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  Improving the workplaceThe research efforts of two industrial engineering undergraduate student are improving working conditions on the factory floor. As participants in a collaborative program between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Steel Founders’ Society of America, IMSE seniors AJ Menefee and Trevor Hoffman spent six weeks last summer visiting 20 steel foundries across the nation. Their objectives: to identify potentially harmful work practices, to educate management and workers on industrial ergonomic issues, and to create awareness of OSHA regulations that may significantly impact future production systems. “It’s expensive for the steel casting industry to automate all jobs,” said Hoffman. So, manual lifting of castings is a common practice in steel foundries as are repetitive movements from welding, hand grinding, and other production tasks. Common injuries range from lower back stress to carpal tunnel and vibration-related syndromes. During their industry visits, Menefee and Hoffman videotaped job movements, interviewed management and employees, researched options, made presentations, and recommended cost-effective ergonomic ideas to reduce worker accident and injury rates. The focus of their efforts was simple. “What can we do to make this job better for the employee and not decrease productivity—that’s the question we kept asking,” said Menefee. Preliminary recommendations focused on revising placement of materials, improving body postures, redesigning workstations, and developing techniques to reduce repetitive movements. The pair’s findings will be included in a report. The ultimate goal is to give industry “the necessary tools to become self-sufficient in dealing with ergonomic issues,” said Hoffman. Part of the effort involves scouring the market for cost-effective tools and demonstrating their use. Once individual foundries accept these recommendations, Hoffman and Menefee anticipate industry-wide adaptation. The project is supervised by IMSE Assistant Professor Frank Peters, who is impressed with the students’ capabilities in evaluating complicated problems to develop workable solutions. More importantly, however, interacting with industry personnel “strengthens their already strong interpersonal and communication skills, and provides valuable real-world experience,” he said. |
