Identification and evaluation of postural risks in a process of finishing automotive parts

Abstract

Introduction: Currently, automatic processes predominate in the automotive sector, as well as in other industrial areas. In this way, human participation is restricted to the loading and unloading of materials. The international standardization organization has developed standards for the evaluation of static work postures while ergonomics employs methodologies and tools for the evaluation of postural risks. The objective was to identify, evaluate and reduce the postural risks to which the workers of a finishing operation of automotive parts in a plastic injection process are exposed. Materials and methods: The existing conditions of a work station regarding the loading and unloading of materials through ergonomic methods such as the rapid entire body assessment, the Ovako work analysis system, the load equation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the method of key indicators for manual handling operations. In addition, a new device was designed to allow the transfer of materials through the workstation. Results: The ergonomic results obtained show very high levels of risk that put at risk the workers studied. The implementation of the suggested improvement avoids the load on the part of the personnel and with it reduces the factors of musculoskeletal injuries. Conclusions: The combination of several ergonomic studies contributes to evaluate the work postures and reduce the loading efforts and the probability of suffering an injury.