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The sensible taskmaster
Books
Human factors in work, design and production J.S. Weiner and H.G. Mau/e (Eds) Taylor & Francis Ltd, 10-14 Macklin St, London WC2B 5NF, pp 156, £7.00
This latest publication from Taylor and Francis provides students of ergonomics with a valuable and welcomed opportunity to read in greater depth than before a number of case studies in ergonomics practice. Although much of the material for the four case studies has been prepared previously in one form or another, the editors have been able to install a common format to the studies in the course of their re-working. The first study, by Sell, covers work into the redesign of crane cabins in the steel industry and involves a close examination into the design of hand controls, foot controls, the workspace with special emphasis on visibility and the inter-relationships of these factors. The study by Crawley, also from the steel industry, deals with the design of the physical environment for workers operating a slab shearing work station. The relationship between poorly designed clothing and "Dogger bank itch" was instrumental in the development of the study by Crockford who investigated the design of protective clothing for trawler fishermen by examining the micro-environment of the workers. In the final study, Fox is concerned with the redesign of a number of aspects considered important in determining the accuracy or quality of coin inspection. They include the display design, the pacing and the design of the immediate.workspace including the lighting. As the editors point out, certain features emerge common to all the studies. They include the multi-disciplinary approach of ergonomics, the importance of defining the objectives of a study in a meaningful and appropriate form and the importance attributed to the knowledge the investigator possesses of previous work in the relevant areas. To some extent the Ergonomics Information Analysis Centre at Brimingham University can ease the problems raised by the last point. Some criticism can be made over the choice of the case studies. Except for the study of Crockford, many readers will be familiar with the research since the studies were completed in the early or mid 1960's, a time when recognised courses in ergonomics were just being established, A more general criticism is that the book as a whole does not give the reader any insight into how an investigator overcomes the general problems associated with the introduction and validation of ergonomics studies in a general environment of conflict between groups of people such as unions and management. That is to say, these studies give one an impression of comparative luxury where a team of ergonomists and people in related disciplines have worked in ideal conditions characterised by an apparent absence of
constraints of time, cost and human conflict. Had some studies from companies such as Lucas, British Leyland, ICI or GKN been presented, there would be some encouragement for industrial ergonomists who do not work for the British Steel Corporation or the Coal Board! E.D. Megaw
The sensible taskmaster C. Heyde
AAPTSAR, 525 Elisabeth Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia, pp 176, Aus ~16.00 (inc airmail P & P) It is much easier for the housewife to use a cookery book than to try to prepare food from books about how the digestive system or taste-senses work. Even books about how many calories man needs for living or how different kinds of ingredients or cooking methods affect the satisfaction and well-being are not very helpful. There is a similarity in the industrial world where engineers are preparing work tasks for other workers. Although there are books on ergonomics, describing how operators function and how different work characteristics affect the wellbeing and performance of the operator, what many a busy engineer looks for is a comprehensive cookery book which tells him exactly what to do step by step to prepare suitable workplaces. Inevitably such a simple ergonomics cookbook is an impossibility. The Sensible Taskmaster does not pretend to be one either, but its approach is clear; it is designed to be a practical handbook for engineers, giving precise guidance on how to arrange a task, which ingredients to mix and which to avoid and how to quantify them, the universal measure for almost all the factors being time. At the same time the author, Mr Heyde, is trying to give the reader a basic understanding of the way man functions at work. The author's basic point of view is that of a work study man, but as a sensible job designer he is not content with the traditional way of arranging tasks. He wants a method based on the operator as a human being, not as a mechanical machine. Mr Heyde has earlier tried to solve this problem by developing an alternative work study principle which was an analysis of work based on what a person did with his body (eg, sit, bend, walk, decide, apply pressure, use eye, put things to destination, etc) instead of the traditional work study elements which observe what is done with the tools and material. He developed a motion-time system called MODAPTS utilising this concept, which was published in 1966 and has been developed further by him since then. This book is a
Applied Ergonomics December 1977
235
step in this development, in which Mr Heyde tries to widen the concept by looking, not just at the duration of the activities involved in the task, but also at all other aspects influencing the task's performance. Consequently the book begins with "A Sensible Task Master's Code" which is 23 paragraphs containing very precise rules about how to arrange tasks. This list is then followed by chapters which briefly discuss the code. They cover the subject in the following sections: 1. Factors influencing task times and error rates. These are presented as 20 factors, grouped under the headings: Excess demands; Unsuitable demands; Unsuitable characteristics; Poor workplaces; and Interruptions. 2. Activities by which workers perform tasks. This chapter is a condensation of the operation of the MODAPTS motion-time work study system. 3. Errors and quality of work. 4. Task design. Here Mr Heyde discusses factors such as: Motivation; Social environment; Management methods; Work organisation; Job-enrichment; and Suitable work patterns.
Nothing is said about the reliability of the tiguics or how they have emerged. The only references given are to the MODAPTS range of books. All figures are given as appropriate for a worker who is suitable for and conditioned to heavy physical work, but it does not say how to deal with all the others. It seems to me that The Sensible Taskmaster is very sensible in regarding human beings as something quite different from machines, but somewhat insensible to them as individuals.
Torgny Veibtlck
Books received Physical work and effort Borg
Pergamon Press, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX30BW, pp 439, £16.00.
5. Energy use, the application of force and disadvantageous positions. This is a presentation of a method developed by Mr Heyde himself for calculating rest allowances for work tasks.
t'roceedings of the first international symposium, held at the Wenner-Gren Centre, Stockholm, on 2 - 4 December 1975.
6. The use of yardsticks. Here he discusses the use of quantitative measures in task design.
Introduction ~ la psycholgie du travail J. Lep/at and X. Cuny
I am not in a position to test the author's recipe for task design, but the impression is that the field has been covered with commendable accuracy.
PressesUniversitairesde France, 90 boulevard St-Germain, 75005 Paris, France. pp 240, paperback.
It is notable how Mr Heyde reflects the socio-technical way of thinking in his discussion of work organisation and work design, covering the most important factors in a very limited space. The tone of the book is rather authoritative and the author presents his statements with very few qualifications.
Physical disability and human behaviour
It might be possible to accept the sacrifice of reservations in order to be clear and concise but it is hard to accept the lack of references. If this book succeeds in creating sensible task masters, which it has the potential to do, it ought to help them find their way to a deeper discussion of the subjects it covers by some well chosen references. A most interesting part of the book is the presentation of Mr Heyde's method of calculating rest-allowances from energy use. He analyses the body movements involved in a task and the loads handled. One score of times for body movements is collected from a table (the time unit being 1/7 s which he equates to the time for one finger-movement). At the same time another score of energy-time units is being compiled based on the energy used by an operator working for 8 h when moving the relevant body parts, carrying loads, accelerating and decelerating loads, etc. Compensations for work periods other than 8 h, environmental heat, etc, can also be included. The greater of these two scores is taken as the time allowed for the task.
236
Applied Ergonomics December 1977
J.w. McDaniel
Pergamon Press, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX3 0BW, pp 182, £5.00 (£2.65 flexicover). Children, the environment and accidents R.H. Jackson (Ed) Pitman Medical Publishing Co Ltd, 42 Camden Rd, Tunbridge
Wells, Kent TN1 2QD, pp 164, £2.95. Noise, buildings and people D.J. Croome
Pergamon Press Ltd, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX3 0BW, pp 620, £25.00 (£15.00 flexicover). Production H.B. Maynard & Co. Edit by R. Tiefenthal McGraw-Hill Book Co (UK) Ltd, ShoppenhangersRd,
Maidenhead, Berks SL6 2QL, pp 182, £4.95 An international appraisal of contemporary manufacturing systems and the changing role of the worker.
Human factors in work, design and production J.S. Weiner and H.G. Mau/e (Eds) Taylor & Francis Ltd, 10-14 Macklin St, London WC2B 5NF, pp 156, £7.00
This latest publication from Taylor and Francis provides students of ergonomics with a valuable and welcomed opportunity to read in greater depth than before a number of case studies in ergonomics practice. Although much of the material for the four case studies has been prepared previously in one form or another, the editors have been able to install a common format to the studies in the course of their re-working. The first study, by Sell, covers work into the redesign of crane cabins in the steel industry and involves a close examination into the design of hand controls, foot controls, the workspace with special emphasis on visibility and the inter-relationships of these factors. The study by Crawley, also from the steel industry, deals with the design of the physical environment for workers operating a slab shearing work station. The relationship between poorly designed clothing and "Dogger bank itch" was instrumental in the development of the study by Crockford who investigated the design of protective clothing for trawler fishermen by examining the micro-environment of the workers. In the final study, Fox is concerned with the redesign of a number of aspects considered important in determining the accuracy or quality of coin inspection. They include the display design, the pacing and the design of the immediate.workspace including the lighting. As the editors point out, certain features emerge common to all the studies. They include the multi-disciplinary approach of ergonomics, the importance of defining the objectives of a study in a meaningful and appropriate form and the importance attributed to the knowledge the investigator possesses of previous work in the relevant areas. To some extent the Ergonomics Information Analysis Centre at Brimingham University can ease the problems raised by the last point. Some criticism can be made over the choice of the case studies. Except for the study of Crockford, many readers will be familiar with the research since the studies were completed in the early or mid 1960's, a time when recognised courses in ergonomics were just being established, A more general criticism is that the book as a whole does not give the reader any insight into how an investigator overcomes the general problems associated with the introduction and validation of ergonomics studies in a general environment of conflict between groups of people such as unions and management. That is to say, these studies give one an impression of comparative luxury where a team of ergonomists and people in related disciplines have worked in ideal conditions characterised by an apparent absence of
constraints of time, cost and human conflict. Had some studies from companies such as Lucas, British Leyland, ICI or GKN been presented, there would be some encouragement for industrial ergonomists who do not work for the British Steel Corporation or the Coal Board! E.D. Megaw
The sensible taskmaster C. Heyde
AAPTSAR, 525 Elisabeth Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia, pp 176, Aus ~16.00 (inc airmail P & P) It is much easier for the housewife to use a cookery book than to try to prepare food from books about how the digestive system or taste-senses work. Even books about how many calories man needs for living or how different kinds of ingredients or cooking methods affect the satisfaction and well-being are not very helpful. There is a similarity in the industrial world where engineers are preparing work tasks for other workers. Although there are books on ergonomics, describing how operators function and how different work characteristics affect the wellbeing and performance of the operator, what many a busy engineer looks for is a comprehensive cookery book which tells him exactly what to do step by step to prepare suitable workplaces. Inevitably such a simple ergonomics cookbook is an impossibility. The Sensible Taskmaster does not pretend to be one either, but its approach is clear; it is designed to be a practical handbook for engineers, giving precise guidance on how to arrange a task, which ingredients to mix and which to avoid and how to quantify them, the universal measure for almost all the factors being time. At the same time the author, Mr Heyde, is trying to give the reader a basic understanding of the way man functions at work. The author's basic point of view is that of a work study man, but as a sensible job designer he is not content with the traditional way of arranging tasks. He wants a method based on the operator as a human being, not as a mechanical machine. Mr Heyde has earlier tried to solve this problem by developing an alternative work study principle which was an analysis of work based on what a person did with his body (eg, sit, bend, walk, decide, apply pressure, use eye, put things to destination, etc) instead of the traditional work study elements which observe what is done with the tools and material. He developed a motion-time system called MODAPTS utilising this concept, which was published in 1966 and has been developed further by him since then. This book is a
Applied Ergonomics December 1977
235
step in this development, in which Mr Heyde tries to widen the concept by looking, not just at the duration of the activities involved in the task, but also at all other aspects influencing the task's performance. Consequently the book begins with "A Sensible Task Master's Code" which is 23 paragraphs containing very precise rules about how to arrange tasks. This list is then followed by chapters which briefly discuss the code. They cover the subject in the following sections: 1. Factors influencing task times and error rates. These are presented as 20 factors, grouped under the headings: Excess demands; Unsuitable demands; Unsuitable characteristics; Poor workplaces; and Interruptions. 2. Activities by which workers perform tasks. This chapter is a condensation of the operation of the MODAPTS motion-time work study system. 3. Errors and quality of work. 4. Task design. Here Mr Heyde discusses factors such as: Motivation; Social environment; Management methods; Work organisation; Job-enrichment; and Suitable work patterns.
Nothing is said about the reliability of the tiguics or how they have emerged. The only references given are to the MODAPTS range of books. All figures are given as appropriate for a worker who is suitable for and conditioned to heavy physical work, but it does not say how to deal with all the others. It seems to me that The Sensible Taskmaster is very sensible in regarding human beings as something quite different from machines, but somewhat insensible to them as individuals.
Torgny Veibtlck
Books received Physical work and effort Borg
Pergamon Press, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX30BW, pp 439, £16.00.
5. Energy use, the application of force and disadvantageous positions. This is a presentation of a method developed by Mr Heyde himself for calculating rest allowances for work tasks.
t'roceedings of the first international symposium, held at the Wenner-Gren Centre, Stockholm, on 2 - 4 December 1975.
6. The use of yardsticks. Here he discusses the use of quantitative measures in task design.
Introduction ~ la psycholgie du travail J. Lep/at and X. Cuny
I am not in a position to test the author's recipe for task design, but the impression is that the field has been covered with commendable accuracy.
PressesUniversitairesde France, 90 boulevard St-Germain, 75005 Paris, France. pp 240, paperback.
It is notable how Mr Heyde reflects the socio-technical way of thinking in his discussion of work organisation and work design, covering the most important factors in a very limited space. The tone of the book is rather authoritative and the author presents his statements with very few qualifications.
Physical disability and human behaviour
It might be possible to accept the sacrifice of reservations in order to be clear and concise but it is hard to accept the lack of references. If this book succeeds in creating sensible task masters, which it has the potential to do, it ought to help them find their way to a deeper discussion of the subjects it covers by some well chosen references. A most interesting part of the book is the presentation of Mr Heyde's method of calculating rest-allowances from energy use. He analyses the body movements involved in a task and the loads handled. One score of times for body movements is collected from a table (the time unit being 1/7 s which he equates to the time for one finger-movement). At the same time another score of energy-time units is being compiled based on the energy used by an operator working for 8 h when moving the relevant body parts, carrying loads, accelerating and decelerating loads, etc. Compensations for work periods other than 8 h, environmental heat, etc, can also be included. The greater of these two scores is taken as the time allowed for the task.
236
Applied Ergonomics December 1977
J.w. McDaniel
Pergamon Press, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX3 0BW, pp 182, £5.00 (£2.65 flexicover). Children, the environment and accidents R.H. Jackson (Ed) Pitman Medical Publishing Co Ltd, 42 Camden Rd, Tunbridge
Wells, Kent TN1 2QD, pp 164, £2.95. Noise, buildings and people D.J. Croome
Pergamon Press Ltd, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX3 0BW, pp 620, £25.00 (£15.00 flexicover). Production H.B. Maynard & Co. Edit by R. Tiefenthal McGraw-Hill Book Co (UK) Ltd, ShoppenhangersRd,
Maidenhead, Berks SL6 2QL, pp 182, £4.95 An international appraisal of contemporary manufacturing systems and the changing role of the worker.