Social Sustainability in Practice: Bridging the Gap from Declarations to Real-World Scenarios on Sustainability Driven by Ergonomics

Abstract

In the paper, the role of ergonomics in promoting social sustainability within the workplace has been investigated and supported by evidence from the literature. Empirical research was conducted among 147 assembly line workers to gain insights into work-related discomfort and fatigue. This study used an ergonomic risk assessment (ERA) method to evaluate the ergonomic quality of workstations and correlated these findings with employees’ subjective experiences. The results showed a relationship between objective ergonomic assessments and subjective perceptions of work itself and company organizational factors, which were orally stated to the assessors, emphasizing the critical role of ergonomics in advancing social sustainability goals. The proposed DMAIC model was implemented to integrate ergonomic innovations into business processes to achieve social sustainability goals. Further research is needed to operationalize ergonomics in sustainability efforts.