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Operator Comfort Survey - A Tool Used in Process Studies

Surveys

Collecting and collating subjective feedback provides valuable and unique insight into the mindset of your workforce. Conducting online surveys permits this information to be collected easily, and at a time that is convenient for your staff. Utilizing subjective feedback is critical to understand areas of concern and value added to learn ideas they have for improvements. Considering this feedback as part of your larger MSD Prevention program ensures that participatory ergonomics is integrated into your program. Involving and listening to your workforce has shown to have positive morale and culture impact.


We currently offer the following surveys:



Comfort Survey;

Office Questionnaire; &

Production Questionnaire.

http://www.oiweb.com/page/surveys.html



5 Tips to Creating an Ergonomic Comfort Survey


Ergonomist Mary Plehal shares 5 key traits of a good comfort survey. Read below for a written summary. 


✅1. Organize they survey by body part.


Break comfort surveya into three sections: Body part, frequency, and tasks associated with discomfort / fatigue.


For example.👇


➡The Lower Back


Q: Are you experiencing discomfort in your lower back?


A:

-None

-Rarely

-Occasionally

-Constantly☑


Q: What task do you associate with this discomfort?


A:

The anti-fatigue mat in my station doesn't cover the entire area. I spend as much time off the mat bending and lifting as I do on the mat.


✅2. Explain the purpose of the survey


"It's important to explain the purpose and what you intend to do with the information," says Mary.


Also, manage expectations.


Let employees know if ergonomic or safety improvements will take months rather than weeks because of capital budgeting or engineering support.


✅3. Have pre-planned improvements in the works


"Have already planned something you're going to implement that you know would be meaningful for your employees."


There may be long-term initiatives in the works, but immediate solutions will help employees connect their input to the solution.


It tells them you care.


Mary's suggestion in the video below? Quality anti-fatigue mats.


"80% of the time in #manufacturing environments, employees attribute discomfort to standing in comfort surveys."


✅4. Conduct the survey in person.


"In person is best. Paper-pen is best."


Bring employees into a breakroom or conference room.


This avoids distraction, surveys being dismissed entirely, and helps makes sure nothing is lost in translation.


✅5. Readminister the survey down the road.


After you've implemented an ergonomic solution, circle back and hold the survey again.


This allows you to quantify the degree of comfort improvement.


"It's a great advertisement you can blast out to employees saying, 'Hey we implemented these things and comfort levels went from this to this,' then roll that up to leadership for some good results."


ERGONOMIC DESIGN OF HAND TOOL (SCREWDRIVER) FOR INDIAN WORKER USING COMFORT PREDICTORS: A CASE STUDY

January 2011

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271520766_ERGONOMIC_DESIGN_OF_HAND_TOOL_SCREWDRIVER_FOR_INDIAN_WORKER_USING_COMFORT_PREDICTORS_A_CASE_STUDY


Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaires (CMDQ)
https://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ahmsquest.html


Deloitte - Our 2020 perspective

Our view is that creating a sense of belonging at work is the outcome of three mutually reinforcing attributes. Workers should feel comfortable at work, including being treated fairly and respected by their colleagues. They should feel connected to the people they work with and the teams they are part of. And they should feel that they contribute to meaningful work outcomes—understanding how their unique strengths are helping their teams and organizations achieve common goals.


The core focus of industrial engineering is speed of machines and speed of operator motions. In the case of operator motions, the speed has to be comfortable, safe and healthy for persons. Industrial have to know the comfort assessment of operators through surveys during process improvement studies.


PCQ: Preferred Comfort Questionnaires for product design
Shabila Anjani,a,* Manon Kühne,b Alessandro Naddeo,c Susanne Frohriep,d Neil Mansfield,e Yu Song,a and Peter Vinka
Monitoring Editor: Peter Vink, Susanne Frohriep, Neil Mansfield, Alessandro Naddeo, and Karen Jacobs
Work. 2021; 68(Suppl 1): S19–S28. 

The need for comfort is common for all people across different stages of their life [1]. However, comfort is an individual and subjective concept, and it depends on the personal experience and the physiological, physical, mental, emotional and social state of the person over time. This individual and subjective concept of comfort is important in product design. Dimensions of product design, such as the user, the product and the context will interact with each other over time and contribute to the perception of comfort.

Surveying the comfort perception of the ergonomic design of bluetooth earphones
Hsiao-Ping Chiu 1, Hsin-Yu Chiang 2, Chien-Hsiou Liu 2, Ming-Hsu Wang 3, Wen-Ko Chiou 3
Work
. 2014;49(2):235-43. doi: 10.3233/WOR-131723.


Occupant Comfort
Comfortable workers are more likely to be productive and engaged with their work than those who struggle to work in spaces that create barriers and stresses. With an ever increasing number of environmental issues to be mindful of when designing spaces, GSA (U.S. General Services Administration)  is developing practices that support both sustainability and worker comfort.

Worker Productivity
Productivity is the quality and/or quantity of goods or services produced by a worker. Good indoor environmental quality – access to views, comfortable temperatures, comfortable lighting, good acoustics, and ergonomic design, etc. – supports employees’ ability to do a good job. On the other hand, compromised IEQ hinders their ability to work. It makes good business sense, then, to keep employees happy, healthy, and productive. This, in turn, creates more and higher quality output for organizations. 




Operator comfort level
Janos Abonyi
The main objective of this paper is to propose an approach for assessing the well-being of operators in indoor environments, with the operator comfort level serving as a measurable indicator. 

https://www.academia.edu/108039999/Operator_comfort_level


Practical Application of a New Method for the Assessment of Comfort, Health and Productivity in Offices
paola leardini
In present-day society, people spend 90% of their time in enclosed spaces, 30-40% in offices. Due to building regulations and requirements for labelling policies, the modern office building is seen as an "efficient machine", and energy consumption is becoming a central issue in the current architectural debate. However, also occupants' perception of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) should be verified. Therefore, new strategies for long-term building monitoring are required, focusing on human requirements and responses. The present study describes a methodology (RPM = Remote Performance Measurement) to evaluate IEQ (measured and perceived) and its effects on comfort and performance in intervention studies in real buildings. The procedure comprises measurements of environmental parameters and completion by occupants of on-line questionnaires. Performance is assessed by a new method that uses simulated office tasks. Questionnaires and tasks are administered.