Understanding human factors to improve occupational safety in manufacturing: a case study

Abstract

This paper investigates how the deviation of an industrial process from its optimal productivity, maintenance, and quality levels can lead to safety issues. An integrated approach was developed in 2021 to analyze the correlation between safety deficiencies and process inefficiencies. In this study, the proposed approach was adopted, aiming to identify potential connections between the safety issues that emerged from the previous investigations and the process inefficiencies. A case study describes the application of the proposed approach in an Italian company leader in the production of boilers for domestic and industrial heating and cooling systems. The findings show that the joint analysis of the results from the investigations in the proposed approach allows understanding the human factors in the investigated manufacturing process, i.e. the environmental, organizational, and job factors, and the human and individual characteristics which influence behavior at work in a way which can affect occupational safety.