Novel Ergonomic Triad Model to Calculate a Sustainable Work Index for the Manufacturing Industry

Mildrend Montoya-Reyes, Margarita Gil-Samaniego-Ramos, Alvaro González-Angeles, Ismael Mendoza-Muñoz and Carlos Raul Navarro-González
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Mildrend Montoya-Reyes: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja, Mexicali 21100, BC, Mexico
Margarita Gil-Samaniego-Ramos: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja, Mexicali 21100, BC, Mexico
Alvaro González-Angeles: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja, Mexicali 21100, BC, Mexico
Ismael Mendoza-Muñoz: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja, Mexicali 21100, BC, Mexico
Carlos Raul Navarro-González: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja, Mexicali 21100, BC, Mexico

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: The human factor is becoming increasingly relevant for its role in industrial development; therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the machine–man–environment system in an integrated and not isolated way, as is commonly done, for evaluating the sustainability performance of manufacturing practices. For this reason, in this paper, an ergonomic triad model is proposed for calculating a novel Sustainable Work Index, (SWI), made up of the factors: human work, workstation design, organizational environment and sustainable environmental conditions. The methodology consists of defining the productive time, interviewing the workers, taking anthropometric measurements, assessing the environmental conditions, obtaining the indicators for each factor, calculating the index and interpreting the results to define improvement actions. The model was applied to a manufacturing industry obtaining a regular status with an index of 63.6%. Improvement actions were implemented, and it was possible to increase the index to 73.9%, which represents a good commitment of the company towards occupational health. The development of the new triad model to calculate the SWI will allow industries to visualize indicators of the interaction of the ergonomic triad, identify its current condition and propose actions to physically, organizationally and environmentally improve human well-being and system performance.

Keywords: man–machine–environment system; sustainable work; ergonomic evaluation; ergonomics and human factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:20:p:8316-:d:425566

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