Improving ergonomics in the meat industry: A case study of an Italian ham processing company

Meat processing is a labor-intensive industry dealing with manual handling of heavy loads of meat at high frequency. Meat processing workers are under pressure to maintain high rates of work, performing arduous repetitive motions while keeping awkward postures. Ergonomic risk assessments reveal that manual material handling and repetitive tasks expose meat-processing workers to high physical risk. This paper investigates the impact of automated technology on manual ham-deboning lines in the meat-processing industry. The aim is to study the effects of automation on the work system and layout, analyzing the economic and ergonomic impact of semi-automatic ham deboning lines. The study introduces a non-safety cost model for the comparative and sensitive analysis of manual and semiautomatic ham deboning systems, including the cost of non-safety. The model is tested with a case study from an Italian ham processing company. The reference manual ham-deboning line is introduced, together with a new layout proposal involving the adoption of a semi-automatic ham-deboning machine. Results reveal the positive impact of the semi-automatic ham-deboning system on the company's profitability and workers' ergonomics. As a consequence, automated technology leads to economic and ergonomic benefits for workers, employers and customers.