Organizational ergonomics of occupational health methods and processes in a Brazilian oil refinery

Abstract

Organizational ergonomics refers to the optimization of social technical systems, including their organizational structures, policies and processes. The relevant topics include communications, management of resources, work projects, temporal organization of work, team work, participative project, new work paradigms, cooperative work, organizational culture, network organizations and quality management (IEA, 2000). The purpose of this study was the reorganization of the methods and processes of the occupational health sector (SMS/SO -Portuguese acronym of the area) of a petrochemical company. The work involved thirty professionals: a coordinator, two occupational physicians, one cardiologist, one occupational dentist, two occupational nurses, eleven occupational health technicians, one social worker, one nutritionist, one phonoaudiologist, one ophthalmologist, one biochemist, two ergonomists, three administrative assistants, one administrator and one psychologist, during a six-month period. The methodology that was used sought to establish a cooperative alliance focused on change, transformation and acquisition of skills, reflecting directly on the attitudes and performance of the leaderships and their work teams. In addition to the feedback practice, the following supporting tools were used for the study's success: "Functional Polyvalence Matrix", "Management of Failures", 5W2H", "6M", "5 Why" and "process mapping". The intended results after the organization ergonomics restructuring process will allow the leader to help his or her team to make a diagnosis of the problems, identify options, develop strategies, establish targets and action plans, remove barriers, review contexts and implement the business management fundaments: planning, organization, management, coordination and control.

Logistics Work, Ergonomics and Social Sustainability: Empirical Musculoskeletal System Strain Assessment in Retail Intralogistics

“…Organizational ergonomics, also commonly referred to as macro-ergonomics, centers on optimizing socio-technical systems and organizational structures, e.g., policies, organizational structures, and processes [32]. The primary goals are to increase the ease of use of new technology, often leading to work system design-related questions and to foster the technology acceptance of blue-collar, as well as white-collar workforces.…”

A continuous improvement assessment tool, considering lean, safety and ergonomics

“…Visual tool for versatility management which makes it possible to determine the qualification of each operator for each operation or process (Bau et al, 2012)…”