Developing safe and sustainable work activities in the industries of the future in metal additive manufacturing. A literature review of methods and proposals

The development of work and prevention practices in the metal additive manufacturing industry faces new challenges in relation to sustainable work, with the integration of the production process, from design to manufacturing, into a collaborative organisation. This article explores the relationship between the development of health in the workplace, based on work activities, mitigation of exposure situations, and sustainable work. An analysis of 11 articles pertaining to the reduction of occupational exposure is presented, in light of the observation that the criteria of the ergotoxicological approach are conducive to the advancement of sustainable work. Recommendations for methods are made according to their relevance to the advancement of safe and sustainable work in the Industry of the Future, further to the discussions of a multidisciplinary working group (ergonomics, work psychology, industrial hygiene, process engineering, and organisation modelling). This work promotes reflection on the design of a transferable method for preventionists, ergonomists and companies. The originality of this article is that, by proposing related methods, it explicitly incorporates consideration of exposure to hazards into the concept of sustainable work.