Automation of Work Processes and Night Work

Abstract

Background: Automation of production processes is not just a simple replacement of a person in production, but it should lead to the success of an organization and contribute to the sustainable development of society and the natural environment. The aim of our study was to find out whether the level of automation of production processes affects the proportion of night work hours of production workers and whether employers are willing to automate production processes to achieve a lower number of night work hours. Methods: We used a quantitative approach to collect primary data through the survey method. The questionnaire was completed by 502 large and medium-sized manufacturing companies in Slovenia. Results: We found no statistically significant correlation between the level of automation of production processes and the percentage of night work hours of production workers. We also found that the reduction of the proportion of night work does not appear to be the main motivator for the introduction of automation of production processes. Conclusions: Based on the results, we rejected the assumption that automation of production processes has a direct impact on the proportion of night work. Moreover, our study will benefit all those who are concerned with the automation of production processes and night work.

A study on employee experience with shift work

“…A Pearson's correlation analysis revealed a weak positive correlation between depression and digestive disorders (r = 0,298; p = 0.05) or headache (r = 0,240; p = 0.05). These findings confirm that long-term shift work causes general physical fatigue, which often leads to other negative impacts, such as lack of quality sleep , depression and anxiety , or being overweight (Kosem et al, 2021). The risk of negative impacts of shift work on health and well-being mainly affects older male and female shift workers (Schneider & Harknett, 2019).…”

“…The effective implementation of shift work in the organization and its business processes requires an effective choice of an optimal form of shift work to maximize labor productivity and minimize harmful effects on shift workers (Sonati et al, 2015). Especially night shifts may have a very detrimental impact on shift workers, whose health may suffer due to the lack of sleep and improper nutrition (Kosem et al, 2021).…”