Ergonomic analysis applied to chemical laboratories on an oil and gas industry

The aim of this paper is to present an ergonomic study applied to chemical laboratories of an oil and gas research center. The ergonomic work analysis was the main methodological approach. The ergonomic study was conducted in thirty laboratories of an oil and gas company in order to analyze current work conditions, redesign and simulate new work environments proposals. The EWA methodology was adapted to cover three stages: 1) reference situation diagnosis and recommendations; 2) ergonomic design concept establishment and 3) evaluation of the new work condition. The results showed that even considering each chemical laboratory specificity, some ergonomic problems were common, such as lack of space between workstations and on the workstation itself; repetitive and static awkward postures as squatting, trunk and neck forward bending, shoulder flexion and abduction over 90 degrees; manual material handling activities, as lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling heavy loads. The recommendations based on the diagnosis were presented in two different tools: a) Reference Human Activities Database tool-applied to work-related situation diagnosis for storing and organizing the reference situations collected data; b) 3D virtual simulation tool.