improvements are devel-oped and tested. After a training or afterhaving experienced working in a better work

This study was done at the Department ofSalary Records in one of the Dutch nationalMinistries. This department (45 employees) isresponsible for payment of all workers in theMinistry. The department has to keep all salarydata up to date (like addresses, new appoint-ments, salary raises, general civil servant muta-tions, etc.). These data have to be changed beforethe 17th or 18th of every month to enable correctpayment, which gives the department time pres-sure.

The department was interested in our ap-proach because there were all kinds of com-plaints about the working conditions, especiallyregarding the mental and physical workload. TheMinistry of Internal Affairs paid the consultancycosts of TNO for this project, because it could bean example for other civil servants.

3 R e s u l t s

3 .1 . S tep 1 . Prepara t ionAt this stage preparations were made to sup-port a systematic approach towards improvement.

To stimulate the progress of the project a steer-ing committee was formed, which was responsiblefor the progress and had to decide after everystep how to continue. Members were the head ofthe department (chairman), a representative ofthe health and safety committee, the healthphysician of the Ministry, an ergonomist, a repre-


3/8

P. l/ink et al. / International Journa l of Industrial Ergonom ics 15 1995) 389-3 96 391s e n ta t iv e o f p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e m e n t , a r e p r e s e n -t a t iv e o f t h e c o m p a n y u n i o n a n d a r e p r e s e n t a t i v eo f t h e c e n t r a l h e a l t h s e r v ic e s o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t .F u r t h e r m o r e a s m a l l t e a m ( c h a i r m a n , w o r k e r a n de r g o n o m i s t ) w a s f o r m e d t o e n s u r e d a i l y p r o g r e s s .T h e e r g o n o m i s t w a s t h e c o n s u l t a n t a n d a d v i s e dt h e c h a i r m a n o n t h e p r o c e s s a n d p r e p a r e d t h er e s e a r c h ( q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a n d t e s t s ) . A t t h i s s t a g ea ll w o r k e r s o f th e d e p a r t m e n t w e r e a ls o i n f o rm e da b o u t t h e p r o j e c t d u r i n g a c e n t r a l m e e t i n g . T h ea i m o f t h e p r o j e c t ( b e t t e r w o r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s ) ,s t r a t e g y ( s t e p - b y - s t e p a p p r o a c h ) , m e m b e r s o f as t e e r i n g c o m m i t t e e a n d p o s s i b l e o u t c o m e s w e r ep r e s e n t e d ( p a r t l y b y t h e e r g o n o m i s t ) a n d d i s-c u s s e d w i t h t h e d e p a r t m e n t . T h i s s e e m e d l o g i c a lt o t h e m a n d t h e i n d i c a t e d t i m e c o n s u m p t i o n w a sn o p r o b l e m . H o w e v e r , t h e y w e r e c o n c e r n e d a b o u tp r i v a c y a s p e c t s. T h e r e f o r e i t w a s d e c i d e d t o m a k eq u e s t i o n n a i r e s a n o n y m o u s a n d c o n t in u e t h e p ro -j e c t .3 .2 . S t e p 2 . A n a l y s i s o f w o r k a n d h e a l t h

B a s e d o n t h e s t u d y o f a v a i l a b l e d a t a ( e . g . p r o -d u c t i o n r a t e s , s o c i a l r e p o r t s , y e a r r e p o r t s , s i c kl e a v e p e r c e n t a g e s a n d d i a g n o s e s ) a n d t h e i n t e r -v i e w s w i t h k e y p e r s o n s ( e .g . m a n a g e m e n t , w o r k -e r s a n d m i d d l e m a n a g e m e n t ) a f i r s t s e l e c t i o n o fa r e a s t o b e s t u d i e d w a s m a d e : m e n t a l a n d p h y s i -c a l w o r k l o a d .

A q u e s t i o n n a i r e L o q u e s t ( H i l d e b r a n d t , 1 99 2)i n c l u d i n g t h e D u t c h w o r k a n d h e a l t h q u e s t i o n -n a i r e ( S m u l d e r s e t a l. , 1 99 2 ) w a s c o m p l e t e d b y a ll4 5 w o r k e r s o f th e d e p a r t m e n t t o fi n d r is k g r o u p sa n d r i s k f a c t o r s . T h e r e s u l t s s h o w e d t h a t m o s t o ft h e t i m e w as c o n s u m e d b y V D U - w o r k ( d a t a e n -t ry , d a t a c o n t r o l a n d o t h e r V D U - w o r k , l i ke w o r dp r o c e s s i n g , d a t a s e a r c h i n g a n d r e a d i n g d o c u -m e n t s ( F i g . 1 ) ) . E s p e c i a l l y t h e m e n t a l w o r k l o a da n d w o r k p a c e w e r e h i g h i n c o m p a r i s o n w i t ha n o t h e r D u t c h g r o u p o f p r o d u c t i o n w o r k e r s ( T a -b l e 1 ) . I n t h e o p e n q u e s t i o n m o s t s u b j e c t s r e -p o r t e d a p e a k l o a d j u s t b e f o r e t h e s a l a r y m u t a -t io n d e a d l i n e . T h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e a l so s h o w e d t h a t3 9 o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n ( n = 4 5 ) h a d n e c k c o m -p l a i n ts a n d 3 1 h a d s h o u l d e r c o m p l a i n t s d u r i n gt h e l a st 1 2 m o n t h s . C o m p a r e d t o t w o o t h e r D u t c ho c c u p a t i o n s t h i s w a s r e l a t i v e l y h i g h ( F i g . 2 ) .

sks

d a ta e n t r ydata contro l

o th e r V D U w o r kfilin

r e a d i ncopying assortin

coordinetinbeing instructe

1 2 3 4 5 6 7ercentage

Fig. 1. Percentage o f the worke rs reporting that the task wasdone often or alm ost always.

T h e r e s u l t s w e r e d i s c u s s e d w i t h t h e w o r k e r sd u r i n g t h e n o r m a l d i s c u ss i o n s o n w o r k p r o g r e s s .A t t h e s e d i s c u s s i o n s t h e w o r k e r s s t r e s s e d t h a ti m p r o v e m e n t o f t h e w o r k p l a c e s h o u l d b e f o c u s e do n i n o r d e r t o r e d u c e n e c k c o m p l a i n t s , b e c a u s et h a t b o t h e r e d t h e m m o s t d u r i ng w o r k . F u r t h e r -m o r e , t h e w o r k e r s r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e y w a n t e d ab e t t e r p l a n n i n g o f a ct iv i ti e s t o r e d u c e t h e p e a k i nm e n t a l w o r k l o a d j u st b e f o r e t h e d e a d l i n e . T h es u b j e c t s r e p o r t e d a l s o t h a t t h i s p e r c e i v e d w o r ks t r e s s a f f e c t e d t h e n e c k c o m p l a i n t s , w h i c h i s i na c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e l i t e r a t u r e ( B o n g e r s e t a l . ,1993).

A n u m b e r o f a d d i ti o n a l i d e a s to r e d u c e t h ew o r k l o a d w e r e a l so m e n t i o n e d d u r in g t h e m e e t -

Table 1Some items of the Dutch w ork and health questionnaire thatshow the im portance of improv ing men tal workload in thestudy population, bec ause they w ere significantly differentfrom a D utch reference group of production workers (t-test, p< 0.5)Study Referencepopulat ion group(n = 45) (n = 4,000)

Mentally strenuous work 71 + 54Regular time pressure 62 + 56Often fatiguing 20 - 31Problem s with work 29 + 18pace or pressureShould take it more easy 48 + 34


4/8

392 P. P in k e t a l . / In tern a t iona l Journa l o f lndus t r ia l Ergon omics 15 1995) 389- 39 66

5 0

4 0

3 0

20

10

0 schoulders elbows wrist hands neck upper back lower back study population [] maintenance workers agricultural workers

F i g . 2 . P e r c e n t a g e o f t h e w o r k e r s r e p o r t i n g h a v i n g h a d c o m -p l a i n t s d u r i n g t h e l a s t 1 2 m o n t h s i n t h e s t u d y p o p u l a t i o n a n di n t w o r e f e r e n c e g r o u p s D u t c h m a i n t e n a n c e w o r k e r s an dD u t c h a g r i c u l t u r a l w o r k e r s ) .

ings on work progress by the workers and middlemanagement.

Based on these data the steering committee

decided to improve the workplace in order toreduce neck problems and to use the WEBA-analysis to find ways of improvement for themental Workload. Fur thermore they decided totest the additional ideas mentioned in the discus-sions.3 3 S t e p 3 Ch o ic e o f so lu t i o n s

Based on general guidelines a workplace ad-justment was recommended that focused on neckload reduction Table 2). This was tested by theworkers and after this they chose their own work-place. Also, an application of the so-called WEBAWelzijn Bij de Arbeid, i.e. short for WEll-Beingat work) was recommended with which the jobcontents could be improved WEBA-ProjectTeam, 1990; Pot et al., 1993). In a test meeting anew way of organising the work was tested by allparticipants and based on this test a new way ofwork was proposed by the workers during meet-ings in which the work progress was discussed.The additional ideas were also tested.

T a b l e 2T h e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s o f t h e e r g o n o m i s t t o a dj u s t t h e w o r k p la c ea ) A n o p t i m a l s e a t h e i g h t

T h e o p t i m a l s e a t h e i g h t w a s a d v i se d b y a p r o c e d u r e d e s c r i b e d e a r l i e r by V e r b e e k 1 99 1) .U s i n g a r u l e r , t h e d i s t a n c e f r o m t h e t o p o f t h e d e s k t o t h e s o l e o f t h e s h o e w a s m e a s u r e d d u r i n g s i t t i n g o n t h e d e s k w i t h s h o e so n a n d f u ll y c l o t h e d t h e p o p l i t e a l h e i g h t ; D a i n o f f a n d D a i n o f f , 1 9 87 ). T h e s e a t h e i g h t w a s a d j u s t e d t o t h i s p o p l i t e a l h e i g h tw h i l e t h e s u b j e c t s a t o n t h e c h a i r.

b ) A n o p t i m a l d e s k h e i g h tW h i l e s e a t e d o n t h e d e s k t h e d i s t a nc e w a s m e a s u r e d f r o m u n d e r n e a t h t h e m a x i m a l ly f le x e d el b o w t o t h e t o p o f t h e d e s k ,t h i s b e i n g t h e e l b o w h e i g h t . T h e t a b l e h e i g h t w a s a d j u s t e d t o t h e s u m o f t h e p o p l i t e a l h e i g h t a n d t h e e l b o w h e i g h tV e r b e e k , 1 9 9 1 ) .c ) U s i n g a d o c u m e n t h o l d e r

A d o c u m e n t h o l d e r w a s p l a c e d a s c l o s e to t h e s c r e e n a s p o s s i b l e a t t h e s a m e h e i g h t a s t h e v ie w p o i n t o n t h e s c r e e n .d ) U s i n g a B a c k - U p t w o h o u r s a d a y V i n k a n d D o u w e s , 1 9 9 2 )

T h e B a c k - U p i s a p o r t a b l e b a c k s u p p o r t , c o n s i s t in g o f a b a c k p a d a r o u n d t h e l o w e r p a r t o f t h e b a c k w h i c h i s c o n n e c t e dt o t w o s t r a p s a r o u n d t h e k n e e s . T h e B a c k - U p e x e r t s a f o r c e o n t h e l o w e r b a c k a n d t h e k n e e s a n d h a s a p o s i ti v e i n f l u e n c eo n t h e u p p e r b a c k a n d n e c k p o s i t i o n a n d p e r c e i v e d c o m f o r t .e ) M i d d l e o f t h e s c r e e n 1 0 0 m m b e l o w e y e - h e i g h t D e l l e m a n a n d B e r n d s e n , 1 99 2)f ) I f t h e m a i n t a s k w a s V D U - w o r k t h i s w a s t h e c a s e f o r t h e 1 2 s u b j e c t s in v o l ve d ) : s c r e e n i n f r o n t o f t h e w o r k e r ; i f th e m a i n

t a s k w a s r e a d i n g t h i s w a s t h e c a s e f o r t w o a d d i t i o n a l s u b j e c t s , w h o a r e n o t d e s c r i b e d f u r t h e r i n t h i s p a p e r ) : d o c u m e n t i n f r o n to f t h e w o r k e r o n a 1 0 - d e g r e e s i n c l i n e d d e s k D e W a l l e t a l ., 1 99 1) .g ) k e y - b o a r d i n f r o n t o f t h e s u b j e c t i n s u c h a p o s i t i o n t h a t t h e e l b o w a n g l e w a s 9 0 d e g r e e s a n d t h e w r i s t a p p r o x i m a t e l y n e u t r a l .

I m p r o v e m e n t s c ) , d ) e ) a n d f ) w e r e c h o s e n b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e a f a v o u r a b l e e f f e c t o n t h e n e c k , w h i c h w a s p e r c e i v e da s t h e l a r g e s t p r o b l e m .


5/8

P. l/ink et al. / International Journal of lndustr ial Ergonomics 15 1995) 389-39 6 3 9 33 .4 . Th e wo rk p la c e e x p e r ime n t

Twelve subjects were selected out of the totaldepa rtment n = 45), at least one from each roomof the department. They participated in the ex-periment which was performed at the actualworkplace. The subjects were recorded duringnormal VDU-work, which included 30 minutescontinuously sitting in a static posture in thetraditional workplace, in the recommended work-place and in a self-chosen workplace adjustment.

Lateral photographs were used to study theinfluence of the work place adjustments on theneck and back position with respect to the verti-cal. Furthermore the local musculoskeletal dis-comfort was recorded in the three conditionsold, recomme nded and self-chosen) by a me thod

described in detail elsewhere Van der Grinten,1992).

After working in the r ecommend ed workplace,the subjects were asked to choose their own situ-ation.

The head position in the recommended work-place differed significantly from the old n = 12;5.05 degrees; s d = 7.64; t = 2.29; p = 0.021). Itwas closer to the upright position in the recom-mended workplace. The total musculoskeletaldiscomfort and the local musculoskeletal discom-fort in the neck were significantly decreased inthe recommen ded situation.

Only 6 subjects had identical VDU-work foranother half an hour in that month and could betested also in the self-chosen situation. Despitethe small number of subjects, the total muscu-loskeletal discomfort was significantly differentbetween the old and both other situations Fig.3). The old situation resulted in more discomfort.The same tendency was found in the head pos-ture; however, this was not significant. The rec-ommended and self-chosen situation did not dif-fer significantly.3 .5 . Th e W E B A a n a ly s i s

For two jobs which are performed often andhave the largest problems a WEBA-analysis wasapplied. This method indicates factors in the jobthat could reinforce stress-risks and hamper. Fig.

o l d r e c o m m e n d e d c h o s e nF i g . 3 . T h e s u m o f lo c a l m u s c u l o s k e l e t a l d i s c o m f o r t i n t h e o l d ,r e c o m m e n d e d a n d s e l f - c h o s e n w o r k p l a c e o n a s c a le r a n g i n gf r o m n o d i s c o m f o r t = 0 ) t o e x t r e m e d i s c o m f o r t = 1 0 ) a v e r -a g e d o v e r 6 w o r k e r s .

4 shows the WEBA job assessment profile of thework that is performed most in the department.Especially the information dissemination ap-peared to be a problem. There was not enoughinformation to plan the activities thoroughly dur-ing a month. Based on this finding a new way ofplanning was developed, which was tried out in atest meeting. In this test meeting a section chieftogether with his staff developed a plan for a

insuffic ient restricted suffic ientc o mp le te n e s s

organizational tasks

non repetit ive tasks

cognitive complexity

a u to n o my

social contacts

information

F i g . 4 . T h e W E B A j o b a s s e s s m e n t p ro f i l e o f t h e j o b t h a t ISd o n e m o s t a t t h e d e p a r t m e n t . S e v e n e l e m e n t s s h o u l d b es u f f i c i e n t i n a j o b c o m p l e t e n e s s , o r g a n i z a t i o n a l t a s k s , e t c . ) t oe n s u r e w e l l - be i n g o f t h e w o r k e r s.


6/8

394 P . ~ n k e t al . / I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f I n d u s t r ia l E r g o n o m i c s 1 5 1 9 95 ) 3 8 9 - 3 9 6month. The test showed that the new planningmethod included spreading the activities over amonth and deciding each month what number ofmutations could be processed maximally with theavailable capacity.3 . 6 . T e s t in g o f t h e w o r k e r s i d e a s

Next to this a number of ideas to decrease themental workload were tested:

the introduction of a telephon e day was tested.One worker of the section answered allphone-calls on one day so that the other work-ers could continue their work;a new way to have contact with clients wastested. It was agreed with one of the datasuppliers to send the data in time and in anoptimal format and with one department tominimize the number of unnecessary tele-phone questions from clients;an instruction was tested. In one section aworker made instructions for specific muta-tions and circulated them among other workersof the section. With the help of this instructionthe ot her workers could mutate also other dataand could therefore vary their work. An addi-tional advantage was that the section supervi-sor could better plan the work during absence.The results of the workplace experiment, theanalysis and other tests were fed back during the

work progress meetings. During such a meetingthe ergonomist proposed:- to let all workers choose their work place

adaptations in discussion with the ergonomist,- to improve the met hod to plan activities over a

month, andto implement the other interventions aimed atreducing the mental workload.

The steering group agreed with this proposal.3 . 7 . S t e p 4 . I m p l e m e n t a t i o n

The ergonomist discussed the necessary acces-sories (documents holders, inclined desks, screenholders, etc) with every worker separately. Basedon these discussions 45 adjustable chairs andtables were ordered and a list of accessories to beordered was made. The ordering of the acces-

sories took a long time, because the central pur-chasers were not convinced of the need.

After the accessories had been delivered, theergonomists together with the 'trained employee'adjusted every workplace. The brochure 'how toadjust my workplace' was handed out. The newway of planning the activities was optimized fur-ther and implemented and the additional ideaswere also implemented.3 .8 . S t ep 5 . E ca l u a t i o n

The working conditions were observed and aquestionnaire was used to evaluate whether im-provements were actually implemented (productevaluation). Furthermore, the process of imple-mentation (the 5 above-mentioned steps) wasevaluated. Problems during the process and re-suits of the different steps were evaluated andadaptations were made.

Twenty-nine subjects completed the question-naire on evaluation (4 subjects did not work inthe department any more, 5 were ill, 3 were free,4 were not able to fill in the questionnaire due towork). 97 of this group had changed their work.Table height, chair height and VDU-screen posi-tion were improved most often (Table 3). Mostworkers who had back- and neck complaints did

Table 3Percentage of workers having adjusted the work (n = 29) andpercen tage of workers reporting a positive effect of the adjust-ment on back and neck complaints (n = 18)

Workers with Workersadjustment reporting

effectChair height adjustment 73Table height adjustment 83VDU-screen position 69adjustmentKeyboard position adjustment 34Addition of document holder 14Addition of an inclined desk 31Agreements with other 48

departmentsAddition of telephone days 24A new planning of activities 59More varying work tasks 48

67675011171128112828


7/8

P. V ink e t al . / In terna t iona l Journa l o f lndus t r ia l Ergonomics 15 1995) 389- 39 6 39540

30

20

10

n e c k u p p e r b a c k l o w e r b a c k s h o u l d e r[ ] November 1991 [ ] Oc tober 1992

F i g . 5 . P e r c e n t a g e o f w o r k e r s r e p o r t i n g c o m p l a i n t s d u r i n g t h el a s t 1 2 m o n t h s b e f o r e N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 1) a n d a f t e r t h e p r o j e c tOc tober 1992) .

c u l o s k e l e t a l c o m p l a i n t s w a s r e d u c e d ( F i g . 5 ) .H o w e v e r , t h e s i c k l e a v e p e r c e n t a g e w a s n o t i n f lu -e n c e d .

T h e s e r e s u l t s w e r e a l s o f e d b a c k d u r i n g n o r -m a l m e e t i n g s a n d t h e w o r k e r s c o n s i d e r e d t h ep r o j e c t s u c c e ss f u l. T h e y i n t e n d e d t o c o n t i n u e i m -p r o v e m e n t e s p e c i a l l y w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e o r g a n i -z a t i o n a l m e a s u r e s .

T h e s t e e r i n g g r o u p d e c i d e d t o s t o p t h e i r a c t iv i -t i e s a s i t w o u l d g o o n a t a l o w e r l e v e l . T h ep e r s o n n e l m a n a g e m e n t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s t a r t e ds i m i l a r i n i t i a t i v e s i n o t h e r d e p a r t m e n t s .

4 D i s c u s s i o n

t h i n k t h a t t h e s e t a b l e , c h a i r a n d V D U - s c r e e na d j u s t m e n t s r e d u c e d t h e c o m p l a i n t s ( T a b l e 3 ) .

A b o u t h a l f o f th e w o r k e r s p l a n n e d t h e i r w o r ki n a b e t t e r w a y . 8 6 a r e n o w s a t is f ie d a b o u t t h ew a y t h e a c ti v i ti e s a r e p l a n n e d . 1 1 s t il l w a n tm o r e i n f o r m a t i o n s o t h a t t h e y c a n p l a n b e t t e r .1 5 w a n t m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o n th e re s u lt s o f t h ep r e v i o u s m o n t h a n d 2 1 w a n t a p l a n n i n g o v e rm o r e t h a n o n e m o n t h . S o f u r t h e r o p t i m i z a ti o n o ft h e p l a n n i n g i s s ti ll n e e d e d . T h e n u m b e r o f m u s -

d e s k h e i g h t

s c r e e n p o s i t i o n

k e y b o a r d p o s i t i o n

o 2 4 6 8 1

[ m 12 in experiment ] 33 othersF i g . 6 . D i f f e r e n c e i n w o r k p l a c e a d j u s t m e n t b e t w e e n t h e 1 2w o r k e r s p a r t i c i p a t i n g d i r e c t ly i n t h e l o c a l m u s c u l o s k e l e t a ld i s c o m f o r t e x p e r im e n t a n d t h e 3 3 o t h e r w o r k e r s .

T h e s t e p w i s e a p p r o a c h w i t h s t r o n g e n t e r p r i s ep a r t i c i p a t i o n r e s u l t e d i n v a r i o u s c h a n g e s . T h ep e r c e n t a g e o f i m p r o v e m e n t s i s c o n s i d e r e d h i g h ,a s O n g e t a l . ( 1 9 8 8) a n d G r a n d j e a n ( 1 9 88 ) s h o w e dt h a t w o r k e r s d o n o t a d a p t t h e f u r n i t u r e t h e m -s e l v e s w h e n t h e y h a v e a d j u s t a b l e s e a t s a n d d e s k s .I f o n l y a n i n s t r u c t i o n i s a d d e d , t h e u s e o f a d j u s t -m e n t is a ls o v e r y m e a g r e ( V e r b e e k , 1 99 1 ).

T h e a p p r o a c h w a s c o n s i d e r e d s u c c e s s f u l b y a l lp a r t i c ip a n t s . T h e s t e e r i n g g r o u p e x p e r i e n c e d t h es t e p - b y - s t e p a p p r o a c h a s w o r t h w h i l e , b e c a u s e i ts t r u c t u r e d t h e p r o c e s s a n d b e c a u s e i t m a k e s a l lp a r t i c i p a n t s c o n s c i o u s o f w h y i m p r o v e m e n t s a r en e e d e d . T h e w o r k e r s w e r e s a ti sf ie d t o h a v e m u c hi n f l u e n c e o n t h e c o n t e n t o f t h e p r o j e c t . W i t h o u tw o r k e r p a r t i c i p a t i o n t h e a d d i t i o n a l i d e a s w o u l dn o t h a v e b e e n i n v e n t e d . P r o b a b l y , w i t h m o r ed i r e c t p a r t i c i p a t i o n e v e n m o r e w o r k p l a c e s c o u l db e i m p r o v e d . A s i s s h o w n i n F i g . 6 , t h e w o r k e r sw h o p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e t e s t d i d c h a n g e t h e i rw o r k p l a c e m o r e d r a s t i c a ll y t h a n t h e o t h e r w o r k -e r s .

A d r a w b a c k o f t h e a p p r o a c h i s t h a t i t is v e r yt i m e c o n s u m i n g . I t t o o k a b o u t a y e a r t o i m p l e -m e n t t h e i m p r o v e m e n t s . A n o t h e r p r o b l e m i n t h i sp r o j e c t w a s t h a t t h e t i m e f o r d e l iv e r y o f f u r n i t u r ea n d a c c e s s o r i e s w a s l o n g . T h i s c o u l d p r o b a b l y b ei m p r o v e d b y l e t t i n g t h e c e n t r a l p u r c h a s e r s p a r t i c -i p a t e i n t h e s t e e r i n g g r o u p . T h e r e f o r e i t i s e s s e n -t ia l to p a y a t t e n t i o n t o t h e s e l e c t i o n o f m e m b e r so f th e s t e e r i n g g r o u p .


8/8

396 P. l / ink e t a l . / In terna t iona l Journa l o f Indus t r ia l Ergonom ics 15 1995) 389-3 96

5 C o n c l u s i o n

The ideal approach is effective in implement-ing improvements aimed at reduction of physicaland mental workload. It is important to haveworkers identify the problems and develop ideasfor improvement in collaboration with managers.As a result of discussions with all workers, achoice was made to focus on reducing neck com-plaints and reducing the mental workload. Soevery worker was aware of these goals and thoughtabout ideas for improvement. Therefore imple-mentat ion of the improvements could be realised.

However, the approach is time consuming forthe consultants, management and workers and itrequires thorough planning and thinking, for in-stance about the selection of members of thesteering group.

R e f e r e n c e s

B o n g e r s , P .M . , W i n t e r , C .R . d e , K o m p i e r , M .A . J . a n d H i l d e -b r a n d t , V .H . , 1 9 9 3 . P s y c h o s o c i a l f a c t o r s a t w o r k a n d m u s -c u l o s k e l e t a l d i s e a s e : A r e v i e w o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e . S c a n d . J .o f W o r k a n d H e a l t h .

D e l l e m a n , N .D . a n d B e r n d s e n , M .B . , 1 9 9 2 . C o m p u t e r a i d e dp o s t u r a l a n a l y s i s o n o p t i m u m w o r k s t a t i o n a d j u s t m e n t f o rV D U o p e r a t i o n s . I n : M . M a t t i l a a n d W . K a r w o w s k i ( E d s . ) ,C A E S 9 2 . E l s e v i e r , A m s t e r d a m , p p . 3 4 5 - 3 5 2 .

C o t t o n , J .L . , V o l l r a t h , D .A . , F r o g g a t t , K .L . , L e n g n i c k - H a l l ,M .L . a n d J e n n i n g s , K .R . , 1 9 8 8. E m p l o y e e p a r t i c i p a t i o n :D i v e r s e f o r m s a n d d i f f e r e n t o u t c o m e s . A c a d e m y o f M a n -a g e m e n t R e v i e w , 1 3 ( 1 ) : 8 - 2 2 .

D a i n o f f , M . J . a n d D a i n o f f , M ,H . , 1 9 8 7. A M a n a g e r ' s G u i d e t oE r g o n o m i c s i n t h e E l e c t r o n i c O f f i c e . J . W i l e y a n d S o n s ,C h i c h e s t e r .

G r a n d j e a n , E . , H u n t i n g , W . a n d P i d e r m a n , M . , 1 98 3. V D Tw o r k s t a t i o n d e s i g n : P r e f e r r e d s e t t i n g s a n d t h e i r e f f e c t s .H u m a n F a c t o r s , 2 5 : 1 6 1 - 1 7 5 .

G r i n t e n , M .P . v a n d e r , 1 9 9 1 . T e s t - r e t e s t r e l i a b il i t y o f a p r a c t i -c a l m e t h o d f o r m e a s u r i n g b o d y p a r t d i s c o m f o r t . I n : Y .Q u ~ i n n e c a n d F . D a n i e l l o u ( E d s . ) , D e s i g n i n g f o r E v e r y -o n e . P r o c e e d i n g s o f t h e E l e v e n t h C o n g r e s s o f t h e I n t e r n a -t i o n a l E r g o n o m i c s A s s o c i a t i o n . T a y l o r F r a n c i s , L o n d o n ,p p . 5 4 - 5 7 .

H i l d e b r a n d t , V .H . , 1 9 9 2 . D e v e l o p m e n t o f a s o f t w a r e p a c k a g eq u e s t i o n n a i r e o n m u s c u l o s k e l e t a l l o a d a n d h e a l t h c o m -p l a i n t s . I n : M . H a g b e r g a n d ,~ . K i l b o m ( E d s . ) , I n t e r n a -t i o n a l S c i e n t i f i c C o n f e r e n c e o n P r e v e n t i o n o f W o r k - R e -l a t e d M u s c u l o s k e l e t a l D i s o r d e r s P R E M U S , S w e d e n , M a y1 2 - 1 4 , B o o k o f a b s t r a c t s . A r b e t e o c h h a l s a , S o l n a , p p .1 2 3 - 1 2 7 .

H u g e n t o b l e r , M .K ., I s r a e l , B .A . a n d S c h u r m a n , S .J ., 1 9 92 . A na c t io n r e s e a r c h a p p r o a c h t o w o r k p la c e h e a l t h : I n t e g r a ti n gm e t h o d s . H e a l t h E d u c a t i o n Q u a r t e r l y , 1 9 ( 1 ) : 5 5 - 7 6 .

K o g i, K . , 1 9 85 . I m p r o v i n g W o r k i n g C o n d i t i o n s i n S m a l l E n -t e r p r i s e s i n D e v e l o p i n g A s i a , I L O , G e n e v a .

N o r o , K . a n d I m a d a , A . , 1 9 92 . P a r t i c i p a t o r y E r g o n o m i c s .T a y l o r F r a n c i s , L o n d o n .

O n g , C .N . , K o h , D . , P h o o n , W .O . a n d L o w , A . , 1 9 88 . A n t h r o -p o m e t r i c s a n d d i s p l a y s t a t i o n p r e f e r e n c e s o f V D U - o p e r -a t o r s . E r g o n o m i c s , 3 1 : 3 3 7 - 3 4 7 .

P o t , F .D . , P e e t e r s , M .M .H . , V a a s , F . a n d D h o n d t , S .D ., 1 9 93 .W o r k o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d l e g i s l a t i o n . S u b m i t t e d t o t h e E u r o -p e a n W o r k a n d O r g a n i z a t i o n a l P s y c h o l o g i s t .

S m u l d e r s , P . G . W . , W i n t e r , C . R . d e a n d G r i i n d e m a n n ,R . W . M . , 1 9 9 2 . T h e D u t c h w o r k a n d h e a l t h q u e s t i o n n a ir e .D e s c r i p t i o n , m e t h o d o l o g i c a l c h a r a c t e r is t i c s , r e f e r e n c e d a t aa n d c o r r e l a t i o n s w i t h a b s e n t e e i s m . T N O I n s t i t u t e o f P r e -v e n t iv e H e a l t h C a r e , L e i d e n .

V e r b e e k , J . , 1 9 9 1 . T h e u s e o f a d j u s t a b l e f u r n i t u r e : E v a l u a t i o no f a n i n s t r u c t i o n p r o g r a m m e f o r o f f i c e w o r k e r s . A p p l i e dErgonomics , 22(3) : 179-184 .

V i n k , P . a n d D o u w e s , M . a n d W o e n s e l , W . v a n , 1 9 9 2 . E v a l u a -t i o n o f a s it t i n g a i d : T h e B a c k - U p . S u b m i t t e d t o A p p l i e dE r g o n o m i c s .

Vink , P . , Lour i j sen , E . , Wor te l , E . and Dul , J . , 1992 . Exper i -e n c e s i n p a r t i c i p a t o r y e r g o n o m i c s : R e s u l t s o f a r o u n dt a b l e s e s s i o n d u r i n g t h e l l t h l E A c o n g r e s s . E r g o n o m i c s ,35(2) : 123-127 .

V i n k , P . a n d K o m p i e r , M .A . J ., 1 9 91 . P a r ti c i p a t i v e e rg o n o m i c s .A n i n t e r v e n t i o n s tr a t e g y f o r r e d u c i n g m u s c u l o s k e l e t a l i n -j u r i e s . I n : Y . Q u ~ i n n e c a n d F . D a n i e l l o u ( E d s . ) , D e s i g n i n gf o r e v e r y o n e : P r o c e e d i n g s o f t h e E l e v e n t h C o n g r e s s o f t h eI n t e r n a t i o n a l E r g o n o m i c s A s s o c i a t i o n . T a y l o r F r a n c i s ,L o n d o n , p p . 1 6 9 9 - 1 6 7 1 .

Vink , P . and K oningsv e ld , E .A .P . , 1990 . Br ick lay ing : A s tep-b y - s t e p a p p r o a c h t o b e t t e r w o r k . E r g o n o m i c s , 3 3( 3) : 3 4 9 -352.

Wal l , M. de , R ie l , M.P .J .M. van , and Sn i jde rs , C .J . , 1991 . Thee f f e c t o n s i t t i n g p o s t u r e o f a d e s k w i t h a 1 0 d e g r e e si n c l i n a t i o n f o r r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g . E r g o n o m i c s , 3 4 ( 5 ) :5 7 5 - 5 8 4 .W E B A - p r o j e c t t e a m , 1 99 0. O u t l i n e s o f t h e W E B A - i n s t r u -m e n t . A c o n d i t i o n a l a p p r o a c h f o r t h e a s s e s s m e n t o f t h eq u a l i t y o f w o r k . T N O I n s t i t u t e o f P r e v e n t i v e H e a l t h C a r e ,D e p a r t m e n t o f W o r k R e s e a r c h , L e i d e n .

Date post:	10-Feb-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	widhani-putri
View:	231 times
Download:	0 times

Jurnal Makro Ergonomi

Documents