Evaluation of systems for piperun installation
(2013) In Other MMK920 20131Innovation
- Abstract
- The purpose of this thesis project was to analyse and evaluate different systems for installation of piperun in ceilings. Main focus lay on how the systems influence the installer from an ergonomic point of view as well as productivity in terms of installation time. Several studies have been performed during this project using a variety of methods such as observations, interviews, questionnaires and hierarchical task analysis. The results from these studies showed that often a variety of different
systems for pipe installations are used. The working conditions of Plumbing and Heating (P&H) installers are very demanding and the categories working
postures/loads/space, climate and lighting conditions are most unsatisfactory. Furthermore... (More) - The purpose of this thesis project was to analyse and evaluate different systems for installation of piperun in ceilings. Main focus lay on how the systems influence the installer from an ergonomic point of view as well as productivity in terms of installation time. Several studies have been performed during this project using a variety of methods such as observations, interviews, questionnaires and hierarchical task analysis. The results from these studies showed that often a variety of different
systems for pipe installations are used. The working conditions of Plumbing and Heating (P&H) installers are very demanding and the categories working
postures/loads/space, climate and lighting conditions are most unsatisfactory. Furthermore 60% of the participants of the questionnaire study had Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) and believed it to be work-related. These results led to the design of a test named Posture and Time study.
During the Posture and Time study three systems for pipe installation were evaluated. System 1 represented a more traditional and inexpensive system, system 2 was intermediate and system 3 represented the most modern and expensive version. The systems were analysed using two methods for posture analysis, Hand Arm Risk assessment Method (HARM) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). A time study was also conducted in order to define the installation times for both systems.
The time study showed that systems 2 and 3 were about equally fast to install while system 1 took about 30 % longer. HARM and REBA both turned out to be to unspecific to define which system was better from an ergonomic aspect although they gave valuable insight to the importance of choosing good working postures. To get objective results of how the systems affect the P&H installer perhaps methods such as Electromyography or Inclinometry could be used. Even though the work posture analysis did not show a clear difference between the three systems, observations and interviews with P&H installers made it clear that they found system 1 to contain too many small parts and operations and therefore found this system harder to install.
All studies performed during this thesis project have been very small in terms of number of participants. The project is therefore to be seen as a pilot study of how an investigation like this could be executed. Results from the studies have, when possible, been compared to statistic data in order to increase the reliability. However if more generalizing results are preferred, the studies need to be larger in scale. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3815208
- author
- Andersson, Veronica LU and Bosson, Magdalena LU
- supervisor
-
- Per Odenrick LU
- organization
- course
- MMK920 20131
- year
- 2013
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Posture analysis, Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD), Pipe installation, HARM, REBA
- publication/series
- Other
- ISSN
- ISRN LUTMDN/TMKT 13/5465 SE
- language
- English
- id
- 3815208
- date added to LUP
- 2013-06-19 10:59:06
- date last changed
- 2013-10-03 12:04:25
@misc{3815208,
abstract = {{The purpose of this thesis project was to analyse and evaluate different systems for installation of piperun in ceilings. Main focus lay on how the systems influence the installer from an ergonomic point of view as well as productivity in terms of installation time. Several studies have been performed during this project using a variety of methods such as observations, interviews, questionnaires and hierarchical task analysis. The results from these studies showed that often a variety of different
systems for pipe installations are used. The working conditions of Plumbing and Heating (P&H) installers are very demanding and the categories working
postures/loads/space, climate and lighting conditions are most unsatisfactory. Furthermore 60% of the participants of the questionnaire study had Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) and believed it to be work-related. These results led to the design of a test named Posture and Time study.
During the Posture and Time study three systems for pipe installation were evaluated. System 1 represented a more traditional and inexpensive system, system 2 was intermediate and system 3 represented the most modern and expensive version. The systems were analysed using two methods for posture analysis, Hand Arm Risk assessment Method (HARM) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). A time study was also conducted in order to define the installation times for both systems.
The time study showed that systems 2 and 3 were about equally fast to install while system 1 took about 30 % longer. HARM and REBA both turned out to be to unspecific to define which system was better from an ergonomic aspect although they gave valuable insight to the importance of choosing good working postures. To get objective results of how the systems affect the P&H installer perhaps methods such as Electromyography or Inclinometry could be used. Even though the work posture analysis did not show a clear difference between the three systems, observations and interviews with P&H installers made it clear that they found system 1 to contain too many small parts and operations and therefore found this system harder to install.
All studies performed during this thesis project have been very small in terms of number of participants. The project is therefore to be seen as a pilot study of how an investigation like this could be executed. Results from the studies have, when possible, been compared to statistic data in order to increase the reliability. However if more generalizing results are preferred, the studies need to be larger in scale.}},
author = {{Andersson, Veronica and Bosson, Magdalena}},
issn = {{ISRN LUTMDN/TMKT 13/5465 SE}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Other}},
title = {{Evaluation of systems for piperun installation}},
year = {{2013}},
}