Work Study and Ergonomics

Introduction

Work study is described as a management tool to achieve higher efficiency concerned chiefly with manual work. In order to survive, the industry must use latest technology and most efficient method improvised with a consistent aim of producing best quality goods at lower prices.

One way to improve is through efficient utilization of plant, equipment and labour. Work study is specifically a study of work, describing partition of work into smaller units followed by rearrangement of these units to provide the same effective use at a minimum cost. Work study gives methodology and calculates time period required for the work involved in the process. Robert Owen, Taylor and Bedaux had their vital contributions to this particular topic. According to International Labour Organization (ILO), work study is defined as follows:

Work study is primarily concerned with finding the best ways of performing job and establishing benchmarks based on such ways. It is the technique of method study and work measurement employed to ensure the best possible use of human and material resources in carrying out a specified activity.

In other words, work study can be defined as “the systematic investigation of the methods, conditions and effectiveness of industrial work and thus to determine the way in which human efforts can be applied most economically”.

Historical Glimpse Related to Work

Industrial revolution started around 1770s, when James Watt gave steam engine and Henry Maudslay devised the screw-cutting lathe. In factories, automated machines started replacing workers to enhance production rapidly and more accurately. The interchangeability enabled the factories mass manufacturing. Better machines, modern parts, special tools, fixtures, etc., and then unique products replace custom-fabricate common products. Henry Ford (1863–1947) started mass production through assembly lines.

The concept of scientific management came in late 1800s; Frederick W. Taylor (1856–1915) was the father of scientific management, whereas Frank (1868–1924) and Lillian Gilbreth (1878–1972), were the father and mother of motion studies. Frank Gilbreth was born in Freeport, Maine on 7 July 1868. After finishing school, Frank Gilbreth began to work for a construction company as an apprentice brick layer. At age 27, Frank Gilbreth became the chief superintendent of the company. By the time of his promotion, Frank Gilbreth developed a number of methods, both technical and procedural, for improving efficiency at the workplace, particularly in his field of construction.