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Ergonomics - Atlas Copco

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10<br />

SOCIOLOGY INDUSTRIAL<br />

SOCIOLOGY<br />

SOCIAL<br />

PSYCHOLOGY<br />

PSYCHOLOGY<br />

PSYCHOLOGY<br />

MEDICINE<br />

Fig. 1.1 <strong>Ergonomics</strong> is<br />

a multi-disciplinary<br />

science.<br />

Adapting the workstation<br />

to the operator<br />

WORK<br />

EXPERIENCE; SOCIAL<br />

PSYCHOLOGY<br />

PSYCH-<br />

OLOGY<br />

ENGI-<br />

NEERING<br />

WORK<br />

MEDICINE<br />

Every workstation is unique. The human<br />

being represents the largest collection of<br />

variables, therefore a workstation that suits<br />

one operator perfectly may be a disaster for<br />

another. This could be one of the reasons why<br />

problems often arise unexpectedly when a<br />

new production unit is started up.<br />

In the past, attempts have been made to<br />

set up a performance profile for every opera-<br />

tor and compare this with a specified demand<br />

profile for each workstation. These attempts<br />

ERGONOMICS<br />

INDUSTRIAL<br />

DESIGN<br />

ECONOMIC<br />

ADMINISTRATION<br />

APPLIED<br />

TECHNICAL<br />

DISCIPLINES<br />

were not successful, however, because the<br />

degree of sophistication of the human body<br />

defies efforts to encapsulate its parameters<br />

neatly in a performance profile. The work-<br />

station itself is also quite complicated.<br />

The goal must be to design workstations<br />

where every member of the actual workforce<br />

can work comfortably. This calls for a large<br />

degree of adjustability that often increases the<br />

cost. However, the investment can be justified<br />

by the resulting high flexibility.<br />

In recent years a clear trend has emerged<br />

where ergonomists in large companies are in-<br />

creasingly involved in the development of the<br />

next generation of products. Decision-makers<br />

are realizing that the most cost effective way<br />

to improve ergonomics in production is to de-<br />

sign a product for easy production. The need<br />

for workstations that are badly designed from<br />

an ergonomics viewpoint is thus eliminated.<br />

Power tool ergonomics<br />

Operator comfort also depends on the power<br />

tool selected. In our range of pneumatic and<br />

electric nutrunners there are twelve different<br />

versions capable of tightening the same joint.<br />

They are designed for different purposes.<br />

For example, an impact wrench might be<br />

chosen for a vehicle repair shop, or a computer<br />

controlled electric nutrunner for safety joints in<br />

the automotive industry. All the tools are differ-

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