Introduction to Work Study and Ergonomics

 Analysis of the basic hand, arm, and body movements of

workers as they perform work is called Motion Study.

 Frank Gilbreth – first to analyze and classify the basic

motion elements

 “Therblig”s – 17 basic motion elements

 Spelled backward except for “th”

 Basic building blocks of virtually all manual work performed at a

single location (so the primary interest is the hand motions)
 The 17 Therbligs
1. Transport empty (TE) – reach for an object with empty hand – today
we call it “reach”
2. Grasp (G) – grasp an object by contacting and closing the fingers
until control has been achived
3. Transport loaded (TL) – move an object with hand and arm – today
we call it “move”
4. Hold (H) – hold an object with one hand
5. Release load (RL) – release control of an object
6. Use (U) – manipulate/use a tool
7. Pre-position (PP) – position object for next operation
8. Position (P) – position object in defined location
9) Assemble (A) – join two parts
10) Disassemble (DA) – seperate multiple parts that were previously
joined
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 The 17 Therbligs (continued)
11) Search (Sh) – attempt to find an object using eyes or hand
12) Select (St) – choose among several objects in a group (hand-eye
coordination is involved)
13) Plan (Pn) – decide on an action (a short pause or hesitation in the
motions)
14) Inspect (I) – determine quality of object using the eyes
15) Unavoidable delay (UD) – waiting due to factors beyond worker
control
16. Avoidable delay (AD) – worker waiting
17. Rest (R) – resting to overcome fatigue

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 Therbligs

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
©2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Therbligs

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
©2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Therbligs

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
©2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
Example

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 Classification of Therbligs
Effective therbligs: Ineffective therbligs:
Physical Basic Motion Elements: Physical Basic Motion Elements:
 Transport empty  Hold
 Grasp  Pre-position
 Transport loaded
Physical and Mental Basic Motion
 Release load Elements:
 Use  Position
 Assemble  Search
 Disassemble  Select
Mental Basic Elements: Mental Basic Elements:
 Inspect  Plan
Delay Elements: Delay elements:
 Rest  Unavoidable delay
 Avoidable delay

Method study at the therblig level seeks to eliminate or reduce ineffective therbligs.
 Time Study

 All the ways in which time is analyzed in work situations.

Time is important, because;

 Most workers are paid for their time on the job

 The labor content (cost of labor time) is often a major
factor in the total cost of a product or service
 For any organization, it is important to know how much
time will be required to accomplish a given amount of
work
 When Are Time Standards Beneficial?
 Characteristics of industrial situations in which time
standards would be beneficial:

 Low productivity
 Repeat orders
 Long production runs
 Repetitive work cycles
 Short cycle times

.
 Functions of Time Standards
 They define a “fair day’s work”
 They provide a means to convert workload into staffing
and equipment needs
 They allow alternative methods to be compared
objectively
 They provide a basis for wage incentives and evaluation
of worker performance
 They provide time data for:
 Production planning and scheduling
 Cost estimating
 Material requirements planning
 Average Worker
A worker who is representative of the persons who usually
perform tasks similar to the task being measured
 If the work is performed mostly by men, then the average
worker is male
 If the work is performed mostly by women, then the
average worker is female

.
 Standard Performance
A pace of working that can be maintained by an average
worker throughout an entire work shift without harmful
effects on the worker’s health or physical well-being
 The work shift includes periodic rest breaks and
occasional interruptions are experienced by the worker
 Benchmarks of standard performance(EX:
 Walking at 3 miles/hr on level flat ground
 Dealing four hands of cards from a 52 card deck in
exactly 30 sec)
Distribution of Worker Performance
Worker performance is expressed in terms of
daily output
 How a Standard Time is Defined
Distribution of worker performance, indicating how
standard time is defined so that it can be readily
achieved by most workers

.
 Allowances in Time Standards
 Normal time is adjusted by an allowance factor Apfd to
obtain the standard time
 Purpose of allowance factor is to compensate for lost
time due to work interruptions and other reasons
 Standard time:
Tstd = Tn(1 + Apfd)
where pfd = Personal time, Fatigue, and Delays

.
 Rest Periods
 Common in industry
 Paid for by the employer as regular work time
 Rest breaks usually included in allowance factor built
into the time standard
 Relatively short duration - 5 to 20 minutes
 Meal periods - not included

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 Ergonomics
Ergonomics can be defined as the application
of knowledge of human characteristics to the
design of systems.
 Human Variability

 Differences in body dimensions exist among people

because of:
 Ethnicity and Nationality
 Heredity
 Diet
 Health
 Sex
 Age
 Living conditions

.
 Static Dimensions of Human Body

Standing

Seated
 Anthropometric Design Principles
 Design for extreme individuals
 Design for adjustability
 Design for the average user
 Design different sizes for different size users
 Design for Extreme Individuals
 Designing for the maximum
 Doorway heights
 Automobile door openings
 Mattress sizes
 Designing for the minimum
 Heights of kitchen cabinets
 Locations of levers and dials on equipment
 Weights of portable power tools

.
 Design for Adjustability
 To accommodate a wide range of users
 Examples:
 Automobile driver seats
 Adjustable steering wheel in an automobile
 Office chairs
 Worktable heights
 Tilt angles of computer monitors
 Lawnmower handle heights
 Bicycle handlebars

.
Adjustable Chair for Workplace

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 Design for Average User
 For situations in which design for extreme individuals
and adjustability are not feasible
 Examples:
 Stair heights
 Stadium seats
 Sofas
 Heights of checkout counters at supermarkets
 Lengths of shovel handles

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 Workplace Arrangement
 Normal and maximum working areas in the workplace

Design for
average
user

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

.
Different Sizes for Different Size Users
 When the only way to accommodate user
population is to make the product in different
sizes
 Examples:
 Clothing
 Shoes
 Elementary school desks and chairs
 The Physical Work Environment

1. The Visual Environment and Lighting

2. The Auditory Environment and Noise
3. Climate Control in the Work
Environment

.
 Visual Environment and Lighting

 About 80% of the information input to the human

brain comes from visual stimuli
Relative possibility of being seen under prevailing
conditions of light, distance, and related factors
 Most important factor = level of illumination
 Other factors:
 Visual angle - angle subtended at the eye by the
smallest distinguishable detail
v = 3438 h/d
where v is measured in arc minutes
 Brightness contrast - relative luminance between
object and background
 Color
 Lighting Systems
 Lamp - a single artificial source of light (e.g., an
incandescent lamp, fluorescent lamp)
 Luminaire - complete lighting unit, including
 One or more lamps
 Reflectors and other apparatus to distribute the
light
 Means to connect to power supply
 Auditory Environment and Noise

 The second most important means by which humans

receive information
 Visual and auditory stimuli account for 95% or more of a
person's information input
 The auditory environment also includes:
 Noise - defined as unwanted sound

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 Effects of Noise on Humans
 Distraction
 Negative emotions such as annoyance,
frustration, anger, and fear
 Interference with conversation, thinking, and
other cognitive processes
 Interference with sleeping
 Temporary hearing loss
 Permanent hearing loss

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 Climate Control
 Four primary variables that define climate:
1. Air temperature
2. Humidity - usually relative humidity
3. Air movement
4. Radiation from surrounding objects, including the
sun
 Most comfortable working environment (called the
comfort zone)
 Air temperature = 19 to 26C (66 to 79F)
 Relative humidity = 50%
 Slow air movement = 0.2 m/s (0.64 ft/sec)

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 Heat Stress
 Occurs when body absorbs more heat than it gives off,
raising the body core temperature
 Illnesses resulting from heat stress:
1. Heat rash - areas of skin erupt into red or white
bumps due to inflammation of sweat glands
2. Heat cramps - spasms of muscles in physical labor
3. Heat exhaustion - muscle weakness, nausea,
dizziness
4. Heatstroke - fever, dry skin, convulsions, coma (in
extreme cases: death)

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 Cold Stress
 Drop in core body temperature below normal due to net
heat loss from combination of low temperature and air
movement
 Windchill factor - estimates cooling effect of moving air
on exposed skin
 Jobs where cold stress is a problem:
 Refrigerated warehouses
 Construction jobs in wintertime
 Aboard ships in extreme northern climates
 Research in Antarctica