Sustainable MSD prevention: Management for continuous improvement between prevention and production. Ergonomic intervention in two assembly line companies

• Published in: Applied ergonomics Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 591 - 599
• Main Authors: Caroly, S., Coutarel, F., Landry, A., Mary-Cheray, I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2010; Elsevier; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Applied physiology; Assembly lines; Biological and medical sciences; Continuous improvement; Cumulative Trauma Disorders - prevention & control; Disease prevention; Ergonomics; Ergonomics. Work place. Occupational physiology; France; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Industry; Medical sciences; Musculoskeletal diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases - prevention & control; Musculoskeletal disorder prevention; Occupational Exposure - prevention & control; Occupational health; OHS management systems; Safety Management - organization & administration; Social Anthropology and ethnology; Total quality; Total Quality Management; OHS management systems; Continuous improvement; Musculoskeletal disorder prevention; Human; Prevention; Striated muscle disease; Improvement; System management; Ergonomics; Musculoskeletal disorder; Production
• ISSN: 0003-6870; 1872-9126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2009.12.016

To increase output and meet customers' needs, companies have turned to the development of production management systems: Kaizen, one piece flow, Kanban, etc. The aim of such systems is to accelerate decisions, react to environmental issues and manage various productions. In the main, this type of management system has led to the continuous improvement of production performance. Consequently, such production management systems can have unexpected negative effects on operators' health and safety. Conversely, regulation and control systems focusing on work-related risks have obliged firms to implement health and safety management systems such as OHSAS 18001. The purpose of this type of system, also based on continuous improvement, is to reduce risks, facilitate work-related activities and identify solutions in terms of equipment and tools. However, the prevention actions introduced through health and safety systems often result in other unexpected and unwanted effects on production. This paper shows how companies can improve the way they are run by taking into account both types of management system.