Use of scientific ergonomic programs to improve organisational performance

Abstract

The packaging industry is characterised by ineffective ergonomic programs that are inadequately implemented thereby failing to yield benefits for the organisations. The study aims to determine an effective scientific ergonomic program that focuses on improving the organisation's overall performance by aligning these programs with the organisation's business strategy. A quantitative research methodology with a questionnaire as the research instrument was adopted for this study. A quantitative analysis was conducted at two sites of a liquid packaging company in South Africa using a sample of 70 participants from the production and engineering departments. The data collected in this study were analysed with descriptive statistics. The findings on the anthropometric and physiological factors revealed that the employees at the packaging sites were generally satisfied with the workstation design. However, it was found that several factors hindered the effective implementation of ergonomics in the packaging industry, and these include awareness in the subject of ergonomics, job task design, human-computer interaction, disconnection between employees and organisational strategies and poor implementation of anthropometric and physiological factors. The findings on the factors related to illumination also revealed that the light reflections, shadows, or flicker from the fluorescent tubes could be prevented. Additionally, a high percentage of the respondents also disapproved of the current lighting conditions that need to be addressed to prevent any risk of injury or poor performance related to lighting and illumination. The findings also demonstrated that there was a need for an improvement plan concerning noise and vibration at the packaging sites. It was also found that there is a huge gap in knowledge about the basic principles and fundamentals of ergonomics. While most workers understood their job expectations none of them understood how factors such as safety procedures, operational performance, and employee best practices fitted into the bigger picture of the organisation. An effective ergonomic program that incorporated systems engineering risk assessment methodology, was developed, embracing a probability of occurrence matrix, ratings of criticality and rating of consequences. It was recommended that the organisation should train employees on ergonomics best practices to create an effective program that will address operational gaps and enhance the organisation's overall performance.