Development of an ergonomic screening tool for assembly work

Abstract

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.