Evaluation of Ergonomics Issues in Repetitive Scrap Handling Work in Automobile Industries

Ever since the origin of the evolution of human being either named as ape or man, striving to survive with safety, by becoming wise on live hazards, he has been innovating as many ways and means for the safe living/working. To this day, the struggle for safety is existing but in a sophisticated manner, as he grew from being wise to being an intellectual. This paper discusses the ergonomics issues in an automobile industry handling the hard substance, among the engineering industries, as the manual scrap handling system is one of the most critical safety concern aspects which includes more manual effort, due to its impact on the manpower expenses, medical expenses, personal protective equipment expenses, and time consumption. Ergonomic assessment, as a tool and method for analyzing human activities and their interactions with the surrounding environment, is thus crucial for designing operations and workplaces that achieve high safety. In the engineering industry, however, the constant repetitive work environment and laborious tasks cause traditional approaches to ergonomic analysis, such as manual observations and measurements to require substantial time and effort to yield reliable results. This study mainly concentrates on scrap handling because of its repetitive actions with heavy loads and also explores the adaptation and integration of various existing methods for data collection, analysis, and output representation potentially available for comprehensive ergonomic analysis. The proposed framework integrates the 3DSSP’s (Static Strength Prediction) localized fatigue report for the inputs such as measurement of body angles using goniometer and NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) weight lifting equation. The proposed framework is demonstrated through a case study using data from on-site scrap handling system through 3DSSP software.