ABSTRACT
A tabular format for multi-criteria decision analysis is provided as a method for quickly and correctly performing ergonomic problem solving. Incorrect decisions concerning Ergonomics can be costly for an employer, so it is important to properly analyze costs and other factors to achieve an optimal decision. By using weighted evaluation of alternatives, a practical and efficient model is provided for decision makers in industry. For decisions related to occupational safety and health, other models focus on economic decision factors and offer good methods of correctly analyzing costs and benefits to reach an appropriate economic decision. Unfortunately, such models give little insight for practical inclusion of intangible decision factors. To fill this void, a strong emphasis of this writing is to provide a decision method that allows practical and efficient consideration of both economic factors (net present value of cost, quality, etc.) and intangible factors (production flexibility, employee morale, public image, etc.) for high-level strategic decisions concerning Ergonomics. Also, the model readily allows making detail-level decisions to select the optimal combination of engineering solutions (for example, new designs, tools, layouts, methods, etc.) and administrative controls (job rotation, rest breaks, training, etc.).
