Category: Healthy Workplaces Campaign

Ergonomics is a key to safe maintenance! 

Ergonomics makes maintenance lighter, more fluent and more acceptable – and safer Proper ergonomics design takes account of the life-cycle of systems: besides their daily operation, also assembly, maintenance, cleaning, reparation, renovation and dismantling By following the ergonomics design principles, guidelines and procedures, given in European ergonomics standards (EN), maintenance conditions and activities can be optimized to the worker/operator
See the following examples of ergonomics considerations in maintenance activity – presented in order of their nature, physical, cognitive or organizational 
Physical problems in maintenance work: 

1. working in unfavorable locations (e.g. in high places, in narrow spaces) 
2. working in awkward postures 
3. insufficient space for the hand movements or seeing, lack of free maintenance space 
4. excessive force required for operations e.g. in changing of components, in opening valves 
5. excessive physical workload in some tasks e.g. changing pumps without hoisting equipment 
6. poor lighting and thermal conditions, high noise and vibrations levels 
7. hazards, e.g. mechanical, electric, chemical 

Cognitive (or mental) problems of maintenance work: 

1. visually poor displays and symbols, text not legible in varying environment 
2. use of maintenance equipment not intuitive 
3. maintenance procedures not logical, memorable or controllable 
4. instructions not easy-to-understand 
5. disturbance situations poorly instructed or guided 
6. other activities around, attention directed elsewhere 

Organizational problems of maintenance: 

1. inappropriate division of tasks between the operator and the machine – e.g. lack of equipment for lightening heavy tasks 
2. inappropriate division of tasks between operators – unbalanced workload inappropriate working hours (shifts, extensive work periods) – reduced physical and mental performance
3. poor communication between operators 
4. poor guidance of the operators 

With the help of ergonomics knowledge and ergonomics approach, the maintenance conditions and activities inherently become good for the operator and good for the organization: 

1. better satisfaction, motivation and commitment of the operator 
2. lower rate of accidents and fewer sick leaves 
3. less disturbances and losses due to human error 
4. better quality, less careless work 
5. fluent and cost-effective maintenance, right operations in the correct way, in a minimum time, with minimum effort
6. by proper ergonomics design, less need for corrections later, and fewer costs of late changes.

The presentation’s purpose is to clarify ergonomics and demonstrate how it is essential in improving maintenance conditions. FEES recommends that the EME 2010 relate to the Healthy Workplace campaign “Safe maintenance,” promoted by the EU-OSHA, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.