Assessment and prediction of industrial workers' fatigue in an overhead assembly job

Abstract

This paper intends to predict time-related fatigue experienced among workers involved in the overhead assembly of submersible pumps. Borg’s CR-10 scale, the Samn-Perelli fatigue scale (SPFS), and dimensions of the Swedish occupational fatigue inventory (SOFI) were used to assess and predict fatigue. The results of a temporal analysis indicate that fatigue levels in this type of job increase throughout the work at a diminishing rate. Exploratory analysis revealed that Borg’s CR-10 scale is more reliable than SPFS in predicting fatigue. It was also observed that the physical discomfort dimension of SOFI is the predominant one for predicting fatigue in the selected task. Older and more experienced groups of workers showed significantly increased fatigue, while body mass index (BMI)- based groups did not show such differences.

Keywords

• Samn-Perelli fatigue scale
• fatigue
• industrial workers
• Borg’s CR-10 scale