Install a hydraulic lift at workstations to improve productivity

Workstation design should be taken into consideration in order to increase the productivity and at the same time protect workers from any hazard, injuries and health problem such as Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD). Therefore, the workstations need to be redesign by applying the ergonomics principles to reduce the risks of MSD. As a part of Lean and Energy Assessment at a facility, a scissor lift with an actuator is suggested to replace workers manually lifting and holding product in awkward postures in repetition for almost 130,050 lifts a year. This measure eliminated MSDs for workers and saved the facility 108 man hours a year resulting in $4,825/yr.

In order to improve and redesign workstation, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) Analysis that available in CATIA software is used to analyze and evaluate the working posture of the workers. The anthropometry of the workers and the workspace design measurement data were used in RULA Analysis. The RULA scores and action level is determined to indicates the working posture based on a RULA employee assessment sheet. Besides, the assessment of manual lifting – National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Approach is used to recognized and addressed the problem of work related back injuries and has formulated the equation for lifting tasks. The productivity of the company before and after improvement is calculated using mathematical equations. After redesign the workstation, the RULA scores of the worker's working postures improved.