Understanding human factors to improve occupational safety in manufacturing: a case study

This paper investigates how the deviation of an industrial process from its optimal productivity, maintenance, and quality levels can lead to safety issues. An integrated approach was developed in 2021 to analyze the correlation between safety deficie- ncies and process inefficiencies. In this study, the proposed approach was adopted, aiming to identify potential connections between the safety issues that emerged from the previous investigations and the process inefficiencies. A case study describes the application of the proposed approach in an Italian company leader in the production of boilers for domestic and industrial heating and cooling systems. The findings show that the joint analysis of the results from the investigations in the proposed approach allows understanding the human factors in the investigated manufacturing process, i.e. the environmental, organizational, and job factors, and the human and individual characteristics which influence behavior at work in a way which can affect occupational safety

Participative ergonomics for the improvement of occupational health and safety in industry: a focus group-based approach

This paper introduces a participative approach to the investigation and promotion of health and safety in industry. The proposed methodology promotes the active participation of the workers in the analysis of consequences and causes of unsafe behaviours that may result in work-related musculoskeletal disorders, accidents, injuries or near-misses. The developed participative technique is the Focus Group with Workers, based on the Fault Tree Analysis method (FGW-FTA). Focus groups are conventionally used by social and behavioural researchers to understand opinions, motivations, attitudes, and mental processes that underlie people behaviours. The innovative procedure in this paper addresses researchers and safety professionals during the focus groups with the workers for the identification of critical risk factors in the workplace. The result is a structured analysis, operated by and with the workers, for the identification of consequences and causes of unsafe behaviours. Finally, the developed methodology addresses the definition of a set of preventive and protective measures, and corrective actions for the improvement of health and safety in the workplace. An experimental study in an Italian boiler manufacturer describes the proposed methodology and the results of the focus groups with the workers. An evaluation questionnaire was elaborated to investigate the workers’ knowledge on occupational health and safety. A second questionnaire was developed to understand the workers’ perception on occupational risks. Each participant was invited to fill in both the questionnaires before and after the focus groups with the workers. The results of the study proved the effectiveness of the developed methodology in improving workers knowledge and perceptions on occupational health and safety

Exoskeletons at work: opportunities, suggestions for implementation and future research needs

Exoskeletons are wearable devices that use mechanical interaction with the body to augment, assist, and enhance physical activity, motion, and body posture. In the last decades, these devices have been extensively studied and applied in motor rehabili- tation. More recently, both industrial and academic researchers have been working to explore the effectiveness of exoskeletons in supporting human upper and lower extre- mities during manual material handling to eliminate or reduce the risk of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs). If on the one hand, the effects for the prevention of WMSDs seem evident, on the other hand, some studies are carefully evaluating the overall impact of exoskeletons on the health and safety of workers. Still, there is limited evidence on the long-term effects of these devices. Hence, more research is necessary to understand the benefits and the potential opportunities arising from the introduction of exoskeletons in the workplace, as well as the potential limitations and risks that may arise for workers. This paper aims to address these challenges, pro- viding the results of a structured analysis of the scientific literature on occupational exoskeletons. A conceptual framework describes the benefits and the potential limi- tations of occupational exoskeletons, supporting the safe and effective selection and adoption of these devices in workplaces. The findings in this paper support academic, industrial practitioners, and researchers to understand the opportunities behind the use of exoskeletons, the future research needs, and to predict the benefits and the potential limitations of their implementation in workplaces

Analyzing the Dynamics of Work Accidents in Manufacturing to Understand “Reasonably Foreseeable Behaviors”

This paper introduces a structured analysis of the leading causes of occupational accidents that occurred in the Italian manufacturing industry in the last decades. The aim of this research was to understand the human factors and the common causes of unsafe behaviors that may have determined the investi- gated accidents. The European Directive 2006/2/EC defines the essential health and safety requirements for the design of machinery for its intended purpose or for a purpose which can reasonably be foreseen. In this context, the present research supports the design of modern manufacturing systems, with the aim to investi- gate and understand workers’ reasonably foreseeable behaviors and to provide directions for prevention strategies. The results show the leading causes of such events as, for example, the adop- tion of an improper procedure or worker misplacement. The findings of this research will help practitioners and researchers understand the human behav- iors and the limits of the machinery, including the intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuses thereof

L’esoscheletro per il lavoro: opportunità, limiti e questioni aperte

Gli esoscheletri sono dispositivi che, sfruttando l'interazione meccanica con il corpo umano di un dispositivo indossabile in grado di fornire un adeguato supporto posturale, consentono di assistere e migliorare le attività di movimentazione manuale de carichi ed evitare/limitare l’insorgere di malattie e disturbi muscolo-scheletrici. Negli ultimi anni, dopo che gli esoscheletri sono stati ampiamente studiati e applicati nella riabilitazione motoria, si è visto un interesse diffuso e sempre maggiore nella comunità scientifica e nel settore industriale per capire ed esplorare l'efficacia di tali dispositivi quali ausili di supporto per gli arti superiori e inferiori durante lo svolgimento di diverse attività manuali. Peraltro, se da una parte gli effetti ai fini della prevenzione da malattie e disturbi muscolo-scheletrici sembrano evidenti, dall’altra alcuni studi stanno valutando con attenzione l'impatto complessivo degli esoscheletri sulla salute e la sicurezza dei lavoratori tenuto anche conto che, ad oggi, vi sono prove limitate sugli effetti a lungo termine di questi dispositivi. Per questo, ed anche per diversi altri motivi, si ritiene siano necessari ulteriori ricerche e studi per comprendere i reali benefici e le potenziali opportunità derivanti dall'introduzione degli esoscheletri nei luoghi di lavoro, nonché i potenziali limiti e rischi che possono derivare per i lavoratori