COMPUTERS,

AUTOMATION AND
ROBOTS
Gaspar, Gio
Israel
Angeles, Deniece

IMPACT OF AUTOMATION ON THE

WORKPLACE

During the age of mechanization,

machines were developed to do work
previously done by humans using hand
tools.

The 1960s saw the beginnings of broadbased efforts at automating mechanical

processes and systems.

IMPACT OF AUTOMATION ON THE

WORKPLACE

Effects of Automation and Integration on workers:

Changing the emphasis from physical work to automated

mechanical work.
Changing the emphasis from physical to mental work.
Categorizing work as either mental or physical.

Intelligence versus labor.

Increasing the level of stress on workers, supervisors,

and managers.
Eliminating some traditional blue-collar jobs that cause morale
problems and decrease employee loyalty.
Making workers feel a loss of control and the onset of
helplessness and powerlessness.

IMPACT OF AUTOMATION ON THE

WORKPLACE

With automation, the rate of change

has increased.

Workers must continually learn & relearn

their jobs with little or no relief.

Automated machines do more of the

work that used to be done by humans.

This can leave workers feeling as if they

may be replaced by a machine and
powerless to do anything about it.

VDTS IN OFFICES AND FACTORIES

A safety & health concern brought about by

the advent of computers has to do with the
impact of video display terminals (VDTs).

Does prolonged use of VDTs cause safety & health

problems?
Are pregnant women who work at VDTs more likely
to miscarry?
Are such problems as eye fatigue, muscle
stiffness,
and mental fatigue caused by VDT use?

VDTS IN OFFICES AND FACTORIES

NIOSH published a study showing that

women who work with VDTs have no greater

risk of miscarriage than those who do not.

NIOSH plans to conduct research into two

additional areas of concern:

Whether VDT use can be tied to birth defects,

premature births, or low birth weight.
Potential risks of extremely low frequency (ELF)
radiation, a type of electromagnetic energy emitted by
VDTs, power lines, electrical wires, and appliances.

VDTS IN OFFICES AND FACTORIES

Research has supported findings that VDT users often

suffer eye-related discomfort and symptoms.

Eye strain caused by prolonged VDT use impairs the visual

health of the operator experiencing the strain.
There is an increased likelihood of accidents caused by
impaired work performance & psychological stress.

Eye functions most noticeably affected by VDT use:

Accommodation - the ability of the eye to become adjusted

after viewing the VDT to focusing on other objects, particularly
objects at a distance.
Convergence - the coordinated turning of the eyes inward to
focus on a nearby point or object.
Lacrimation - is the process of excreting tears.

VDTS IN OFFICES AND FACTORIES

Strategies for reducing physiological/psychological

problems associated with VDT use:

Increasing computer response time.

More frequent breaks from VDT use.
Arranging the keyboard properly so it is located in
front of the user, not to the side.
Encouraging employees to use a soft touch on the keyboard
and when clicking a mouse.
Encouraging employees to avoid wrist resting.
Placing the mouse within easy reach.
Locating the VDT at a proper height and distance.
Minimizing glare, reducing lighting levels, dusting the VDT.
Eliminating telephone cradling.

HUMANROBOT INTERACTION

What makes robots more potentially dangerous than

other machines can be summarized as follows:

Their ability to acquire intelligence through programming.

Flexibility, range of motion, speed of movement & power.

The modern factory is moving toward the following:

Workers will supervise machine systems rather than interact

with individual pieces of production equipment.
Workers will communicate with machines via VDTs
on which complex information will be displayed.
Workers will be supported by expert systems for fault
identification, diagnosis, and repair.
Robots and other intelligent computer-controlled machines will
play an increasingly important role in modern industry.

SAFETY/HEALTH PROBLEMS

SAFETY/HEALTH PROBLEMS

According to the National Safety Council

(NSC) the principal hazards associated
with robots are:

Being struck by a moving robot while inside

the work envelope.
Being trapped between a moving part of a
robot and another machine, object, or surface.
Being struck by a workpiece, tool, or other
object
dropped or ejected by a robot.

SAFETY/HEALTH PROBLEMS

The work envelope of a

robot is the total area
within which the moving
parts of the robot
actually move.

Anytime a worker enters

a functioning robots
work envelope,
probability of an accident
becomes very high.

SAFETY/HEALTH PROBLEMS

The only logical reason for a worker to enter the

work envelope of an engaged robot is to teach it a
new motion.

Many robots use a mode of operation called teach mode.

Unique among industrial equipment as regards safeguarding.

In the teach mode, an operator may be required to place

himself within the operating range of the robot to program
its movements within very close tolerance parameters.
A hazard may arise if the robot goes out of control and
moves in an unpredictable fashion at a high rate of speed.

Teach mode is where the highest degree of hazard exists.

MINIMIZING THE SAFETY/HEALTH

PROBLEMS OF ROBOTS

Strategies for minimizing robot hazards:

Ensure a glare-free, well-lighted robot site.

Keep floors in/around the robot clean & free of obstruction so
workers do not trip or slip into the work envelope.
Keep the robot site free of associated hazards such as blinding
light from welding machines or paint booth vapors.
Equip electrical/pneumatic components with covers/guards.
Clear the work envelope of all nonessential objects and make
sure safeguards are in place before starting.
Apply lockout and proper test procedures before entering the
work envelope.
Remove and account for all tools and equipment used to
maintain the robot before starting it.

SAFETY & HEALTH IN OFFICE

AUTOMATION

The following problems are identified as associated with

office automation:

Eye fatigue, seeing double & complementary colors.

Headache, yawny feelings, unwillingness to talk.
Shoulder & neck fatigue, dryness in the throat.
Sleepy feelings, and whole-body tiredness.

Current scientific research suffers from a lack of

integration & clear definition of what is causing what.

The question facing policy-makers is how best to create

the policy to maintain the current level of creativity and
innovation in the marketplace while not sacrificing the
quality of worklife.

INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE AND ROBOTS

Maladaptation to an automated environment can

manifest itself as:

An urge to quit work or a drop in work performance.

Fatigue; problems with human relations.
Social pathological phenomena such as drug use or crime.
Mood swings; a loss of motivation; and accidents.

Practitioners of industrial medicine are concerned

with improving the relationship between humans
and automated machines by establishing methods
whereby humans can work more adequately with the
machines.

INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE AND ROBOTS

Some recommendations for improving interaction of

humans and robots, computers, & other automated
machines in the high-tech workplace:

Match the human system and the computer system.

Adapt humancomputer interaction to human use.

Encourage recreation, and promote the effective use of nonworking

hours.

Free people from hazardous, dirty, and harmful jobs.

Initiate job-changing opportunities.

Allow suitable rest periods for automated equipment users.

Position machine systems as human-supportive systems.

Shorten working hours and promote work sharing.

Expand human contact.

TECHNOLOGICAL ALIENATION

Some workers have come to resent the impact

of automated technology on their lives, a
concept is known as technological alienation.

Powerlessness is the feeling that workers have when

they are not able to control the work environment.

Powerless workers may feel that they are less important than the
technology, and that they are expendable.

Meaninglessness is the feeling that workers get in jobs so specialized

& technology dependent they cannot see the meaning in their work as
it relates to the finished product.
Normlessness is the phenomenon in which people in a highly
automated environment can become estranged from society.

Normless people lose sight of societies, norms, rules, etc.

TECHNOLOGICAL ALIENATION

In the past, machines have been used to do

physical work previously done by human workers.

With the advent of computers, robots, and automation,

machines began doing mental work.

Mindlessness is the result of the process of dumbing down

the workplace.

The net result is jobs & work environments where

people do not have to use their minds or think to
do their workwhere computers, robots, and other
forms of high technology do the thinking.

Mindlessness on the job can lead to an increase in alcoholism,

drug abuse, theft, work-related accidents, absenteeism, sick
leave abuse, turnover rates, etc.

MINIMIZING THE PROBLEMS OF

AUTOMATION

A pressing need is to identify and minimize the new

safety & health problems specifically associated with
automation.
A sociotechnical system theory for doing this has
been developed, which consists of the following:

Variance control, boundary location, work group

organization, management support, design process,
and quality of work life.

The various components in the sociotechnical system

theory explain what must happen if humans and
technological systems are going to work together
harmoniously and safely.

MINIMIZING THE PROBLEMS OF

AUTOMATION

The components can be summarized as follows:

Variance control involves controlling the unexpected events

that can be introduced by new technologies.
Boundary location involves the classification of work.

What specific tasks are included in an employees job description?

Work group organization involves identifying tasks a work

group is to perform & how they are to be performed.
Management support states that managers must be willing
to accept occasional temporary declines in productivity
without resorting to shortcuts or improvement efforts
that may be unsafe or unhealthy.

Management must be willing to emphasize safety in spite of

temporary declines in productivity.

MINIMIZING THE PROBLEMS OF

AUTOMATION

The components can be summarized as follows:

The design process component refers to the
ability of
an organization to design itself in ways that
promote productivity, quality, competitiveness,
safety, and health.

Quality of work life involves determining ways

to promote the morale and best interests of
workers.
Ensure that people control systems rather than
vice versa.

SAFETY MEASURES FOR AUTOMATED

SYSTEMS

Examples of safety measures that can be used at the

technological systems level include:

A safety fence around to define the work envelope.

Installation of an emergency stop device colored red and placed

in an easily accessible location

Control of the speed of movement of system components

when working inside the work fence.
Location of the system control panel outside the safety fence

Establishment of automatic shutdown that activates any time a

component goes beyond its predetermined operational range

Training operators to work safely within the work envelope and

work as a team when interacting with the system.
Training maintenance workers on the technical aspects of
maintaining all machines and equipment.

CHALLENGE FOR THE FUTURE

The future holds many problems to be addressed:

Increasingly intense international competition may magnify

the tendency for companies to neglect safety & health
precautions in favor of short-term productivity gains.
Mental stress is likely to increase as automated manipulation
of information forces workers to try continually to handle too
much poorly understood. information.
Automation and competition are likely to increase anxiety as
workers are required to make split-second decisions.

Knowing their action/inaction may have dire consequences.

New occupational diseases relating to mental, visual, and

musculoskeletal problems may arise.

CHALLENGE FOR THE FUTURE

Strategies for enhancing the safety & health of

tomorrows automated workplace:

Technological systems and processes must be designed to

take into account the physical, mental, and emotional
needs of human workers.
Workers will need training and continual retraining to
effectively & efficiently operate technological systems.

And interact with them from the perspective of mastery rather

than inadequacy.

Quality of work life as well as safety/health considerations

will have to receive as much attention in the design and
implementation of automated systems and processes as
do economic and technological concerns.

ISO STANDARD 9001:2000

Since December 2003, the Automation and Robotics
Laboratories(ARL)hold a certification of conformity to
the Management System Standard ISO 9001:2000.
The certificate has been issued by Det Norske Veritas
(DNV), one of the leading world-wide registrars for ISO
certification.
The Scope of the certification are the Services provided by
the Laboratories in the frame of:
Automation and Robotics concepts definition, breadboarding and demonstration for ESA/ESTEC internal
customers;
Project support and public relations demonstrations for
external organizations