Ergonomics design measures in manual assembly work

Manual assembly production systems are still the most viable method for production a variety of products in small to medium batches. However, manual assembly work is often associated with ergonomically poor conditions that result in Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders WRMDs, which result in low productivity and quality problems. Yet ergonomics is not often considered sufficiently precise during the design phase of assembly systems. In addition, most of the studies relative to ergonomics in manual assembly systems have focused on only one single aspect of ergonomics human performance measures. This paper first identifies the most common ergonomics measures that can be used for quantitative evaluation of working postures and physical workloads in a manual assembly system to avoid WRMDs. The paper then propose a framework that allows for the consideration of multiple ergonomics measures to assess ergonomics stresses resulting from work postures in manual assembly work.