Reducing the Ergonomic Risk Level in the Production Area of a Manufacturing Company.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are considered the leading cause of occupational disability and loss of productivity. The manufacturing industry is one of the work sectors where workers are most exposed to risk factors that can cause MSDs. This article reports the case of workers in a manufacturing company located in Tijuana, Mexico. This research aims to minimize the ergonomic risk workers are exposed to in the mechanical kick press and packaging stations. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and Job Strain Index (JSI) methods are applied to evaluate the risk levels caused by postural load and repetitive movements before and after redesigning the stations. To redesign the stations, an anthropometric study was performed on the workers. The results show that, with the design of the new press station, the level of risk caused by the postural load is reduced from 10 (high) to 1 (negligible), while the level of risk caused by repetitive movements is reduced from 13.5 (high) to 1 (low). In the case of the packaging station, the level of risk caused by postural load was reduced from 9 to 2, while the level of risk caused by repetitive movements remained at 3. It can be concluded that the correct application of different Ergonomics tools allows for eliminating several risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]