Evaluating elements of the work area in terms of job redesign for older workers

Japan is rapidly becoming an aged society at an unprecedented rate that is clearly unlike the experience in other countries. As the 21st century begin s, our country will have the largest ratio of advanced aged people in the w orld, resulting in a considerable depreciation of labor productivity in the present labor-type intensive work environment. Currently, university resea rch institutes, the government, and enterprises are grappling with solution s to this problem. As a background, this paper presents a proposal to redes ign elements of the work place for aged workers. The method of research was to observe and measure the actions of typical sitting workers performing a ssembly operations on electrical products in the KANI PLANT NAGOYA WORKS of MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CO. The evaluation index used in the experiment is obt ained by measuring the time of motion elements, cycle time per product and the motion velocity waves, which are then compared to the motion characteri stics of young workers. The results lead to an important element of job red esign for aged workers and the experimental formulas provide a proposal for calculating and designing a reasonable work area dealing with 'get and pla ce activities. Relevance to industry The ratio of elderly to young people in the world is increasing due to bett er medical care and changing lifestyles. However, this has also resulted in a considerable reduction in labor productivity, as elderly people remain a ctive in the workforce for longer periods. This paper presents a proposal t o redesign elements of the work place for aged workers in an effort to incr ease their productivity. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. Ail rights reserved .