Introduction
Acme Manufacturing Company is concerned with its employees’ health the weights they lift in their different operations. The organization has asked for an ergonometric analysis of its packing line. The assessment will then provide recommendations that can be used to design the designated line. A Job Analysis Worksheet provides a tool that documents the approved recommended weight limit (RWL) and the lifting index based on the investigation conducted.
Report Details
Recommended Weight Limit (RWL)
The Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) refers to the equation used to compute the limits for loads that should be carried by individuals. According to Yates (2015), RWL is the product of the NIOSH lifting equation, which assesses the circumstances under which a given task is performed and uses the given conditions to calculate the approved values for a health worker to lift a given load for an average of eight hours per day.
The equation is given as:
RWL= LC x HM x VM x DM x AM x FM x CM,
Where LC refers to the load constant, HM symbolizes the horizontal multiplier factor, VM stands for the vertical multiplier factor, DM is the distance multiplier factor, FM connotes the Frequency Multiplier factor, AM is the asymmetric multiplier factor, and CM symbolizes the coupling multiplier factor. The horizontal, vertical, distance, asymmetric, and coupling multipliers for the packing line were chosen from multiplier tables provided by Yates (2015) on pages 486 to 490. The origin of RWL was calculated to be 27.43 pounds, and the destination RWL is 17.75 pounds. The result of the Job Analysis Worksheet is available in appendix A.
Lifting Index
The lifting index designates the estimated level of physical stress, which is connected to the performance of a worker who manually lifts various goods at the packing line. The evaluations indicate that the original lifting is computed as 1.28, while the destination lifting index is 1.97. In most cases, the normal physical stress has a lifting index value of 1 or a fraction as indicated in Appendix A.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The weight of the object at the packing line is greater than the values found for the original and destination RWL. The excess weight causes more than average physical stress on a normally healthy worker that is completing the packing line’s tasks as indicated by the lifting index. Possibilities for mitigation of this risk include; engineering the lift out, decreasing the distance of lift horizontally, and decreasing the lift’s vertical distance. Modifications to make this a two-person job from a single-person job could also potentially reduce the lifting index or bring the weight of the object under the RWL.
Reference
Yates, W. D. (2015). Safety professional’s reference and study guide (2nd ed.). CRC Press.