Introduction Human factors or ergonomics, also known as comfort design, functional design, and user-friendly systems is the

practice of designing products, systems or processes to take proper account of the interaction between them and

the people who use them.

The field has seen contributions from numerous disciplines, such

as psychology, engineering, biomechanics, industrial design, physiology and anthropometry. In essence, it is the

study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body and its cognitive abilities. The two terms "human

factors" and "ergonomics" are essentially synonymous.

Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among

humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to

design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.

It is employed to fulfill the goals of occupational health and safety and productivity. It is relevant in the design of

such things as safe furniture and easy-to-use interfaces to machines and equipment.

Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders,

which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability.

Human factors and ergonomics is concerned with the "fit" between the user, equipment and their environments. It

takes account of the user's capabilities and limitations in seeking to ensure that tasks, functions, information and the

environment suit each user.

In this project our team aimed to asses and to apply what we have learned about Ergonomics practically in The

Egyptian Copper Works Company and here is a brief information about this huge company.

Egyptian Copper Works The Egyptian copper works was established on 26th September, 1935. The main purpose

for the license was rolling copper and brass to sheets and discs for house-wares

industries.

At the beginning the activity had been started on one acre, later on the area was

expanded to face many constructions beginning with electric and normal copper melting

furnaces in 1940.

The Aluminum industry was introduced into the company production lines in 1945, and

then steel industry had begun.

In 1960 Aluminum foil production was constructed and the semi-

continuous casting in 1961. However, steel continued in adding

units and factories in iron and steel, copper, brass and aluminum

fields, so it had become one of the first producing companies in

steel rods, aluminum, wire steel, wire rope and Evaporators in

Egypt.

Company has been confirmed all customers’ needs of local and

external market and comply quality systems requirements.

Copper wires

Aluminum sheets

Workstation The Egyptian Copper Works company has many workstations to cover all its production lines like an Aluminium and

copper furnaces workstations, refining lab workstation, rolling and blanking workstation, milling and machining

workstation and wire drawing workstation.

The workstation that we chose was the milling and machining workstation and here is a schematic draw of the

layout of that workstation.

The layout of the workstation

Workstation users The milling and machining workstation consists of 4 users and here is some information of these users and the unfit

postures of them.

The first user The first user is called Mr. Salah and he is 57 years old, Mr. Salah

has worked in Egyptian Copper Works for 33 years until now and he

is responsible for shaper and drilling machine, his working hours per

day are 7 hrs with 15 minutes of rest in between.

Here are some pictures of Mr. Salah doing his work with unfit

postures.

The worker lifts objects above shoulders

In the first picture we can see that he is handling the heavy work

piece in such an unfit posture because the whole load is concentrated in his right hand and its repeated process

which can cause injury in prolonged periods.

In the second picture Mr. Salah appears with an awkward posture where he is bending his back for a long period of

time repetitively which causes a back pain and serious tension in his spin and also we can see that there is a direct

vibration transmits from the machine directly to his body.

In the third picture Mr. Salah is using his hands repetitively to turn the handle which can cause serious injury in his

hands as shown in Figure 3-2 because of the high resistance of the handle because the machine is too old.

The second user The second user is Mr. Ibrahim and he is 39 years old, Mr Ibrahim has worked at

Egyptian copper works for 7 years until now and he is responsible for the grinding

operations, Mr. Ibrahim’s working hours are 7 hrs and 15 minutes rest in between.

Here is a picture to Mr. Ibrahim doing his job.

In this picture it appears that Mr. Ibrahim has to bend his back too much to use the

handle which causes serious back pain with prolonged periods.

Also Mr. Ibrahim told us that the main problem with him is the age of the machines as

the average age of the machines is between 60 to 120 years...!!

Frequent bending of the back Repetitive twisting of the wrist

Mr. Ibrahim is bending his back frequently

some functions and properties of the machine is not working like the vertical

transmitter and also in high speeds the bed of the machine and the grinding

wheel often fractures as shown in the figure.

Also Mr. Ibrahim complained about the electric wires which have been eaten

by rats...!!

The third user The third user is Mr. Mohamed and he is 40 years old, Mr. Mohamed has

worked at Egyptian copper works for 12 years until now and he is responsible

for lathe machines operations, his working hours are 7 hrs with 15 minutes

rest in between. Here is a picture for Mr. Mohamed with a critical posture.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is usually caused when an illness or other problem makes the carpal tunnel space too small. This puts pressure on the median nerve and causes pain, tingling, and

other symptoms.

Broken grinding wheel due to high speeds, may cause injuries during breaking because

of lack of safety

Repetitive hand movement over and over can cause CTS, especially if the wrist is bent down

Because of pressing hard on the left hand’s median nerve, carpel Tunnel Syndrome occurs and that has happened to

Mr. Mohamed who is shown in the photo above, and he had a surgery called (تسليك عصب) in the Egyptian slang.

Carpal tunnel syndrome most often affects the hand and sometimes the forearm, but they can spread up to the

shoulder. Symptoms include Numbness or pain in your hand, forearm or wrist that awakens you at night, Stiffness in

your fingers when you get up in the morning, Occasional aching pain in your forearm between your elbow and wrist.

The forth user The forth user is Mr. Hessen and he is 43 years old, Mr. Hessen has worked at Egyptian copper works for 11 years

until now and he is working for 7 hours per day with 15 minutes rest in between.

Here is a picture for Mr. Hessen with an awkward posture in handling heavy work pieces.

Wrong handling procedure as lifting below the knees, it may cause a trauma in the back of the worker because it’s

an awkward posture.

Low bake strain is one of many serious causes of back pain and it’s caused by:

- Extreme physical exertion.

- Falling.

- Bending or crouching repeatedly.

- Lifting heavy objects if you are not in shape.

Pain here can be intense and is one of the top causes of missed work.

Fortunately, low back pain often gets better on its own. When it doesn't, there

are effective treatments

Repetitive lower back bending Acute back pain comes on suddenly, often after an injury from sports or heavy lifting. Pain that lasts more than three months is considered chronic

© Industrial Accident Prevention Association 2007. All rights reserved.

DISCOMFORT SURVEY

Please answer all questions truthfully and to the best of your ability.

1. Date: 12/7/2015 2. Name: Mohamed El-Sharnoby

3. Job Title: Turning Technician 4. Dept.: Basic Workshops

5. Shift: Morning 6. Height: 168

7. Dominant Hand: x Left xRight ✓Either 8. Gender: ✓ Male xFemale

9. How long have you worked in your current position?

x < 3 mos. x3 mos. – 1 year x 1 – 5 years x 5 – 10 years ✓10 + years

10. How often are you mentally exhausted after work?

x Never xOccasionally ✓Often xAlways

11. How often are you physically exhausted after work?

x Never ✓Occasionally xOften ✓Always

12. Have you ever had any pain or discomfort during the last year that you believe is related to your work?

✓ Yes xNo (If no, go to question 16)

13. If yes, please complete page 2 of the survey.

14. For each area of discomfort indicated on page 2, please describe what you think is causing or caused this discomfort.

BODY PART PREVIOUS

INJURY POSSIBLE CAUSE OF PROBLEM

Elbows x Yes ✓No Throwing a lot of heavy parts

Forearms x Yes ✓No Throwing a lot of heavy parts

Wrist/Hands x Yes ✓No Throwing a lot of heavy parts

Thighs x Yes ✓No Standing for long periods

Ankles/Feet x Yes ✓No Standing for long periods

Shoulders x Yes ✓No Throw a lot of heavy parts

Upperback x Yes ✓No Throwing a lot of heavy parts and Stand for long periods

Lowerback x Yes ✓No Throwing a lot of heavy parts and Stand for long periods

Knees x Yes ✓No Standing for long periods

Lower legs x Yes ✓No Standing for long periods

15. For each area of discomfort indicated on page 2, please record which job task(s) aggravates the discomfort.

BODY PART WHAT AGGRAVATES THE PROBLEM

Elbows Not having enough breaks

Forearms Holding heavy parts over head

Wrist/Hands Repetitive twisting motion

Thighs Standing for long periods without sitting

Ankles/Feet Standing for long periods

Alexandria University

Faculty of Engineering

Production Engineering Department

Human Factors

2015/2016

Group ID

Task Number & Name

Task (3,4): Workstation measurement and Conclusion

Group Members

157 7

35 2

38 2

93 4

153 7

140 6

160 7

100 5

Introduction The present work contains an analysis, from the anthropometric point of view, of Egyptian Copper Factory

based on task 1 and 2 which we had made. The points evaluated are the lathe machines bases and the seats that

workers sit on during their work, each one of them was related to anthropometrical estimates for US adults aged

1965 years which are given in Sheet 1. Finally, some suggestions appear on the actions to be taken in design terms

that surely will contribute to improve the comfort of the workers and provide welfare to the factory. In the

modern world it is impossible to design in terms of average dimensions.

It is for that reason that anthropometry plays a capital role in the world of design. In terms of factories, it is

necessary to design the height heavy work tables, seats & safety equipment… laborers work for many hours, thus

we are forced to make certain considerations to facilitate the work, movement and the comfort of them. A

detailed observation of the statistical data obtained, shows a great dispersion of the data values of the considered

variables. The main reason, to which this dispersion of the data can be attributed, is the lack of control by the

corresponding authorities. There is not control on satisfying the minimum requirements of design according to

safety standards and the comfort of the users.

Dimensions of transport units were compared with the anthropometric data available of the population of users

and the established values in the corresponding standard.

Actual Findings A tabular representation of the ergonomic states of different workstation items are given henceforth: -

Item Dimension

Related

anthropometric

data

Design

Criteria

Measured

value (mm)

Recommended

(calculated)(mm)

Lathe

machine

Distance from center line of the

chuck of lathe

machine to ground

Elbow height

1000 1190

Lathe

machine

height of head

stock from ground shoulder height 1100 1550

Lathe

Machine

overall traveling distance by

worker

shoulder grip length

1500 725*2=1450

Shaper

machine

Distance from control unit of

shaper machine to

ground

Hip height 760 995

Shaper

Machine

distance between

table and ground

Elbow height 850 1190

Worker

Seat Diameter of seat Hip breadth 340.2 410

Worker

Seat Height of the seat Popliteal Height 496 495

Item Dimension

Related

anthropometric

data

Design

Criteria

Measured

value (mm)

Recommended

(calculated)(mm)

Worker

Seat

Seat Depth Buttock-popliteal

length

400 555

Boring

Machine

Distance from control unit to the standing area of

the worker

Elbow height 1610.2 1190

Grinding

Machine

Distance from

center line of the

grinder to the

ground

Elbow height 1090 1190

Grinding

Machine

table height from

ground Hip Height 800 995

Grinding

Machine

head height from

ground Eye height 1800 1900

Metalwork

table

Distance from

metalwork table

to the ground

Fingertip height 840 725

Heavy

work table

Distance from

elbow to

hammering area

Elbow fingertip

length 450 515

Pictures of items

short distance between control unit and Broken grinding wheel. ground.

short distance between table and ground. short distance between control unit and ground.

Very high distance between worker’s arm reach and Drilling machine related dimensions. control unit.

Distance between center line of the chuck and the

worker is too long.

reach.

Work station hazards Risk factors WMSD’s

H igh distance between the standing platform and the ground and high distance between control unit and arm

Working without safety equipment like:( gloves,

proper footwear, visor for

welding) Standing for a time Carpal tunnel syndrome

Workplace Poorly lit lifting above shoulder Shoulder overuse syndrome

Excessive noise that is

annoying and distracting

Repetitive twisting

motion at wrist of hand Posterior cruciate ligament tear

Air circulation too high so it's

poor ventilation

Bending of back for a

long period of time

repetitively

Pneumonia & Cirrhosis

Walkways uneven Repetitive loading Torn shoulder muscle

Lack of suitable seats Prolonged periods Knee injury

Suggestions to overcome WMSD’s in the Copper Factory: - 1. Provide protective clothing and equipment) and make sure they are used.

2. If it is not practical to completely remove or isolate the hazardous substance, you must minimize any risk

of harm to the employee. To minimize a hazard’s effects, an employer can: monitor employees’ health

(with their informed consent) monitors employees’ exposure to the hazard.

3. Avoid congestion points or worker movements near hazardous machinery make sure people can use, clean

and maintain the machinery without being harmed Make space for any waste materials to gather before

they are cleared (they should not clutter walkways or work areas) Note the movements of trucks,

materials and people

4. Mark out walkways and create vehicle movement areas Mark out ‘no-go’ areas, so people can stay away

from dangerous machinery. Check how close moving parts are to other machinery and fixtures in

buildings.

5. Eliminate mechanical hazards which are made by the shape, relative location, mass and stability,

movement and strength of machine parts

6. Eliminate electrical hazards, contact with or distance from live parts, suitability of insulation, static

electricity…

7. We’ve found that the layout is poorly designed as it is crowded with machines, leading to injuries and

operational errors.

8. The height of boring machine is high in addition to the oily platform worker standing on which is a great

potential for falling or slipping.

9. Some workers are not eligible for performing some jobs, train them.

10. Provide protective clothing and equipment) and make sure they are used.

11. Monitor employees’ health (with their informed consent)

12. Monitor employees’ exposure to the hazard

13. Avoid congestion points or worker movements near hazardous machinery

14. Make sure people can use, clean and maintain the machinery without being harmed

15. Make space for any waste materials to gather before they are cleared (they should not clutter walkways or

work areas)

16. Boring machine contribute greatly to a great hazard potential so we should: -

a. Fixed or permanently installed access platforms.

b. Pair of shoes that have a high coefficient of friction to prevent slipping.

17. At the design stage, when designing layout: -

a. avoid congestion points or worker movements near hazardous machinery

b. make space for any waste materials to gather before they are cleared (they should not clutter

walkways or work areas)

c. note the movements of the heavy objects and workers.

18. Ergonomic hazards come about through the way the operator interacts with the machine. Sometimes

machinery is not always designed for how an operator must use the machine. For example, operators may

have to overreach, reach above shoulder height, hold awkward postures, and use repetitive or forceful

movements. Having to work this way can cause damage to nerves, muscles and tendons. Ergonomic

hazards can cause serious harm to operators. These hazards can be removed at the design stage

Likelihood of injury

or harm to health

Consequences of injury or harm to health

Insignificant (Knee

pain)

Moderate

(Back pain)

Major

(Skin and Interior

Injury)

Catastrophic

(CPD, cutting of

fingertips, etc.…)

Very likely High Extreme Extreme Extreme

Likely Moderate High Extreme Extreme

Moderate Low High Extreme Extreme

Unlikely Low Moderate High Extreme

Highly unlikely Low Moderate High High