Ergonomic Aspects of Productivity

Abstract

Whatever social and motivational aspects are important for maintaining a high enough rate of work output, it is a fact of life that the operator on the shop floor cannot be fully efficient if the equipment provided and the working environment are inadequate. Despite some of the paradoxical findings of the Hawthorne experiment (see Chapter 1), a worker is unlikely to do a job effectively if too little light is available to see (or, indeed, if too much light is present); similarly, ambient noise levels which are too high are likely to lead to missed warning signals, and very cold environmental temperatures may well cause reductions in manual dexterity. In the same way the quality of the equipment which is to be used can also affect performance: controls which are placed too high to be reached; displays which are unreadable; written instructions which are ambiguous can all lead to increased fatigue and reduced efficiency.