Biomass based power plants are one of the few renewable energy sources (RES) units that may be used as base load technologies, contributing also to the reduction of external energy dependency and of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The availability, heterogeneity and cost of the resource are however important barriers to the effective development and spread of these technologies. This paper aims to make a contribution to the evaluation of biomass power plants based on dedicated energy crops. The particular case of Portugal is analyzed and the strategic, environmental and economic interest of the project is evaluated under the present RES support schemes. The results suggest that the value of the assumed Feed-in Tariff (FIT) may not be enough to attract private investors' interest for these projects. The need for the creation of a specific FIT for this kind of biomass is highlighted and may be justified both by the perceived project risk and by the expected strategic and environmental value of these investments.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are one of the main occupational health problems. The best strategy to prevent them lies on ergonomic interventions. The variety of industrial processes and environments, however, makes it difficult to define an all-purpose framework to guide these ergonomic interventions. This undefinition is exacerbated by recurrent introduction of new technologies, e.g., collaborative robots. In this paper, we propose a framework to guide ergonomics and human factors practitioners through all stages of assessment and redesign of workstations. This framework was applied in a case study at an assembly workstation of a large furniture enterprise. Direct observation of work activity and questionnaires were applied to characterize the workstations, the process, and the workers’ profiles and perceptions. An ergonomic multi-method approach, based on well-known and validated methods (such as the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment), was applied to identify the most critical risk factors. We concluded that this approach supports the process redesign and tasks’ allocation of the future workstation. From these conclusions, we distill a list of requirements for the creation of a collaborative robot cell, specifying which tasks are performed by whom, as well as the scheduling of the human-robot collaboration (HRC).
Lean Manufacturing (LM), Ergonomics and Human Factors (E&HF), and Human–Robot Collaboration (HRC) are vibrant topics for researchers and companies. Among other emergent technologies, collaborative robotics is an innovative solution to reduce ergonomic concerns and improve manufacturing productivity. However, there is a lack of studies providing empirical evidence about the implementation of these technologies, with little or no consideration for E&HF. This study analyzes an industrial implementation of a collaborative robotic workstation for assembly tasks performed by workers with musculoskeletal complaints through a synergistic integration of E&HF and LM principles. We assessed the workstation before and after the implementation of robotic technology and measured different key performance indicators (e.g., production rate) through a time study and direct observation. We considered 40 postures adopted during the assembly tasks and applied three assessment methods: Rapid Upper Limb Assessment, Revised Strain Index, and Key Indicator Method. Furthermore, we conducted a questionnaire to collect more indicators of workers’ wellbeing. This multi-method approach demonstrated that the hybrid workstation achieved: (i) a reduction of production times; (ii) an improvement of ergonomic conditions; and (iii) an enhancement of workers’ wellbeing. This ergonomic lean study based on human-centered principles proved to be a valid and efficient method to implement and assess collaborative workstations, foreseeing the continuous improvement of the involved processes.
BACKGROUND: Nurses are a risk group for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Several studies reveal that nurses have high prevalence rates of injuries and symptoms related to WMSDs. However, many of these studies focus mostly on hospital nurses. Worldwide, few studies include home care nurses. OBJECTIVE: This work aimed to identify the body region most affected by musculoskeletal complaints in home care nursing, and subsequently develop a statistical model, that includes the main risk factors, to predict the risk of having musculoskeletal complaints in the identified region,. METHODS: The research method was based on the Standardised Nordic Questionnaire applied to home care nurses working at Health Centres of northern Portugal. Univariate and multivariate models of logistic regression were used to meet the goals of this work. RESULTS: Home care nurses have a three times greater chance of having lumbar complaints than their counterparts working only at Health Centres
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