Development of an ergonomic screening tool for assembly work
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Production engineering (MPPEN), MSc
Publicerad
2019
Författare
Lindqvist, Erika
Karlsson, Rasmus
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Abstract
Assessing ergonomics of assembly work is a complicated task that requires a high
level of knowledge and a large amount of time. By using a screening tool, the stations
where further ergonomic assessments are needed can be identified. This thesis
includes an investigation of how the current screening tool at the assembly plant
in Volvo Cars Torslanda currently performs. Following this, an improved version
of the screening tool was developed with changes that reflect the found areas of
improvements.
Analysis of the current state of the screening tool was divided into a quantitative
and a qualitative part. The quantitative work involved extracting work injury data
and comparing it to the result of the screening tool assessments. The qualitative
part included interviews with the stakeholders of the screening tool with the goal
to identify its improvement areas. The analysis showed that there exists a correlation
between the results of the screening tool assessments and the work injuries
reported. Despite this it was difficult to draw any detailed conclusions as the data
set available was limited and inconsistent. The qualitative part made it clear that
the tool relies on interpretations from the user and that the screening tool lacks the
ability to assess multiple stations, which a workday often consists of.
Before creating the new screening tool the ergonomic standard of Volvo Cars and
documents of the Swedish Work Environment Authority were thoroughly studied
to ensure that all necessary areas were included and assessed. This information
combined with the areas of improvement resulted in a tool that enables an objective
evaluation of stations. The tool is also designed to be as user-friendly as possible
with a simple design and with automatic calculations. The new screening tool also
enables automatic assessment of multiple stations combined into a shift.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
risk assessment, manual handling operations, assembly work, musculoskeletal disorders , ergonomics, ergonomic screening tool, rotation screening tool