JOB

REDESIGN

for OLDER

WORKERS

TEN C A S E ST U D IE S

BULLETIN NO. 1523

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Sponsored by: OFFICE OF MANPOWER POLICY, EVALUATION, AND RESEARCH

Prepared by: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary

Curtis C. Aller, Director

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JOB

REDESIGN

for OLDER

WORKERS

T E N CASE STU D IE S

r g T

Bulletin No. 1523

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Sponsored by: OFFICE OF MANPOWER POLICY, EVALUATION, AND RESEARCH

Prepared by: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary

Curtis C. Aller, Director

Arthur M. Ross, Commissioner

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price 40 cents

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P refa ce

With 40 percen t of the labor fo rce m ade up of w ork ers 45 yea rs of 

age and o v er, redesigning job s to accom m odate the actual ca p acities of older 

w ork ers is attracting in creasin g in terest. It is com ing to be recog n ized 

both as a p ra ctica l need under current conditions of shortages of experien ced 

w ork ers and as an opportunity for translating enlightened socia l p olicy into 

action.

In his 1965 rep ort to C on gress, The O lder A m erica n W ork er, S e cr e ­

tary of L abor W . W illard W irtz stated that "L a b or and M anagem ent m ust be 

re lie d on to w ork out techniques to help old er w ork ers m eet the requirem en ts 

of new j-obs w hile they are still em ployed, " including techniques, "fp r the 

redesign of job s to perm it greater num bers of old er w ork ers to function e ffe c ­

tively and at high lev els of productivity. "

T his bulletin was p repared by the Bureau of L abor Statistics under 

con tract to the O ffice of M anpower P o licy , Evaluation, and R esea rch , under 

title*I of the M anpower D evelopm ent and Training A ct, P .L . 87-415. It was 

undertaken as part o f the U .S . Departm ent of L a b o r’ s program to prom ote 

the full use of all our human re so u rce s, as recom m en ded by the P residen t 

in his 1966 M anpower R ep ort.

The p ro je ct was ca rrie d out in the O ffice of P rod u ctivity, T ech n ology, 

and Growth, Jerom e A . M ark, A ssistan t C om m ission er. It was d irected by 

H erm an M . Sturm , under the general supervision of Edgar W einberg, C hief, 

D ivision of T ech n olog ica l Studies. The ca se studies w ere p rep a red by 

H erm an R othberg and Edw ard M itnick. Staff o f the D ivision of O ccupational 

A n a ly sis, the U .S . E m ploym ent S erv ice, and the O ffice of M anpower P o lic y , 

Evaluation,and R esea rch w ere consulted in the planning of this study.

The B ureau of L abor Statistics is deeply grateful to the 10 com panies 

w hich coop era ted in the detailed ca se studies and to sev era l hundred com p a ­

nies who rep lied to a letter of inquiry.

iii

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Contents

Page

In trod u ction -------------------------------------------------------- 1

O bjectives o f the s t u d y ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Method of s t u d y - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2

R elation to other studies --------------- 3

Summary and conclusion s ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

Case studies of job redesign fo r older w ork ers:

Crane op erator at a slag plant ----------------------------------------- ----------------- 10

E le ctric m otor repairm an at an a ircra ft engine p l a n t-------------------- 14

P a ck er-sh ip p er at an aluminum fram e p l a n t-------------- --------------------- 21

Die p ress operator at a stamping p la n t ----------------------------------------- 24

M aterials handlers at a carpet plant --------- 26

T op -stitch w ork ers at a footw ear fa ctory - ---------------------------------------- 29

P re s s operator at a novelty products m anufacturing p l a n t ------------- 32

G rinders at a fo u n d r y --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35

W irecutter and p orters at an instrum ent fa ctory ---------------------------- 40

C ircuit assem by w ork ers in a com puter plant -------------------------------- 43

Appendixe s :

A . U nion-industry sponsored rehabilitation p r o j e c t ---------------------- 46

B. L etter to c o m p a n ie s ------------------- 48

C. C hecklist fo r study of job redesign for old er w ork ers ---------- 50

Selected annotated bibliography on older w ork er em ploym ent and job

redesign ------------------------------------------ 54

V

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JOB REDESIGN FOR OLDER WORKERS: TEN CASE STUDIES

Introduction

M axim um use of available m anpow er re so u rce s b ecom es in cre a singly im portant as the U .S . econom y begins to operate at full capacity. 

W aste of m anpow er through a rb itra ry and d iscrim in atory p ra ctice s tow ard 

particular groups of em ployees often resu lts from la ck of knowledge about 

how to use cap acities of w ork ers who have sp ecific p rob lem s. D eclining 

physical cap acities of older individuals are exam ples of such p rob lem s.

One approach is to rea ssig n older w ork ers to positions which p r e ­

sum ably m ake few er physical or sen sory demands at the sam e or low er pay. 

R eassignm ent often involves retraining to m eet the requirem ents of the new 

jo b s.

A nother approach is to retire the older w ork er, at a full or reduced 

pension. Many private pension plans provide fo r disability retirem en t at any 

age, but w ork ers m ust usually have at least 15 years of se rv ice . E a rly r e tir e ­

m ent ra re ly begins b efore age 55 and usually req u ires a reduction in pension 

benefits.

A third approach is to elim inate certain ph ysical or perceptual 

demands of the job that crea te stress for the old er w o r k e r --b y m odifying 

equipm ent, or rearranging w orkflow . The resu lt is that old er w ork ers can 

p erform m ore ea sily the rem aining tasks. Job redesign and reassignm ent 

are the only approaches in which the old er w ork er who cannot keep up with 

his old job m ay continue w orking for the sam e em ployer.

This rep ort presents inform ation about the experien ce of com panies 

who have been su ccessfu l in redesigning jobs for old er w o rk e rs. The in troduction d escrib es the scope and m ethods of the study. The sum m ary p resents 

the findings and con clu sion s. Ten ca se studies form the body of the rep ort.

A sp ecial ca se sum m arizing a study of a u n ion -sp on sored program is p r e ­

sented in the appendix. A lso in the appendix are an annotated bibliography of 

refe re n ce s on job red esign and other aspects of older w ork ers em ploym ent, 

the letter of inquiry to com p an ies, and the ch eck list of questions u6ed in 

interview s during the study.

O bjectives of the Study

The focu s of the study is on actual m ethods of job red esign used by 

U .S . com panies and the experien ces of those com panies who have salvaged 

the skills of old er em ployees through jo b redesign.

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The sp ecific ob jectiv es o f the study are tw ofold; first, to ascerta in 

the existence of sp ecific ca ses of job red esign for old er w ork ers in A m erica n 

plants. W hile industry generally reen gin eers job s to in crea se efficien cy and 

low er co sts, it is uncertain whether m uch attention is given to redesign to 

accom m odate the redu ced cap acities of older w ork ers. The initial ob jectiv e 

in this study was to loca te sp ecific ca se s of job redesign that m ight be studied 

in detail.

The ultim ate ob jectiv e was to obtain detailed inform ation about actual 

ca se s of job red esign that would indicate to em ployers the type of job s and 

w ork ers involved; changes that have been m ade; and the benefits, co sts, and 

p rob lem s resulting from job redesign.

M ethod of Study: The study was ca rrie d on in two phases. F irs t, a m a il 

canvass of 500 com pan ies was m ade to loca te p ossib le ca ses of jo b red esign 

which could be studied m ore intensively through person al v isits. A list o f 

500 com panies w as drawn from the Fortune Plant and P roduct D irectory o f 

the 1,000 L a rgest U. S. Industrial C orporation s, Beginning with' the firs t 

entry, alternate selection s w ere m ade throughout the list o f com pan ies. T hese 

corp ora tion s em ploy a substantial p roportion of all fa ctory em ployees in the 

United States. M ost of the com panies selected had m any establishm ents, va rying in size from le s s than 100 to m any thousands o f em p loyees. The C om m ission er o f L abor Statistics sent a letter explaining the study to the president o f 

each com pany. F ive exam ples of jo b red esign for old er w ork ers w ere attached 

to the letter . (See appendix B .)

In addition, the resea rch staff review ed the extensive literatu re on 

em ploym ent of older w o rk e rs. T hey contacted com pany, union, un iversity, 

and other experts who m ight know of exam ples of jo b redesign and p ra ctices 

used. The p ro je ct w as announced and d escrib ed at the 1966 National C on ference on M anpower Training and the O lder W ork er, sp on sored by the National 

C ouncil on A ging. N otices about the study w ere published in the National 

A ssocia tion o f M anufacturers* M onthly N ew sletter, the Journal of O ccupational 

M ed icin e, The G eron tologist, and the Journal of Industrial E ngineering.

Several other journals in field s of industrial m edicine and g eria trics w ere 

in form ed about the study. The A dm inistration on A ging of the D epartm ent of 

Health, Education, and W elfa re, through its field staff, coop era ted in seeking 

exam ples of jo b red esign fo r the study.

A total of 284 rep lies or 56 percent of the com panies contacted 

responded to the m a il can vass. No follow up was m ade of nonrespondents 

becau se it was presum ed that they did not have pertinent exp erien ces to 

rep ort. No ca se s suitable for case study w ere obtained from sou rces other 

than the m ail ca n va ss.

Of the 284 respondents, only a sm all num ber indicated that they had 

red esign ed job s sp e cifica lly fo r old er w o rk e rs. M any had rea ssign ed old er 

w ork ers to le s s strenuous job s in the sam e plant. Som e com panies set aside

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sp ecific job s fo r older w orkers* Several m ade job tra n sfers in accord a n ce 

with colle ctiv e bargaining contract provisions* A few re lie d on ea rly r e tir e ­

m ent plans to handle aging w ork ers declining capacity.

The secon d phase of the study con sisted of intensive studies of the 

10 ca se s at the plants which had redesigned job s for old er w ork ers. Two 

investigators visited each com pany and interview ed plant o fficia ls . A ch eck ­

list was used in the interview s and is shown in appendix C.

The interview s w ere conducted with plant m anagers, personn el 

d ire cto rs, m edical staff, and safety engineers* Plant v isits, w hich included 

observation or d iscu ssion s with the w ork ers affected, took from 1 to 2 days*

E ach of the ca se studies in this .report presents the inform ation under 

four m a jor subjects: d escrip tion of the establishm ent; d escrip tion of jo b p rior

to redesign; recognition of need to redesign the job; and the nature and resu lts 

of the red esign . Each of the ca se studies is p refa ced by a sum m ary.

In addition to the ca se studies made through p ersonal v isits, appendix 

A presents the experien ce of a u n ion -sp on sored p roject for retaining on -th ejob older w ork ers who have lim ited functional ca p a cities. This study was 

based on d iscu ssion s with the p roject d ire cto rs.

R elation to Other Studie s

This study p rovides detailed inform ation, based on person al in terview s, on exam ples of job redesign for older w o r k e r s --a subject w hich h ith erto has been d iscu ssed la rg ely in abstract term s. In 1933, a study, The O lder 

W orker in Industry, was p repared for the New Y ork State C om m ission on Old 

A ge Security* This study d escrib ed the advantages of retaining the older 

w orker on his job as his capacity declined. It recom m en ded tra n sferrin g 

part of the job to other w ork ers and providing m echanical d evices for the 

conveyance of heavy m a teria ls.

In 1954, the New Y ork L egislative C om m ittee on P rob lem s of Aging 

undertook a m a il survey of about 500 establishm ents in New Y ork State. The 

study found num erous ca ses of job reassignm ent but only a few exam ples of 

job s redesigned sp ecifica lly for older w ork ers.

In recent y ea rs, the O rganization for E con om ic C ooperation and 

Developm ent (OECD) has sponsored various p rojects on job red esign for 

older w ork ers, including sem in ars, resea rch rep orts, and ca se studies 

(including this study) in sev era l cou n tries. The OECD publications are listed 

in the annotated bibliography presented in the appqhdix. The ch eck list used 

in this study was based on a questionnaire developed in the OECD p rogra m .

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Studies of job redesign for older w ork ers m ay be view ed as a special 

aspect of the broad and growing field of human engineering, som etim es ca lled 

‘'erg on om ics. n Human engineering studies take account of scien tific data on 

the actual physical lim itations of w ork ers, young or old, as they relate to 

requirem ents of the job* ’’E rg on om ics” m ay alter the job in ord er to im prove 

the w o rk e r’ s p erform an ce and efficien cy while m inim izing the physical strains 

or hazards to w hich he is exposed. A pplications of human engineering usually 

rem ove those elem ents of job s which are p articu larly difficult for older w ork ­

e rs; at the sam e tim e they provide som e benefit to younger w ork ers.

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Sum m ary and C onclusions

S everal findings on p ra ctices of job red esign affecting older w ork ers 

in A m erica n industry em erged from this study. The follow ing sum m ary 

presents conclusion s based m ainly on 10 ca se studies, and on inform ation 

obtained in the m ail canvass, interview s, and other contacts with m anagem ent during the p relim in a ry phase o f the study* Since the ca ses studied are 

not a scien tific sam ple, the findings are illu strative rather than definitive.

1* Jobs are being red esign ed constantly to im prove e fficien cy , but only 

occa sion a lly to adapt the job to the lim itations of older w o rk e rs. M anagem ent often changes the content of job s to m echanize and to im prove m ethods 

of production* Both old and young w ork ers benefit from any reduction in 

lifting, ca rryin g, stretching, prolonged standing, and other fatiguing tasks. 

O lder w ork ers derive the greatest benefits from such changes since physical 

stress a ffects them m ore than young w ork ers. Although it is frequently d ifficult to determ ine the dominant m otive for job red esign , in som e ca se s the 

sp ecific purpose was to ease the strain of the jo b on older w ork ers.

2. Job redesign for older w ork ers has been ca rrie d out in lar^e and sm all 

establishm ents, and in a wide variety of m anufacturing in d u stries. C ases of 

job redesign w ere found "in plants producing a ircra ft engines, aluminum fra m ­

ing, building m a teria ls, ca rp ets, com pu ters, copper pipefittings, footw ear, 

heavy iron pipe, p re cisio n instrum ents, and printed n ov elties. The size of 

the total w ork fo r c e in these plants varied fro m few er than one hundred 

em ployees to severa l thousand em ployees*

3. Job red esign has been applied in a range of jo b s, affecting individuals 

with varying person al ch a ra cte ristics. Som e older w ork ers w hose job s w ere 

redesign ed w ere em ployed in low -p a id job s such as p orters; others w ere 

sem isk illed m achine op era tors; and a few w ere highly sk illed cra ftsm en .

M ost of the w ork ers affected w ere old er m en and wom en w hose physical co n ­

dition had not affected substantially their job p erform an ce, but there w ere 

severa l ca ses of w ork ers w hose ailm ents had significantly reduced their w ork 

capacity.

4. Inform al actions by forem en or plant m anagers to m odify job s to older 

w ork ers cap acities w ere the typical ca se; form a l p rogram s w ere le s s fr e ­

quent. One ca se study d escrib es a form a l program fo r job adaptation to the 

functional capacity of w ork ers, involving the participation of m ed ical and 

other sp ecia lized authorities at a large a ircra ft engine p rod u cer. Other 

large A m erica n corp ora tion s have sim ilar form a l p rog ra m s. Job redesign 

to im prove efficien cy of a sp ecific aging w orker or group of w ork ers, or to 

retain on the job an old er w orker who had suffered som e type of illn ess was 

m ore com m on* In these ca se s, plant m anagers and forem en initiated the 

redesign, som etim es with the help of m ethods engineers, and in som e ca se s, 

with arrangem ents fo r inform ing the union.

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5* Changing the content of job s in conjunction with equipment im provem ent 

was one of the approaches fallow ed in job red esign . Another approach w as 

rea lloca tion of duties am ong w ork ers on an operation to adapt p articular job s 

to the capacity of older w o rk e rs. Som e case studies d escrib e the effects oi 

m echanization in m aking w ork ea sier for old er w ork ers. In other ca se s, 

p articu larly strenuous tasks w ere rem oved from the older w ork ers and 

assigned to younger w ork ers of the sam e w ork group.

6. Job red esign for older w ork ers usually involved v ery little m oney outlay 

for new equipm ent, and sca rce ly any lo ss in output due to w ork interruption. 

M ost of tlie ca se s of job redesign required! either rearrangem ents of w ork 

assignm ents or slight changes in w ork areas or layouts. Expenditures for 

equipm ent w ere m in or and p ra ctica lly no lo s s of production tim e was involved. 

The few ca ses in w hich m a jor investm ents for new equipm ent w ere req u ired 

usually reflected n orm al costs of introducing im proved m achinery or tech ­

niques. The study was not intended to determ ine whether any com panies w ere 

d eterred from m aking job changes by cost con sid era tion s. Only su ccessfu l 

exam ples of job redesign w ere sought.

7. Job red esign fo r old er w ork ers generally resu lted in im proved p rod u ctivityl In severa l ca se s, a substantial rise in output per m an-hour in the 

operation resu lted from job redesign; in no ca se was productivity a d versely 

affected. The quality of the w ork im proved in som e ca se s. M echanization 

of w ork p reviou sly done by hand resu lted in v ery la rg e labor savings. Significant productivity gains also resu lted from rearrangem ent or rea lloca tion 

of tasks among groups of old and young w o rk e rs.

8. M echanization, which was involved in job redesign for som e old er w o r k e rs , 

resu lted in displacem ent of w ork ers in som e ca ses; reassignm ent or r e tir e ­

m ent for o th e rs. In severa l ca se s, changes in production m ethods not only 

reduced labor requirem ents per unit, but actually elim inated som e jo b s . In 

all such instances, the w ork ers affected w ere either reassign ed to other job s 

or retired on pensions. The rea ssign ed w ork ers usually w ere tra n sferred to 

job s in w hich there was le ss physical strain than in their form er jo b s.

9. Job red esign has som e advantages for both the older w orker and m anagem ent over the p ra ctice of reassign ing older w ork ers to other jo b s . The ca se s 

re fle ct these advantages. he older w orker is kept on a job lie ’knows, in his 

cu stom ary w ork p la ce, rather than being shifted to w ork and surroundings 

with w hich he is un fam iliar. He continues to use his sk ills, thereby m aintaining his m ora le and avoiding reduction of earning cap acity. Skilled em ployees 

whose capacity is declining can be retained w here no job openings are available to which such em ployees could be rea ssign ed, or w here ea rly retirem ent 

is not fea sib le. M anagem ent can avoid expensive labor turnover, and often 

can achieve higher productivity.

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10* W ider dissem ination of inform ation about jo b redesign is needed* F indings of the m ail canvass and interview s suggest that m any m anagers are not 

acquainted with the advantages of p rogram s for job redesign as a sp e cific 

approach to dealing with p roblem s of the declining capacity of older w ork ers 

A substantial num ber of firm s reported that they often tran sfer or rea ssign 

(and som etim es retrain) older w ork ers who can no longer m eet the re q u ire ­

m ents of their job s to le s s demanding work* The corresp on d en ce and conver 

sations showed that m any o fficia ls are interested in learning m ore about the 

potential of the job red esign approach*

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Case Studies of Job R edesign fo r O lder W orkers

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Crane O perator at a Slag Plant

Introduction and Summ ary

An e le ctric locom otive crane op era tor, 56 yea rs of age, who had 

been disabled fo r alm ost 2 y e a rs, sought to return to his jo b . The plant 

superintendent recogn ized that the p h ysical strains of the w ork would need to 

be reduced, and arranged for installing m echanical footbrakes and pneum atic 

crane hoist con trols on the crane to replace h a rd -to -w o rk brakes and manual 

hoist con trols. These changes enabled the operator to return to w ork.

D escrip tion of the E stablishm ent

The plant is engaged p rim a rily in p rocessin g slag (a residue of iron 

m elting operations) from a nearby steel m ill to produce various types of 

aggregate for use in read y-m ixed con crete and fo r other p u rp oses. P r o c ­

essing activities are spread over a 5 -a cre area, in an open ny a rd n operation 

em bracing severa l stru ctu res, piles of aggregate, and lines of railroad 

tra ck s. Cranes are used to m ove slag and raw m aterials in and out of the 

yard.

A total of 47 m ale em ployees w ork at the plant. Thirty-nine are 

em ployed in various production activities (p rocess and m aintenance).

E leven of these are unskilled la b o re rs. There are eight em ployees engaged 

in nonproduction a ctivities (executive, su p erv isory, and c le r ic a l). Only the 

unskilled jobs allow em ployees to interchange w ork.

T h ree-fou rth s of the plant em ployees ranged between the ages of 

50 and 60, and four em ployees w ere over 60 yea rs of age.

The plant does not have a personn el departm ent, nor does it em ploy 

an on -site d octor, nurse, or safety representative. The plant superintendent 

takes care of all personn el p roblem s and is expert in first aid and safety 

m a tters. R epresentatives of the central office personn el departm ent, including a fu ll-tim e safety o ffic e r , frequently visit this plant. There are no form a l 

training p rog ra m s. A new em ployee w ill spend about 6 w eeks on the job under 

the supervision of an experienced em ployee.

D escrip tion of Job P r io r to R edesign

The job redesign pertains to the w ork of the operator of the e le ctric 

locom otive crane. The crane is at least 40 years old. Its cla m sh ell-typ e 

lift bucket has a 2 -cu b ic-y a rd capacity; total weight handling capacity of the 

crane is 30 tons. The crane is used to load and unload different sizes of slag 

aggregate in open top railroad ca rs.

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P rio r to the redesign of his job, the crane op erator exerted m uch 

physical effort working in the cab of the crane. To enter the cab, the op e ra ­

tor clim bed a short step-up ladder* He m anually pushed and pulled three 

long-handled lev ers to actuate the boom s (i. e. , h oists) which either ra ised , 

low ered, or m oved sideways the clam sh ell scoop -lik e bucket. One lev er 

con trolled the m ain boom or hoist; the second, an auxiliary hoist; and the 

third, a swing boom . He a lso m anipulated a lev er to m ove the locom otive 

crane car forw ard or backw ard along the track (th ird -ra il pow ered). To 

apply a braking action involved alm ost continuous use of two frictio n clutch 

footbrak es, on which the operator had to place his full body weight while 

standing* Although he had a stool available, he seldom sat down. To operate 

these lev ers and brakes he exerted considerable p h ysical strength, using arm , 

leg, back, and other m u scles constantly. In the o p e r a to r s own w ord s, he 

nfought the m achine all day. 11

The cla ssifica tion of the operator of the e le ctric locom otive crane 

was one grade below the highest fo r d irect production w o rk e rs, and the hourly 

rate of pay was just 3 percent le s s . Skill ratings and pay rates are established 

by collective bargaining between the com pany and the union.

E xperien ce at the job , m uscular strength, and dexterity w ere prim e 

requisites for good p erform a n ce. The job entailed a substantial amount of 

resp on sibility. C arelessn ess could result in injury or death to the crane 

operator or oth ers. H ow ever, there had not been any accident during the 5 

years p rior to ea rly 1966, when an em ployee, stepping down from the crane 

cab, slipped and sprained his ankle. R espon sibility for dam age could range 

from $ 2 ,0 0 0 to $ 10,000, in m aterial and equipment co sts. Inattentiveness 

or inexperience could result in dumping wrong sizes of aggregate on piles of 

already sorted aggregate, necessitating costly rescreen in g.

The operator w orked in an en closed cab which shielded him from the 

dust resulting from the dumping and piling of slag aggregate. T here w ere 

only one e le ctric locom otive crane and one locom otive crane op era tor. The 

job of the operator was w ork er-p a ced , in repeated sh ort-ru n cy cle s , on a 

continuing a ll-d a y , on e-sh ift b a sis.

R ecognition of Need to R edesign the Job

The e le ctric locom otive crane op era tor, who was 54 y ea rs of age and 

had w orked as a crane operator fo r m ost of his 25 y ea rs of se rv ice with the 

com pany, had developed a painful skin condition on his legs and thighs. He 

lost strength, was having trouble standing throughout the day, and his w ork 

output declined. The doctor diagnosed an infection and p re scrib e d m edication . 

Follow ing a 4-m onth absen ce, he returned to w ork fo r a m onth, could not do 

his job , and left again.

He applied for and received disability benefits under the F ederal 

O ld -A ge, S u rvivors, and D isability Insurance B enefits. A pparently he hoped 

to return to w ork eventually and did not apply for benefits under the plant1 s

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pension system . The collectiv e bargaining agreem ent provides fo r an old -age 

pension with m axim um m onthly paym ent at age 65, if the w ork er has had 30 

yea rs of se rv ice . L e sse r sums are paid with few er y ea rs of s e rv ic e . The 

m inim um serv ice requirem ent is 15 years and retirem ent is com p u lsory at 

age 70* P rov ision s fo r early retirem ent of disabled w o rk e rs, on full pension, 

require 15 years of continuous em ploym ent. The com pany also pays for group 

life insurance and hospital and su rgical benefits fo r its em p loyees. These 

benefits are paid in addition to F ed eral Social Security paym ents.

When the leg condition responded to m edication in 1964, 21 m onths 

after he left, he requested reem ploym ent at his old job . He was now 56 yea rs 

old. He would have to w ork in a sitting position m uch of the tim e because his 

legs w ere still weak.

R eassignm ent to another job in the plant was not fea sib le because all 

other job s at the plant required standing m ost of the day. M oreov er, the 

plant superintendent wanted to use the m an's skill as a locom otive crane o p e ra ­

tor; replacem ents had not been altogether sa tisfa ctory. Neither the crane 

o p e ra to rTs helper nor a m ore experien ced substitute was able to m aintain 

output during peak load p eriod s.

The com pany solved the p roblem by redesigning the job of the crane 

op era tor, rehiring the m an who had been ill, and reassigning his tem p orary 

replacem ent to a job elsew here in the plant.

Nature and R esults of the R edesign

To perm it the operator to sit in the cab during m ost of the day 

required that the locom otive crane con trols and brakes be m odified. The 

plant superintendent and a m aintenance shop leadm an knew of the im p ro v e ­

m ents in control d evices that are standard equipm ent on m ore recent m odels 

of cra n es. They found that these d e v ic e s --e a s ily operated m echanical fo o tbrakes and pneum atic co n tro ls --co u ld be substituted fo r the friction clutch 

footbrakes and lo n g -lev ered manual con trols with which the crane had been 

equipped origin ally. The plant superintendent issued a shop ord er for the 

new p arts, and for skilled w orker tim e in the m aintenance shop to install 

them- P rocu rem en t of the n ecessa ry parts required about 2 w eeks. Actual 

installation of the parts on the crane was p erform ed ov er a w eekend, so there 

was no interruption in the use of the crane. C ost of the change, including 

parts and labor co sts, amounted to approxim ately $500.

The operator now m anipulates short airp ow ered lev ers or valves to 

w ork the clam sh ell bucket and to m ove the crane along the track. He no 

lon ger has to reach, pull, and push lo n g -lev ered handles. Slight p ressu re on 

the valves actuates the b oom s. The new er m echanical brakes require v ery 

little pedal effort, enabling the operator to sit at his job m ost of the day.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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There was no p roblem of retraining the reh ired op erator when he 

returned to w ork. The changes involved in the job redesign took place 

without any consultation between the plant m anager and the union. The 

w orker was reinstated to his previous job cla ssifica tion and pay rate lev el.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
E le ctric M otor R epairm an at an A ircra ft Engine Plant

Introduction and Sum m ary

In 1965, a 46 y e a r-o ld e le ctric m otor repairm an at an a ircra ft 

engine plant suffered a heart attack* A fter an absence of several m onths, 

he re co v e re d sufficiently to return to work* He had been req u ired p re v iou sly to do a con siderable amount of standing, clim bing, lifting, and walking 

through the plant during the day* F ollow ing consultation am ong the p la n ts 

m ed ical staff, safety engineer, and the forem an of the m otor rep a ir group, 

as part of the plant *s thorough job placem ent p rogram , his job w as redesign ed 

to reduce its physical demands* Clim bing was elim inated. He no longer 

m oved around the plant; he had to do little lifting; and he could sit frequently.

He continued to use his sk ills as b efore, and retained his regular job c la s s ification without reduction in wage rate.

D escrip tion of the Plant

The plant m anufactures a ircra ft engines and com ponent parts. It 

co v e rs 5 m illion square feet of flo o r space, and includes m any different units, 

such as job shops, assem b ly lin es for engine assem bling, and other custom 

and m ass production layouts.

In ea rly 1966, this plant em ployed m any thousands of em ployees, 

tw o-th irds of whom w ere ,rhou rly,r rated or production w ork ers; the rest w ere 

"sa la rie d " or nonproduction em p loyees. Men com p rised about 90 percent of 

the hourly w ork ers and 77 percent of the large salaried fo r c e .

M any job s in the plant ca ll for the sam e sk ills, so em ployees can be 

shifted read ily am ong sem isk illed and unskilled jo b s . F orm a l training includes 

apprenticeship p rog ra m s for m achinists, electricia n s, and sim ilar types of 

fully sk illed journeym en . Other training for w ork ers is in form al, o n -th e -jo b , 

and ranges from sev era l days for unskilled w ork ers, to sev era l m onths for 

som e sem isk illed jo b s.

The P erson n el Departm ent of the plant em ploys about 500 people, 

including approxim ately 90 em ployees in its M edical Unit (10 d octors, 50 

nu rses and 30 n u rses1 aid es, m ed ical tech n ologists, e tc.) and about 40 

em ployees in a Health and Safety E ngineering Unit. T hese units pertain to 

plant safety m ea su res, em ployee health and safety p ra ctice s, and form the 

nucleus for the job placem ent p rogram . A s part of the com pany*s thorough 

job analysis and placem ent system , safety engineers of the Health and Safety 

E ngineering Unit are each assigned to w ork with personn el in the M edical 

Unit. They a lso w ork with approxim ately 50 shop forem en , on all a rra n g em ents for initial w ork er placem ent, and handle p roblem s of em ployee job 

retention, reh irin g, and tra n sfer.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
15

The em ployee participates in the com pany’ s pension plan after 2 

years of serv ice provided he has reached age 30, otherw ise he shares after 

5 years of service* N orm al retirem en t occu rs at 65 yea rs of age. At age 

65, after at least 20 years of serv ice as a participant in the coop erative 

retirem en t-in com e plan, or at age 55 after 10 years of serv ice as a p a rticipant, certain benefit options are available. T hese benefits are p rovided in 

addition to F ed eral old -a g e and disability insurance paym ents.

C urrently, it is m ore difficult for the com pany to find additional 

em ployees because of high lev els of em ploym ent generally. It is a dv ertising for em ployees through new spapers, television , and radio, and is using 

the U .S . Em ploym ent S erv ice. The com pany1 s goal is to hire 1, 500 new 

w ork ers per month for the rem ainder of 1966. With som e m easu re of 

su ccess, it is trying to persuade re tire e s to return, and to retain those 

w ork ers about to re tire . Through its lon g-tim e placem ent p rogram of m o d ifying job demands to m eet functional capacities of w ork ers, the com pany has 

m et som e of its labor shortage p rob lem s. Much effort is exerted to use 

experien ced w ork ers m ost effectively.

R ecognition of the N eed to R edesign a Job

The C om pany^ E m ployee P lacem ent P rogra m

This ca se study illu stra tes the com pany’ s p olicy of m atching the 

physical demands of a sp ecific job with the -functional cap acities of the 

em ployee.

The P erson n el Departm ent evaluates the ph ysical demands of each 

job , and the functional cap acities of each em ployee. T his is part of the 

com pany’ s long standing p ra ctice of m odifying the demands of a particular 

job if som e physical factor unm odified, would require the rem ova l of an 

em ployee. Although this p ra ctice co v e rs all the em p loyees, the m atching of 

physical demand fa ctors and the em p loy ee’ s functional cap acities a ffects 

aging w ork ers to a greater degree than younger em p loyees.

The program generally functions as follow s:

1. Safety engineers reduce to a m inim um the physical demands and 

hazards of ev ery jo b . 2

2. P h ysical demand analysts study detailed bodily activities req u ired 

on each job , the jo b health and accident exposu res, and person al p rotective 

equipm ent req u ired on the jo b . C opies of a P h ysical Dem and R e co rd containing these data (see fa csim ile ), are filed with m ed ical exam in ers, safety engin eers, em ploym ent in terview ers, and personnel a d v iso rs. E very forem an 

re ce iv e s a set of re co r d s coverin g the job s under his supervision.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
TITLE OF JOB. | SU£VEY£9 DATE: | ACCEPTED BY: APPROVED £Y: OCC. CODE: PLANT DEPT.: ! JOB CODE:

S l,v :u ;? .ic . MOTOR REPAIRMAN

1

10/lly A . M T mm

EXPLANATION OF ENTRIES

A NUMBER

OR FRACTION

ACTUAL NUMBER OF HOURS THE

ACTIVITY IS REQUIRED IN 8 HRS.

EITHER RIGHT OR LEFT

ALONE WILL DO THE JOB.

Supersedes Physical Demands Record of 12-21-5?

PHYSI CAL D EM AN DS RECORD

HEALTH & SAFETY SECTION OF THE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

-» EXPLANATION OF ENTRIES

JLANK.

NO ENTRY PARTICULAR FACTOR NOT REQUIRED.

PARTICULAR FACTOR IS, REQUIRED.

PHYSICAL FACTORS R E M ARKS SENSORY AND EXPOSURE FACTORS'

s

T

2

1 TO TAL HOURS O N FEET O

N

F

E

E

T

2 S T A N D IN G

3 W A L K IN G — Level surfaces

I 7 H 4 C L IM B IN G — Stairs, ramps

i 7 C 5 1 1 -2 0 lbs.

FLOOR

T O

FOUR

FEET

TOTAL

EFFORT

IN

LIFTING

CARRYING

PUSHING

PULLING

W

£■1

G

H

T

E

F

F

O

R

T

l / u 6 2 1 -3 5 lbs.

l / u 7 3 6 -5 0 lbs.

i A 8 5 1 -6 5 lbs.

9 6 6 -8 0 lbs.

i A 10 1 1 -2 0 lbs. FOUR

TO

SEVEN

FEET

11 2 1 -3 5 lbs.

12 3 6 -5 0 lbs.

13 5 1 -6 5 lbs.

i A 14 2 1 -3 5 lbs.

BENCH

T O

BENCH

i A 15 3 6 -5 0 lbs.

16 5 1 -6 5 lbs.

17 6 6 -8 0 lbs.

18 See Remarks For Weights

1

19 BACK & HIP B E N D IN G ( 3 0 ° - 9 0 ° )

B

O

D

Y

2 0 C R A W L IN G , LY IN G

1 / 2 21 C R O U C H IN G , S Q U A T T IN G

6 22 SITT IN G

3

23 Right FIN G E R IN G

(Pinching or Manual Dexterity) H

A

N

D

S

3

24 Left

T

25 Right H A N D L IN G

“T p (Grasping or Coarse Hand Motion) 26 Left

6

2 7 Right 3 0 ° —9 0 ° 

from straight ELBOW

B E N D IN G A

R

M

S

6

l / L

28 Left

2 9 Right 91 1 2 0 °

from straight l / l l 3 0 Left

1 / ) | 31 Right A b o ve

shoulders i/h R E A C H IN G 32 Left

6

33 Right B elow

shoulders 6

34 Left

l / U 35 Right 3 0 ° —9 0 ° 

from straight KNEE

B E N D IN G

L

E

G

S

i A 3 6 Left

1 / 2 3 7 Right 91 ° — 1 2 0 ° 

from straight l / L 3 8 LefT ;

Locate trouble and repair or overhaul a variety of

defective AC and DC electric motors and electrical

apparatus., suck.aa_.heate r s s w i t c hes,.electric hand___

grinders and drills, fans and miscellaneous electric

hand equipment. Visually checks parts for imperfections. Checks dials and gages on testing equipment.

Uses a variety of hand tools and hand power tools.

Operates various machines, etc. Performs some operations from a sitting position at bench. Moves material manually with help} by hand truck, tricycle, and

chain hoist. Lifts alone 10 to $0 lbs, parts, tools.

motors, fixtures, etc. Items 5-8, 10, Hi, 1$, all

or any combination required for single work day._____

Pulling and pushing effort equal to 15 to 35 lbs.

Total effort does not exceed l/2 hour.________________

U l)___Climbs stairs.

(U0) Equipment dials and gages

(lili) Fine wiring, etc. (U8) Wire color coding.

(U9-50) Discuss problem, receive instructions.

Hearing to detect foreign noises in equipment.

(52) Electric hoist. (53) Drill press, bench.

grinders, coil wiring machine, etc.

(5U) Airgun, Dumore Grinders

to pick up and deliver motors.

(55) Rides tricycles

(56) Icy ground. (58)

(5&)__S.tepladder in crib.

Material stacked on floor,e

(6l) Soldering acid

fluxes. (63) Paints, varnish, lacquer, thinner, 9 0 01

905iir 9001f 9101. 9006. (65) 9831,9805, 9636

Residual oils and greases (66) Indoor and outdoor

conditions. (73) Soldering fumes, abrasive dusts.

(7h) 900U, 9001, 9006 Thinner, paints, etc.

-Ggn__Foreman.H. Flagg Reviewed and_Accepted

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT 

_____ Eyft, hand protection. Protective cream.

EYE-SIGHT

FAR

RATING

NEAR

RATING

THREE DIMENSION VISION

COLOR VISIO N

TA LKIN G

HEARING

OPERATING

EXPOSURES

W ALKING

EXPOSURES

ELEVATIONS

POWER VEHICLES

POWER HOISTS

EXPOSED MACHINES

POWER HAND TOOLS

TRICYCLES

SLIPPERY SURFACES

HOLES AN D PITS

OBSTRUCTIONS

LADDERS

UNGUARDED(over 5 ft.)

PRIM ARY IRRITANTS (acids, alkalis, etc.)

SENSITIZERS (synthetic resins, etc.)

DEFATTERS (solvents, strippers, etc.)

SOAPS (soluble cutting oils, soaps, etc.)

FOLLlC, 1RR. (insol. oils, greases, etc.)

TEMPERATURE

NOISE

HIGH (10° above shop)

LOW (10° below shop)

R A P ID C H 'N G 'S ( 3 0 ° ± )

COLD WATER

80-90 DECIBELS

91-100 DECIBELS

OVER 100 DECIBELS

A IR CO N ­

TAM INANTS

Dusts, Fumes

Mists, Gases, Vapors

RADIATIO N .x .?-a/--SanITM

Ultra-Violet,d, etc.

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
17

3. W henever a com pany physician exam ines a job applicant or

em ployee (including a w orker returning to w ork after an illn e ss), he re co r d s 

his evaluation on a Functional Capacity R ecord (see fa csim ile)* He indicates 

the lim its of the ph ysical activity of the person exam ined as the a ctivities 

relate to sp ecific physical fa ctors (tim e on feet, weight effort, body m ov em ent, clim bing, etc*), and sen sory and exposure fa ctors (involving eyesight, 

hearing, accident and walking exposu res, etc*). T h ree cop ies of the F un ctional C apacity R e co rd are m ade: one for the em p loy ee1 s m ed ica l re co rd ,

one to the em ploym ent file s , and one to the job forem an*

4. The physician, n u rse, safety engineer, and other placem ent 

personnel com pare the a p p lica n ts or em ployee*s Functional C apacity R e co rd 

with the P h ysical Dem and R e co rd w hich have identical item s* It can be rea d ­

ily determ ined whether the exam inee is fit p h ysically for a sp ecific jo b .

If som e physical requirem ents of a job ex ceed the functional ca p a cities of an applicant or em ployee, the com pany representative con sid ers his 

placem ent on part of the job , or recom m ends job red esign . Such rev ision s 

are aim ed at reducing the lifting dem ands, push or pull effort, or physical, 

sen sory, and other demands su fficien tly for the placem ent of a jo b applicant 

or retention of an em ployee. If the em ployee or applicant cannot do som e 

part of the job , or the physical demands of a job cannot be m odified, attem pts 

are m ade to place him in another job within his functional ca p a cities.

The exam ining physician m akes d ecision s about his functional lim ita ­

tions, and the safety engineer review s the w orking environm ent and d ecides 

on the demands of the p articular job . The forem an m ust agree that the 

em ployee is acceptable for w orking within a lim ited portion of a jo b b efore 

placem ent or retention of the em ployee takes effect. In the ca se o f retention 

of an older w ork er w hose functional cap acities have declined, the forem an*s 

personal knowledge of the w o rk e r’ s experien ce and sk ills is an im portant 

fa ctor affecting the d ecision on his retention in a particu lar job*

Under the foreg oin g p roced u res, job m odification s are som etim es 

initiated as a resu lt of a com pany d o cto r1# routine physical exam ination o f a 

continuing em ployee. W hether the exam ination is done on routine schedule, 

at the request o f an em ployee, at the suggestion of the forem an , or because 

the em ployee has returned to w ork after an illn ess (which req u ires a m ed ical 

exam ination), the diagnosis rem ains confidential between w ork er and physician* 

The forem an w ill not know the nature of the illn ess unless the em ployee 

in form s him . The job m odification would be based solely on the w orker*s 

functional cap acity rep ort, which establishes the lim itations on his job 

p erform an ce.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
. D E P J _ . _ a n » _ S H 1F T

E X PL AN AT I ON CF ENTRIES

NUMBER

OR

r R ACTION

V A

INDICATES MAXIV.UM HOURS PER 8 HOUR

d a y in w h ic h em ployee is capable o f per-

__ FORMING THE PHYSICAL FACTOR INVOLVED.

p i~ I y s Fc a I T f a c t c rs________ __

1 TOTAL HOURS ON F E E T ___________j £

2 ^STANDING___________________ ________ I

3 _.WALKI NG - Level surfaces_________

A c L IMBING — Stairs, romps__________

E O C C U P A T I O N

Elec. Eotor

Re no i r m a n .....

1 RTH Is EX TYPE OF EXAM. DATE FXAm|_ Mn r r r

?0| F _____ 0 9 ________ 9 i 6 5 ! . . _ i

FUNCTIONAL." c a p a c ity record R eplaces R ecord ol 1 1 -6 -b l

HEALTH and SAFETY SECTION of the PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

11 - 2Q lbs.

21 -35 lbs.

0_

n

36 -50 lbs.

8 ] 51-65 lbs.

66 -80 lbs.

10 11-20 lbs.

11 21 -35 lbs.

12 36 -50 lbs.

! 13

v/2

..o

Z k

51 -65 lbs.

14 ! 21 -35 lbs.

36 -50 lbs

FLOOR TO FOUR FEET

FOUR TO SEVEN FEET

51 -6 5 lbs

66 - 80 lbs. !

BENCH

TO BENCH

TOTAL

EFFORT

IN

LIFTING

CARRYING

PUSHING

PULLING

l-ii

18 IF " X ” , SEE REMARKS

19 BACK and HIP BENDING (30 -90°)

CRAWLING, LYING

CROUCHING, SQUATTING

22 SITTING

REMARKS

ITEM

NO.

1U

59

60

Should be i n t e r m i t t e n t and

elloved or about 15 minutes

sitting each hour.

Kay l i f t up to P0 lb s . for \

hour per s h if t .

No l a d d e r s a l l o w e d

No e l e v a t i o n s a l l o w e d

To park vith in 200 feet of Plant 

entrance. - Special Parking Privileges

EXPLANATION CF ENTRIES

S E N S O R Y OR

S t N S O R Y OR

LY FOR TH

MARKED.

SENSORY and EXPOSURE FACTORS

A 39 |X

s

p FAR B 40 jX

E RATING C 41 |X

C

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D escrip tion of the Job P r io r to R edesign

The e le ctric m otor repairm an rep a ired and overhauled defective 

e le ctric m otors and other e le ctrica l apparatus, He visu ally checked parts 

for im p erfection s, in spected dials and gauges on testing equipm ent fo r short 

or open circu its, review ed schem atic diagram s, and planned details and 

sequence of operations fo r n e ce ssa ry repair w ork. Using a va riety o f hand 

tools, he disassem bled m otors, cleaned parts, m ade adjustm ents, and 

rep a ired or rep la ced w orn p arts. He also operated various pow er m achines 

(d rill p re ss, bench lathe, e tc.) to ca rry out overhaul operation s, and m o d ified available parts to suit sp ecial p u rp oses. D ifficu lties w ere re fe rr e d to a 

w ork lea d er.

The job requ ired m anual dexterity, visual skill, and diagnostic ability 

in locating sou rces of trouble and repairin g or overhauling e le ctrica l m otors 

or equipm ent. The w orker had to understand e le ctrica l rep a ir, be fa m ilia r 

with different m odels and types o f m otors, and know techniques fo r m otor 

rew inding. He was expected to have the equivalent of 2 years of high sch ool 

education plus 2 or 3 years of trades training. One to two yea rs of o n -th e-job 

experien ce w ere n e ce ssa ry also in ord er to reach the full jo b cla ssifica tion . 

Ingenuity and good judgm ent w ere essen tial. The plant1 s sk ill cla ssifica tio n 

lev els rated the job four steps from the p la n ts highest skill grade (for tool 

and diem ak ers).

In p erform in g his duties, in the repair crib or shop or in the plant 

production a rea s, the repairm an m oved m a terial m anually or by handtruck, 

tricy cle , and chain h oist. Without m ech an ical help, he lifted ob jects (parts, 

tools, m otors, fix tu res, e tc .) weighing from 10 to 65 pounds perhaps as high 

as 4 feet from the flo o r . Push and pull effort, bench to bench, was equal to 

15 to 35 pounds and did not exceed on e-h a lf hour over an 8-hour workday*

The repairm an was on his feet m ost of the w orkday clim bing sta irs, ram ps, 

or occa sion a lly using a ladder to reach a w ork a rea .

The repairm an was engaged in a w o rk e r-p a ce d activity. C a r e le s s ­

n ess in handling m otors or parts could resu lt in injury to h im self or oth ers. 

Dam age to equipment and m a terials could result also from his ca re le s sn e ss, 

but its cost would be unlikely to exceed $ 250.

The accident rate on the job was ” low ” because of the com pany1 s 

efforts in ’’human engineering” as part of the Health and Safety E ngineering 

p rogra m . Though shock or burns from lighting and pow er circu its was 

p o ssib le , there had not been any fatalities on the jo b . T h ere w ere som e 

"sh o ck ” incidents, but no lost tim e ca se s.

T h ere w ere no -unusual hazards or d iscom forts in the conditions of 

w ork set by the p la n ts environm ent. Lighting was good; the la rg e en closed 

plant buildings curbed tem perature ex trem es. A few m inor d iscom forts in 

the e le ctric re p a irm a n s job m ight be expected, such as n oise of a m achine 

shop operation, or o il and dirt from cleaning, repairing and overhauling p arts.

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The 46 y e a r-o ld repairm an was one of eight e le ctric m otor re p a irm en on the plant1 s day shift. T heir average age was 40, and their se rv ice 

with the com pany ranged from 10 to 20 y e a rs. They w ere paid on an hourly 

rate basis ($ 3. 15 per hour).

N ature of the R edesign: A ction Taken and R esults

The 46 y e a r-o ld e le ctric m otor repairm an su ffered a heart attack 

ea rly in 1965, but he re co v e re d sufficiently to return to w ork sev era l m onths 

la ter. When he re ce iv e d the requ ired m edical reexam ination the physician 

found that the standing, clim bing, lifting, and m ovem ent dem anded by his 

job would be too strenuous. H is new Functional C apacity R e co rd indicated 

that som e m odification w ould be n e ce ssa ry to accom m odate his lim ited functional ca p a cities. The exam ining physician, the safety engineer, and the 

m otor repair forem an altered the job to m eet the restrictio n s on his functional 

activity.

The repairm an still loca ted m otor trouble and rep a ired or overhauled 

a variety of defective e le ctric m otors and other e le ctrica l apparatus and 

eq u ip m en t--a ll basic duties of an e le ctric m otor repairm an . H ow ever, he no 

longer m oved about and w orked in the plant production a rea s. He rem ained in 

the e le ctric m otor rep air crib doing the n e ce s sa ry rep air w ork . He now lifted 

item s weighing no m ore than 20 pounds for 30 m inutes during an 8-hour shift, 

rather than the full job weight effort of 65 pounds, for p ossib le 2 hours of a 

shift. He did no push and pull effort* He had to stand only 3 hours a day, on 

an interm ittent b a sis, with at least 15 m inutes each hour allow ed for sitting 

rather than 8 hours as p reviou sly req u ired . C lim bing lad ders and riding a 

tr ic y c le , fo rm e rly part of the requ ired activity, w ere also rem oved from his 

sp e cific job dem ands.

By elim inating the heavier lifting tasks, clim bin g, and standing for 

long p eriod s, the repairm an resu m ed w ork without d iscom fort or danger and 

u sed his sk ills and experien ce fully. The changes in the requirem ents of the 

job did not affect skill cla ssifica tion , or rate of pay.

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P ack er-S h ip p er at an Alum inum F ram e Plant

Introduction and Sum m ary

An aluminum fram e plant redesign ed a packing job to retain an older 

w ork er who was unable to keep pace with the workload* T asks requiring fr e ­

quent lifting of heavy ob jects w ere assigned to other w ork ers, and the le ss 

p h ysically demanding aspects of his job w ere expanded* The change resu lted 

in greater productivity for the operation as a whole*

D escrip tion of the E stablishm ent

The plant m anufactures aluminum extrusion s, such as window, d oor, 

and truck fram ing, and conduits* Of the approxim ately 250 w ork ers em ployed 

in the plant, 40 are engaged in nonproduction activities (executive, su p erv isory and c le r ic a l). About 15 percen t of a ll em ployees are w om en, half of 

whom w ork in production operations*

A ll training is inform al and on the job , under supervision of a fo r e ­

m an or experien ced em ployee. Plant se rv ice s include a personn el departm ent headed by the Superintendent of Industrial R elation s, a fully equipped 

m edical dispensary on the p rem ises attended by a fu ll-tim e nurse (with a 

p art-tim e m edical doctor on retain er), and a fu ll-tim e safety representative 

a ssisted by a form a l plant safety com m ittee* The com pany has a pension 

plan w hich req u ires 15 years of serv ice for retirem en t benefits at age 65*

D escrip tion of Job P rio r to R edesign

The job of 11 p a ck er-sh ip p er11 p reviou sly involved the frequent m anual 

lifting, handling, and packing for shipment of bulky alum inum products of 

varying shapes and siz e s , weighing up to 25 pounds* The w orker cut paper 

and card board packing m a terial to proper dim ensions, checked products for 

d efects, and lifted and placed them in containers* A fter positioning item s 

p rop erly and packing them secu rely in the shipping con tain ers, the w ork er 

nailed lids on the containers and secu red them with w ire bands* The w orker 

was resp on sible fo r a proper count of all p ieces packed* In perform in g his 

duties, the w orker used h am m ers, knives, and w ire handling tools* He 

placed heavy item s on hand trucks to m ove them within the shipping departm ent. In term s of physical dem ands, the activity would be cla ss ifie d as 

"m edium . n

The "p a ck e r-sh ip p e r” job was regard ed as sem iskilled* It was rated 

at the num ber 8 le v e l in the plant's job rating schedule* The top skill lev el, 

that of m aintenance diem aker, is number 18. Job rates are cla ss ifie d by 

union-m anagem ent agreem ent* The w orker had to have som e degree of manual 

dexterity in the lifting, packing, and container closin g duties* Inspection,

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counting, and recordk eepin g requ ired m inim um sk ills. He needed to e x e rcis e 

som e ca re in handling products and in perform in g other aspects of the job , 

such as papercutting. L o sse s that m ight resu lt from damage to the product 

or from im proper ord er fillin g w ould be unlikely to ex ceed $ 100.

The w ork is not m achine paced and is organized on an individual 

b a sis. It does not involve production runs or operational c y c le s . The 

w ork ers are paid on an hourly basis of a 40-hour w orkw eek. No incentive 

pay is involved.

P rio r to redesign , there w ere 15 np a ck er-sh ip p ers, ,! 14 of whom 

w ere fem ale. The average age of the 15 was 42 y ea rs.

The w ork is done in an en closed, w ell-ven tilated and lighted building 

with little dust or noise in the shipping area. T here are no unusual health or 

safety hazards.

R ecognition of N eed to R edesign the Job

The need to take positive steps was rea lized first in 1961. The 

shipping forem an com plained to his departm ent superintendent that an older 

w ork er, age 70, the only man in the "p a ck er-sh ip p er group, " was having 

difficulty in lifting and handling item s to be packed. He could not keep up 

with the w orkload. The m atter was brought to the attention of the Superintendent of Industrial R elation s, who d iscu ssed it with the su pervisor and the 

plant*s union shop rep resen tative. M anagement d esired to retain an em ployee 

who had been a dependable w orker for 6 -1 /2 years and who w ished to continue 

to w ork. He was not eligible for a com pany pension and would have had to 

live on S ocial Security paym ents exclu sively if he retired . E xcept for ja n itoria l w ork, which would reduce substantially his in com e, all jo b s, to w hich 

he could be reassign ed, req u ired frequent lifting of heavy ob je cts. M anagem ent finally rem oved the m ore burdensom e physical aspects to retain the 

w ork er.

Nature of the R edesign

T his job redesign which is ca lled "pack er cu tter" elim inated the 

lifting requ ired for packing the aluminum produ cts. W hile sitting, the older 

w orker was given the p rim ary function of providing supplies for use to other 

p a ck er-sh ip p ers fo r packing, i. e . , to cut card board and other packaging 

m a terials to p re scrib e d dim ensions. He a lso a ssisted in banding packed 

shipping con tain ers, and in pushing hand trucks and d ollies to and from the 

shipping departm ent, a task he had p erform ed p rev iou sly . He used the sam e 

tools he had used in perform in g his form er ch o re s. These light tasks 

involved no lifting of bulky m a terials or frequent bending, and w ere within 

his physical ca p ab ilities. He rested for b rie f p eriod s since his w orkload was 

not continuous, as it had been p reviou sly.

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The union representative and Superintendent of Industrial R elations 

a greed on the content of the new job . It was agreed a lso that the job , with 

the weight lifting excluded, should be cla ssifie d at a slightly low er grade* 

Although this rep resen ted a 5 percent reduction in his hou rly rate of pay, 

the w orker was satisfied with the change which requ ired no retraining* No 

costs w ere in cu rred by the com pany; no new equipm ent was required; and no 

lost tim e was involved*

R esults of the R edesign

The com pany m ade the change sm oothly and in a short p eriod of 

time* O verall output of the w ork unit in crea sed slightly after the redesign . 

The p a ck er-sh ip p ers benefited by having a ready supply of m a terials while 

perform in g their packing work* The older w orker continued to w ork e ffe c ­

tively for 3 -1 /2 years at his new job , retirin g at the age of 74.

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Die P re ss O perator at a Stamping Plant

Introduction and Summary

A 57 y e a r-o ld man stood all day pulling heavy lev ers to operate a 

manual die p re s s . Company en gin eers, in an effort to in crea se productivity 

and reduce the arduous nature of the jo b , designed and installed a hydraulic 

p ress which elim inated the heavy physical requirem ents and allow ed the 

w ork er to p erform his duties from a sitting position. Output trip led as a 

result, and the em p loy ee^ working life probably has been extended.

D escrip tion of the E stablishm ent

W ork at the plant involves cutting, stam ping, and p ressin g section s 

of copper tubes into various types of fittings that are used for connecting 

w ater and steam pipes. The availability of low wage labor was a m a jor reason 

for the continued operation of this old plant, as m uch of its equipm ent is 

obsolete* Highly m echanized com petitors have been able to cut p rice s on 

item s produced at this plant, on the basis of their low er unit labor co sts. 

Further p rice reductions by com petitors could com pel this plant to close its 

doors unless it installs com parable equipm ent.

A fter the plant changed ow nership 2 yea rs ago, m anagem ent adopted 

plans fo r m echanization. Some operation s, which have already been made 

sem iautom atic by the introduction of new m achines, have resulted in an a v e rage productivity in crea se of 20 percen t. The new m anagem ent intends to 

install im proved, autom atic m achinery throughout the plant within the next 

2 y ea rs. Some upgrading of the w ork fo rce and raising the average earnings 

w ill accom pany the installation of new m achinery.

The plant em ploys about 100 w ork ers. P roduction w ork ers include 

6 skilled, 13 sem isk illed , and 80 unskilled em p loyees. A ll production w ork ­

ers are paid on an hourly b a sis. Sem iskilled and unskilled em ployees can be 

tra n sferred readily from one job to another since m ost jobs con sist of sim ple 

tasks, such as feeding unfinished parts into a m achine.

A plant m anager handles p ersonn el and safety m a tters. A union 

represen ts plant em p loyees. Salaried em ployees have a pension plan but 

production w ork ers have no pension plan.

The w ork fo rce is com posed la rg ely of disadvantaged w ork ers, 

including m em bers of m inority grou ps, old er w ork ers, and others with handicaps. B ecause of low w ages and p oor w orking conditions, labor turnover is 

extrem ely high; it amounted to alm ost 100 percent last y ea r. The new 

m anagem ent is interested p articu la rly in keeping old er w ork ers on the job , 

because they have tended to be stable and dependable.

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D escrip tion of Job P r io r to R edesign

The job of reducing p ress operator involved the manual operation of 

a die p ress m achine in making a fitting, i. e. , to reduce the circu m feren ce of 

one end of a p iece of expanded copper tubing. The w ork er, standing at this 

p ress m achine, placed the fitting into a device som ewhat like a vise to be 

held in position by manual p ressu re on the vise le v e r. He then reached over 

his head and pulled down another lev er which brought the die p ress down with 

a stamping action on the fitting. The w orker then stepped on a pedal which 

relea sed the die, after which he m anually relea sed the vise by pushing the 

lev er up. He then rem oved the part and threw it into a box. Throughout the 

day, the w orker continued this operation in a p rocessin g cy cle of three to 

five fittings per m inute.

Each fitting had to be reduced six tim es on six different size die 

p ress settings b efore it was the d esired size. The six operations w ere p e r ­

form ed by three w ork ers on three different m ach in es. F rom tim e to tim e 

during production of a batch of fittings, each m achine was set to two altern ative size die settings. A ll three of these w ork ers w ere m en in their m iddle 

yea rs; the oldest was 57.

Nature of the R edesign

In 1964 new m anagem ent requested its engineers to design a m ultiple 

die p ress which would in crea se output, while reducing the ph ysical stress on 

the w ork ers. A fter observing the three w ork ers on this arduous manual job, 

the engineers p roposed developing a sem iautom atic p re ss capable of p e rfo rm ­

ing su cce ssiv e ly all six reducing operations in the sam e m achine. The plant 

m achine shop m ade the p ress for $ 3 ,0 0 0 .

One w ork er sits and feeds fittings into the m achine all day. He 

rem oves the fittings after they have been p ro ce sse d and reduced to the d esired 

size. The m achine does all the heavy manual w ork. E xcept to feed and 

rem ove the w ork p ie ce , the w ork er does not interrupt the action as the hydraulic p ress goes through its cy cle of operation s. It has a fixture with six dies 

of different sizes which hydraulically reduces each fitting six tim es. He pulls 

a switch to activate the m achine and shuts down the operation if it is 

m alfunctioning.

R esults of the R edesign

The job redesign requ ires le ss physical energy from the op erator who 

no longer has to stand, exert manual p ressu re, and stretch upward. The 

oldest w ork er operates the m achine freein g the two other m en who fo rm e rly 

w orked on the m achine to p erform other tasks in the plant. The hourly 

earnings w ere not affected by the change. In all lik elih ood, the new m achine 

has prolonged the w orking life of the old er w ork er.

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M aterials Handlers at a Carpet Plant

Introduction and Sum m ary

The job of w arehousem an at a carpet m anufacturing plant involved 

frequent lifting and handling of ca rp et ro lls weighing from 500 to 800 pounds*

The 11 w arehousem en requ ired to do this job averaged 55 yea rs of age* The 

plant m ethods engineer and safety engineer red esign ed the job by introducing 

a sp ecia lly designed fork lift truck w hich elim inated m uch lifting and handling 

of the heavy carpet rolls* The com pany retained six m en on the job ; re tire d 

four; and rea ssign ed one* R edesigning the jo b reduced in ju ries and both 

m anagem ent and w ork ers w ere rep orted satisfied with the resu lts of the 

change*

D escrip tion of the E stablishm ent

O ver the y ea rs, as the com pany opened plants in other parts of the 

country, em ploym ent at this plant has declined from over 4, 000 to the present 

total of 750* This included about 600 hourly rated production w o rk e rs, of 

whom 100 are wom en and 140 are sa la ried em ployees in executive and c le r ica l positions* A ll 70 sk illed w ork ers and th ree-fou rth s o f the 375 sem isk illed 

w ork ers are m ale* A lso , all 165 unskilled w ork ers and all executive em ployees 

a re m ale; the c le r ic a l w ork ers are predom inately women* The average age of 

all production em ployees is 53* T his rela tively older labor fo r c e re fle cts the 

plantls lon g -tim e p osition as the p rincipal em ployer in a sm all town. A ls o , 

the collectiv e bargaining agreem ent has sen iority p rov ision s favoring the 

retention of older em ployees*

The com pan y’ s funded pension plan, which is part of its negotiated 

union contract, p rovid es fo r norm al retirem ent at 65 with 30 yea rs of service*

A m an m ay retire at 60 with 20 yea rs o f a ccred ited serv ice at a redu ced 

pension. T here is a lso a disability retirem en t p rovision after 15 yea rs of 

service* M axim um paym ents under the com pany plan are $ 50 a month or 

$ 25 a month with supplem ental paym ents re ce iv e d under the F ed era l O ldA ge and D isability Benefit system .

T raining is given on the job , the duration depending on the skill 

required* O lder and younger p ersonn el, who a re rea ssign ed occa sion a lly 

at the plant, involve m ostly sem isk illed and unskilled w ork ers. Operating 

conditions determ ine these reassignm ents*

The personn el departm ent at the plant, in addition to its usual duties 

involving job cla ssifica tion , pay rates, union m atters, etc* , o ffe rs em ployee 

counseling* A fully equipped clin ic staffed by a fu ll-tim e nurse (with a 

m ed ica l d octor on a p art-tim e retainer basis) is loca ted on the p re m ise s.

T here is a lso a fu ll-tim e safety engineer.

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D escription of Job P r io r to R edesign

The job o f w arehousem an had been physically arduous, requiring 

participation in 5 - or 6-m an team s that did frequent lifting, handling, c a r r y ­

ing, and positioning of ro lls o f carp et weighing from 500 to 800 pounds* The 

w ork ers m anually lifted and loaded the carpet ro lls on d ollies in the w a rehouse, transported them to a loading platform , and then m anually loaded the 

ro lls onto freight ca rs or tru ck s. E ach trip took about 15 to 20 m inutes and 

cov ered approxim ately 150 feet.

R em oving the carpet ro lls from piled stacks in the w arehouse and 

placing them in freight ca rs and trucks required frequent stooping, squatting, 

reaching, and clim bin g. U sually, one man on the team , on a rotating ba sis, 

kept a sim ple re c o r d of the item s transported to and from the w arehouse.

R ecognition of the N eed to R edesign the Job

The com pany recog n ized the need fo r lessen in g the heavy physical 

demands of the job because of the in creasin g num ber of accidents and the 

age of the m en. The average age of the 11 w arehousem en was 55 with their 

ages ranging from 46 to 68. A ll had a m inim um of 25 years serv ice with the 

plant and three w ere eligible for full retirem ent under the com pany pension 

plan* The w arehouse area had the highest in ciden ce of injury am ong departm ents in the plant. H ernia, chest and back strain, turned ankles, and elbow 

fra ctu res w ere am ong the 15 rep orted in ju ries in the 5 -y ea r p eriod precedin g 

the job red esign . Six o f these injuries resulted in lost tim e.

Nature of the R edesign

P rev iou s efforts to ease the w a reh ou sem en s job s had resu lted in a 

p rop osal to install overhead tracks and traveling h oists in the w arehouse area . 

M anagem ent abandoned this idea because the building was not suited stru ctu rally for such equipm ent. A fter studying alternatives, the m ethods engineer 

and safety engineer decided that the m ost effective solution would be som e 

type of m ob ile m a terials handling m achine which would not be ham pered by 

building lim itation s. A fork lift truck, designed to operate with an 18-foot 

steel ram m ing rod or shaft, which was 4 inches in diam eter and affixed to 

its front, was p rop osed . The operator of this truck cou ld lift and ca rry ro lls 

of carpet with the rod , which could be low ered or ra ised as req u ired . When 

in serted into the hard paper co re center of a carp et r o ll, the op erator cou ld 

dislodge a particular ro ll from a stack of ro lls and then lift it for m ovem ent 

to the area or loading station. The com pany ord ered two fork lift tru ck s, 

sp ecia lly designed a ccord in g to specification s developed by the equipm ent 

m anufacturer in colla b ora tion with the plant*s staff. The w ork ers req u ired 

1 w eek of o n -th e -jo b training to lea rn to operate the fork lift tru ck s.

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B efore the new equipment could be put into full use, the plant’ s 

m aintenance staff widened som e doorways* A lso, the m anufacturer of the 

hard paper co r e s , around which the carpeting was rolled , extended the 

co re s sev era l inches in length so that the rod could be in serted m ore easily* 

T hese two changes took place over a p eriod of from 6 to 8 months*

R esults of the R edesign

The new system needed only 6 m en to do the w ork of the 11-m an 

team p rev iou sly required* The average age of the six was 54, with a range 

from 46 to 59. Four of the m en retired with benefits of com pany pensions 

(three with full benefits) and F ed era l S ocial S ecurity payments* T h eir ages 

at the tim e of retirem en t w ere 68, 66, 65, and 63* The fifth w ork er, a 58- 

y e a r-o ld man, was tra n sferred to a different departm ent, w here his earnings 

lev el was unaffected by the reassignm ent*

The base pay rate of the w arehousem en rem ained the same# H ow ever, 

the group incentive rates w ere rev ised to r e fle ct the change in method* The 

in crea sed output per m an o f the m echanized operation resu lted in a net in crea se 

of approxim ately 15 percen t in w ork ers hourly earnings*

In the 6 yea rs since job redesign, there have been only five w ork - 

in cu rred injuries* One o f these in ju ries involved lo ss of tim e from w ork, as 

a resu lt of the elim ination of heavy lifting, handling, and m oving tasks* This 

num ber com p ares with 15 w ork in ju ries over the sam e tim e p eriod p receding 

redesign* Six of those in ju ries resu lted in lost time*

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Top^Stitch W orkers at a F ootw ear F a ctory

Introduction and Summary

The ’’top stitch” w ork ers at a shoe plant w ere a group of 20 w om en, 

m ost of whom w ere over 50 years of age. During 1965 their e fficien cy was 

declining because of the physical strains of their job . Some of their tasks 

required frequent bending and squatting. Not only was their output declining, 

but absenteeism and com plaints in crea sed . A fter studying the requirem ents 

of their w ork situation in relation to their physical lim itation s, m anagem ent 

redesigned their job by assigning to younger w ork ers the tasks causing 

physical stre ss.

D escrip tion of the Establishm ent

The plant em ploys about 7,700 w ork ers, of whom roughly 1,300 are 

nonproduction w o r k e rs , consisting of salaried m anagerial and c le r ica l 

em ployees. T here are ov er 100 skilled repairm en, e . g . , e le ctricia n s, 

m ech an ics, etc. P rodu ction w ork ers, who num ber about 6, 200, averaged 

44 y ea rs of age at the end of 1965.

No form a l training p rogra m exists at the plant, except fo r occa sion a l 

cla ss ro o m training fo r m anagem ent developm ent. M ost training is conducted 

on the job. P ro ficie n cy at the shoe m achines requ ires about 6 m onths fo r 

m ost w ork ers. R eassignm ent of w ork ers is p ossib le when jobs are sim ila r.

The plant m aintains a personn el departm ent staffed by 22 w ork ers:

12 p rofession a l, 10 cle r ic a l. There are four fu ll-tim e safety rep resen tatives. 

There is no union at this plant.

The com pany’ s m ed ical p rogram provides w ork ers and fam ily 

m em b ers with m ed ical treatm ent by com pany d o cto rs, and if n e ce ssa ry , by 

outside sp ecia lists , at no cost to the em ployee except fo r a $ 2-adm inistration 

fee. The m ed ica l departm ent em ploys 60 p erson s. Last year this serv ice 

cost the com pany about $ Z\ m illion .

E m ployees qualify for partial pension at 62 with 25 yea rs of s e rv ic e , 

and for full pension at 65 after 20 y ea rs of se rv ic e . The com pany m atches 

em ployee contributions to the pension plan. If an em ployee quits b efore 

becom ing eligible fo r retirem ent, the amount he has paid into the fund is 

refunded plus a m inim um of 3 percent interest.

D escrip tion of Job P r io r to R edesign

The job of ’’top stitch er” involves stitching the sh oe’ s lining to its 

upper leather on a sewing m achine. The sequence of tasks, p rio r to the job 

redesign, was as follow s: The w ork er walked from her sewing m achine to a

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supply rack, 10 to 15 feet away, to co lle ct a batch of m a te ria ls--1 2 pairs of 

leather uppers for shoe tops and 12 pairs of lin in g s--w h ich weighed about 10 

pounds. Finding the appropriate batches of leather and linings on the rack 

usually required squatting, stooping, bending, and occa sion a lly som e eye 

strain. The w ork er ca rried the m aterials to her m achine and p erform ed the 

stitching operation, at her own p ace. She would trim then with s c is s o r s the 

threads of the. joined p arts. F inally, she put her com pleted w ork into a box 

which she would ca rry later to a nearby area for the next operation.

The entire top stitching operation took approxim ately 15 to 20 m inutes 

per batch* A fter this was com pleted, the w ork er went back to the rack for 

another batch of m aterials and repeated the entire p roced u re. A dditional 

duties included changing the bobbin when n ecessa ry , repairing thread breakage, 

obtaining supplies from the thread cage, and contacting m aintenance m en 

when a m achine needed any repair work*

The top stitcher m ust have con siderable manual dexterity and ability 

to coordinate eye, hand, and foot action in operating the sewing m achines.

She sets the bobbin in m otion by d epressing the clutch pedal with her foot, and 

stops it by depressing the footbrake. She needs high visual acuity to stitch 

the lining p rop erly .

R ecognition of the Need to R edesign the Job

Shortly b efore the job redesign was undertaken, the plant superintendent and departm ent m anager had found that the productivity of the stitch ers, 

all of whom w ere w om en with long p eriod s of experien ce in their w ork, had 

dropped 13 percent below standards p reviou sly set by tim e study en gin eers. 

M o reov er, the w ork ers com plained about the frequent bending, squatting, and 

stretching required to p rocu re m aterials from the supply rack. F inally, a 

steady in crea se in absences supported the d ecision that som e changes w ere 

needed.

The plant superintendent, departm ent m anager, and other m anagem ent people d iscu ssed the p roblem and decided that the job s of the top 

stitchers should be redesigned. R eassigning the w ork ers was rejected for a 

num ber of reason s: (1) the com pany did not want to lose the experien ce and

skill the w om en had acquired over m ore than 25 yea rs on the job , (2) relatively 

low wages caused difficulty in recruiting experien ced w ork ers, and (3) no 

other jobs w ere available that did not require constant standing at m achines.

Nature of the R edesign

The plant superintendent and departm ent m anager redesigned the job 

of top stitcher by rem oving w ork that was not involved in the actual stitching 

operation. They assigned these tasks to two ’’serv ice w o r k e r s ,” chosen from 

among the 20 stitchers after bids w ere opened to any stitchers who w ere 

interested. Two of the younger stitch ers w ere chosen to b ecom e the serv ice 

w ork ers because of the m ore strenuous nature of the new job , which would

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require constant bending, stretching, squatting, and p ossib le eye strain. Of 

the 20 stitch ers, all of whom w ere wom en, only 4 w ere under 45 years of age. 

Two w ere between 45 and 50, eight between 50 and 60, and six between 60 and 

65. With the reassignm ent of two of the w ork ers, the top stitch ers w ere 

reduced to 18.

The stitchers are able now to sit and w ork uninterruptedly at their 

m achines. Standing, bending, squatting, and straining the eyes have been 

elim inated. P roductivity in crea sed by 16 p ercen t, 2 months after the job 

redesign. Since then, absenteeism has declined also and em ployee com plaints 

have becom e infrequent. The earnings of the top stitch ers, who are paid on 

a p iece rate incentive basis with a guaranteed hourly base, have in crea sed as 

a result of the higher output per m an-hour. The two serv ice w ork ers receive 

higher earnings now than they did as stitch ers. A fter an experim ental 

period when serv ice w ork ers w ere guaranteed their average earnings as 

stitch ers, tim e study engineers established p iecew ork pay rates. Since their 

p roficien cy at locating supplies has in crea sed steadily, their earnings have 

also in crea sed .

No retraining of either stitchers or serv ice w ork ers was needed.

The redesign involved redistribution of tasks in which both groups w ere exp erien ced. No expense was incurred by the job red esign , since there was 

sca rce ly any interruption in w ork, and no new equipm ent was needed.

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P re ss O perator at a N ovelty P roducts M anufacturing Plant

Introduction and Summary

At a plant m anufacturing novelty sph eres, m anagem ent redesigned 

the job of a 68 y e a r-o ld w orker so that he would be le ss fatigued. By is o ­

lating and assigning to him a part of the total job and allocating to other w ork ­

ers the tasks that required standing, the older w ork er could rem ain seated.

D escrip tion of the Plant

The plant m anufactures paperboard spheres and other novelty p ro d ­

ucts of m etal and plastic m a terials. It em ploys approxim ately 215 p eople, 

nearly half of whom are m en. About 40 em ployees are in executive and 

c le r ic a l position s; 175 are in production jo b s. Two m echanics and one die 

setter, the only skilled w ork ers, have served their form a l apprenticeships 

elsew h ere. A ll the other fa ctory w ork ers are either sem isk illed (82) or 

unskilled (90). None of their jobs required m ore than 3 w eeks on -th e-job 

training.

O ver the y e a rs, the com pan y’ s production su p erv isors have made 

many changes to lessen the manual w orkload and to sim plify tasks at sp ecific 

stages on the a ssem bly line. These im provem ents have resulted in o p e ra ­

tional p roced u res which require few highly skilled production w ork ers. Onth e-job training is the only type of training p ra cticed .

The plant em ploys a fu ll-tim e personn el d ire cto r, who is resp o n sible fo r safety and ’’first aid, ” along with the usual duties of this position . No 

union exists at the plant.

D escription of Job P r io r to R edesign

The job of p ress op erator and sphere jo in e r, which was redesigned 

fo r an old er w ork er, cov ers three separate sem im echanized tasks: fir s t, 

stamping out paperboard sphere halves on a hydraulic p re ss; second, joining 

the halves to form a sphere by m eans of a special m achine; and third, cutting 

parts for use in joining. These tasks are rotated among the 13 w ork ers 

cla ssified in this job category.

In the p ress operation, the w ork er, while standing, m anually feeds a 

lightweight paperboard sheet into a p ress and then actuates the stamping 

action by depressing lightly a foot pedal. The die form s the sheet into the 

shape of a half sphere. The w orker repeats this action until he com pletes a 

batch. He m oves the com pleted w ork to the joining operation on a handtruck.

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The w ork er, standing at the joining operation, firs t m anually fits a 

hard paperboard hoop, 5 /8 -in ch in width, p artially into a half sphere. A dhesive cov ers the hoop to hold the two halves together. Next, he visually 

inspects the halves for m arks which guide him in aligning them p rop erly . The 

join er places the two parts into a joining m achine and pulls an overhead lever 

which brings air p ressu re to bear at the juncture of the two h alves, firm ly 

joining them . He then stretches up to hang these spheres on an overhead 

conveyor which ca rrie s them to the next operation.

W henever the supply of hoops needed to be replenished, each join er 

cut his own hoops from a large r o ll. Standing b efore a cutting m achine, the 

w orker placed the roll in position and started the cutting operation by pulling 

a le v e r. A fter cutting a batch of hoops, he brought them back to his w orkplace.

The sphere joining function required a grea ter degree of manual 

dexterity and visual acuity than the two other tasks. In p erform in g the sphere 

joining task, the w ork er m ust p osition carefu lly the halves to get a p erfect 

fit of the pictured areas on the joined sphere. The old er w ork ers tended to 

avoid this task, and to spend m ore tim e at the p ress operation , because the 

latter job required less visual acuity and dexterity.

The p osition of p ress operator and join er whose pay rate is $ 1 .6 5 an 

hour is in a low level of the sem isk illed job cla ssifica tion . The job did not 

involve any unusual degree of hazard to the w ork ers, nor would any w o rk e r1 s 

neglect result in damage to equipment or m aterials of m ore than a few hundred d o lla rs.

R ecognition of Need to R edesign the Job

There w ere 13 m ale w ork ers on the job p rio r to its redesign . Their 

ages ranged from 28 to 68; the average age was 38. A ll of the w ork ers w ere 

under 50 except the old er w orker for whom the red esign was ca rrie d out. 

A verage length of serv ice of those on the job was le ss than 10 y e a rs.

The 68 y e a r-o ld w orker had been em ployed at the plant fo r 10 years 

in the com bination job of p ress op era tor-sp h ere jo in e r. He had p erform ed 

his tasks skillfully and plant su p ervisors regarded him highly. He appeared 

to be free of any physical d ifficu lties. The vice president in charge of p r o ­

duction decided that the output of a man of 68 would decline if he had to co n ­

tinue to stand at his job during m ost of the day. The v ice presid en t, th erefore, 

requested the forem an, who supervised the w ork er, to design a change in job 

content that would enable the w orker to sit rather than stand m ost of the w ork ­

day. It was felt the w orker, who h im self had not com plained about the standing 

that was req u ired, would not have requested special con sideration .

The w ork er was eligible already for a retirem ent pension from the 

com pany when the job change was effected. Paym ents, including those under 

Social Security, would have been sm aller than his wage in com e, in view of

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his b rie f em ploym ent with the firm . Under the circu m sta n ces, both he and 

his em ployers p re fe rre d that he keep w orking.

The company*s pension plan, financed en tirely by contributions 

from the em p loyer, provides for initial elig ib ility during the fis c a l year in 

which an em ployee reaches his seventh anniversary with the com pany.

N orm al retirem ent is at age 65 fo r m a les, 60 for fem a les. The com pany con ­

tributes 10 percent of the amount equal to an em ployee*s annual earnings to 

the pension fund. A fter 15 years of se rv ice , an em ployee acqu ires a 50 p e r ­

cent equity in the amount paid into his account; after 20 y e a rs, he has a 100 

percent equity.

Nature of the R edesign

The personnel d irector and forem an decided to a ssign exclu sively 

the hoop-cutting task to the 68 y e a r-o ld w orker as a separate job . This re d e ­

sign would elim inate from his duties the standing, pulling, lifting, and stretch ­

ing which w ere involved in the p ress and joining operation s. The total volum e 

of the hoop-cutting w ork would keep the older w ork er occu pied full tim e.

A s part of the job redesign, the com pany relocated the m achine used 

fo r cutting the hoops to one side of the p ress and sphere joining w ork room . 

M ore free space in the working area provided a place to sit in front of the 

m achine, allowing the older w ork er to rem ain seated w hile w orking. He had 

to rise only occa sion a lly , to obtain a supply of paperboard ro lls from which 

to m ake and supply hoops to other w ork ers. There was no p roblem of 

retraining since he was already fam iliar with the hoop-cutting task.

R esults of the R edesign

P roduction of the unit in crea sed by approxim ately 10 percent as a 

result of this job change. The man assigned to hoop-cutting was able to keep 

the join ers supplied with all the hoops they needed at the pace required. The 

latter no longer had to interrupt their sphere joining tasks to m ake their own 

hoops.

The old er w ork er was reported to be pleased with the change because 

it perm itted him to sit m ost of the tim e. The new arrangem ent relieved him 

of the visual strain of m atching sphere halves. There was no change in rates 

of pay for any of the w ork ers. Output in crea sed by an estim ated 10 percent on 

the p ress operating and sphere joining operation.

The job redesign incurred no costs and only a few hours of in terru ption of w ork to relocate the cutting m achine.

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G rinders at a Foundry

Introduction and Sum m ary

This case study d iscu sses the redesign of a pipe grinding and test 

p ress operation at a cast iron pipe foundry. P rio r to the change* the op era ­

tion was la rg e ly a manual activity occupying 10 m en — standing, lifting, and 

handling heavy pipe under v ery dusty and n oisy w orking conditions. At least 

four of these m en w ere over 45 y ea rs of age. The redesign con verted the 

entire system to a pushbutton, fully autom atic m ethod, using only 1 of the 

10 w ork ers to operate the new equipment* This w ork er, 50 years of age, 

sat m ost of the workday, operating easily actuated pneum atic e le c tr ic con ­

tr o ls . The com pany reassign ed the other w ork ers to le s s p h ysically demanding w ork in the plant.

D escrip tion of the Establishm ent

T his plant, which m anufactures iron and steel castin gs, is one of the 

la rg est independent foundry operations in the United States. Its production 

fa cilities are loca ted on a 2 3 0 -a cre plot housing three types o f foundry op era ­

tions in three separate buildings. One is a cast iron pipe foundry, built in 

1926} the second is a cast iron fittings foundry, built in 1940; and the third is 

a steel foundry which the com pany built a few y ea rs ago and which contains 

the latest types of steel tube casting equipm ent.

The com pany has been m echanizing since its ea rliest y ea rs. Handm olding of cast iron pipe and iron fittings was m echanized at the plant in the 

ea rly 1930*s. O ver the y ea rs, the com pany m ade advances in casting tech ­

niques and in m aterial handling m ethods. O verhead traveling cra n es, con ­

veyor b elts, palletization, and other m otorized m aterial m ovem ent equipm ent, 

and p roced u res have been introduced extensively to elim inate v e ry heavy 

lifting and m oving of ca stin g s. A pneum atic system operated from a central 

con trol panel re ce iv e s m olding and co re sands in bulk and m oves them to 

storage and w ork a rea s.

T hese changes have reduced the hard, m anual labor and have 

em ployed m en who m ight have been com p elled otherw ise to leave the com pany 

because of aging or other physical handicaps. A con sid erab le num ber of tasks 

in the plant still requ ire strenuous physical effort* M any job s req u ire m en to 

w ork in hot tem peratures and v ery dusty, dirty conditions. The goal of the 

com pany*s m anagem ent is to elim inate these conditions as m uch as p ossib le.

The com pany em ploys approxim ately 2, 500 p eople, 2, 000 of whom 

are m en engaged in production. The rem ainder w ork in nonproduction a ctiv itie s. About 23 percent of the production w ork ers are em ployed in skilled 

job s (journeym en m old ers, corem a k ers, m aintenance m ech an ics, e t c .); 39 

percent in sem isk illed w ork; and 38 percent in unskilled jo b s .

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F orm a l job training in the plant is lim ited to a 5 -y ea r apprenticeship training program for skilled journeym en job s such as m old ers, c o r e - 

m a k ers, and som e m aintenance w ork ers. Until the journeym en pay rate 

is reached, a form a l, graduated rate scale is set up for the entire training 

p eriod . A part from this p rogra m , every new em ployee attends 10 2-hour 

session s on plant p ra ctices and em ployee se rv ice s. S em isk illed or unskilled 

w ork ers are trained on the job under the guidance of a su p ervisor or e x p e rienced w ork er.

M en in sem isk illed and unskilled occupations can be rea ssign ed or 

tra n sferred to m any job s in the plant. G enerally, skilled w ork ers cannot be 

reassign ed ea sily, esp ecia lly w here form a l apprenticeship has resu lted in a 

journeym an status. When such w ork ers are tra n sferred to le s s skilled job s, 

the com pany m aintains the em ployee* s rate o f pay at the lev el which he 

re ce iv e d in his fo rm e r jo b . The com pany does not have any co llectiv e b a rgaining agreem ent.

The com pan y's personnel, m edical, and safety se rv ice s are quite 

extensive. The personn el departm ent offers m any aids to em ployees, including counseling. T h ere is a fu ll-tim e safety rep resen tative. The com pany 

pays the total co st of all m edical se rv ice s needed by its em ployees and their 

im m ediate fa m ilie s. The com pany*s m ed ical staff includes five fu ll-tim e 

m ed ical d octors, six fu ll-tim e dentists, and a large num ber of consulting 

sp ecia lists who attend the em ployees at clin ic s . The com pany also pays for 

hospitalization.

The com pany*s em ployee pension plan does not require any em ployee 

contributions. A "n orm a l" full pension can be obtained at age 60 with 30 yea rs 

of s e r v ic e . R etirem ent is com p u lsory at 65 years of age, but 20 years of 

se rv ice is requ ired for pension rights* An em ployee m ay be retired on d isability with 15 years of se rv ice . A form ula w eighted tow ard the w ork ers at 

low er earnings lev els establishes retirem en t paym ents. The president of the 

com pany indicated that som e of the com pany*s in terest in redesignin g job s by 

m aking w ork le s s arduous was to curb ea rly retirem en ts.

D escrip tion of Job P rio r to R edesign

The "pipe grinding and test p ress station" operation, which is one of 

the final stages of the p ro ce ss flow in the foundry, is in the "clea n and ship" 

departm ent. G rinding is requ ired to rem ove m etal bu rrs or rough edges from 

the in terior su rfaces of the pipes. The hydraulic w ater p ress test subjects 

the pipe to w ater p ressu re of 500 pounds per square inch to locate defects and 

test m etal strength.

The w ork at the station con sisted of three p h ysica lly demanding manual 

functions. A "lo a d e r" m an, w earing p rotective gloves, pushed and rolled still 

hot pipes along an inclined ra ck into each of three e le ctrica lly driven rotating 

pipe rollin g m achines, locking the pipes in p osition . An operator started the

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m achines by m anually pushing long le v e rs. Six "g rin d e r11 m en, one at each 

end of the three m achines, individually lifted a 10-foot m etal shaft or pole 

topped with an abrasive grinding head or nr o c k "--to ta l weight 40 to 50 

pou n ds--an d in serted it into one end of the cast iron pipe* They m anually 

pushed and pulled the poles back and forth in the pipe for approxim ately 2 

m inutes, at which tim e the operator stopped the m achines. The grin ders 

pulled the p oles from the pipes, placed the p oles on the flo o r, relea sed the 

pipes from the m achines, and started them rollin g to the test press* The 

grinders w ere ready then fo r the next pipe grinding c y c le . The two m en at 

the test p ress m achines m anually ro lle d the pipes into the saddles of the 

m achines, lock ed them in position, tested them , p ried the pipes loose with 

a w ooden post, and pushed them on to a final cleanup area*

In the job cla ssifica tion s e rie s , the job s at the pipe grinding and test 

p ress station w ere all cla ssifie d as sem isk illed but the job s of loa d er, grin d ers, 

and test p ress-m a ch in e m en w ere all rated just one step above the com m on 

la b orer ca tegory. The operator who m anipulated the le v e rs fo r the pipe rotating m achines was cla ssifie d som ewhat higher in the sem isk illed job range*

The w ork ers w ere all paid on an hourly rate basis* The op e ra to r1 s 

rate was approxim ately 18 percent higher than the rate of the other w ork ers 

in the operation.

F or all the w ork ers, except the op erator, the p rereq u isites for p e r ­

form an ce w ere brawn and good physical condition. The operator had to stand 

m ost of the workday* Though pushing and pulling of le v e rs was fatiguing, his 

w ork was not so strenuous physically as the w ork of the oth ers. In addition 

to being on their feet m ost of the day, these w ork ers p erform ed tasks dem anding arduous physical effort. The 2-m inute, m a ch in e-p a ced cy cle , requiring 

constant lifting, pulling, and pushing of the 40 to 50 pound p oles, im posed a 

heavy physical burden on the grin d ers. They turned out approxim ately 90 

pipes per hour. The loader and two test p ress m en also did a great deal of 

exhausting manual m oving, pushing, and pulling.

T o avoid accid en ts, the w ork ers e x e rcise d at lea st ordinary ca re in 

doing their jobs* The com pany did not expect financial resp on sib ility for 

damage to m aterial or equipment to exceed $ 200* If the w ork ers w ere c a r e ­

le ss in p erform in g the grinding job , the pipe had to be rim through the op era ­

tion again for rew orking.

The m en w orked in an en closed foundry area, which was som ewhat 

n oisy, v ery dusty, and exposed to steam vapor. They w ore p rotective 

helm ets, fa ce shields, and nose resp ira tors during som e parts o f the p r o c e s s .

In 1961, the average length of serv ice of the six grinders and the 

operator w as 19 y ea rs; the range was 14 to 25 y ea rs. By com p arison , the 

average plant sen iority was 14*5 y ea rs. The average age of the seven m en

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w as 46, ranging from 39 to 52 y ea rs. T hree of the m en w ere at lea st 46 

years old and the operator was 50 yea rs of age* (Age and serv ice data w ere 

not available for the loader and the two test p ress men*)

R ecognition of the N eed to R edesign the O peration

In anticipation of in crea sed busin ess, the com pany red esign ed the 

"pipe grinding and test p re ss station11 in 1961 to in crea se output capacity of 

the operation and to reduce co s ts . A contributing fa ctor in the d ecision to 

m ake the change w as the fact that m ost of the w ork ers had requested fr e ­

quently to be tra n sferred from the operation because the w ork was unusually 

exhausting p h ysically. The m en w ere in good health and (as reported) nthey 

rea lized they had to be to w ork at their jobs* n G iven the opportunity, they 

p re fe rre d to be placed elsew here in the foundry. P ast re co rd s had shown 

that m en ra re ly rem ained in this operation after their ea rly fiftie s. At least 

4 of the 10 m en then in the unit w ere betw een 46 and 52 yea rs of age.

A fter con siderable d iscu ssion with his production staff planners and 

su p erv isors, the V ice P residen t in Charge of P roduction requested a redesign 

of the pipe grinding and test p ress station. He brought this request to the 

attention of the V ice P resid en t of E ngineering, who w as resp on sible for planning and accum ulating the data n e ce ssa ry for m aking the change. The 

com pany1^ engineering departm ent designed the change. The com pan y's 

m aintenance shop m ade som e of the equipm ent and n e ce ssa ry parts and som e 

w ere purchased* The m aintenance shop em ployees also installed m ost o f the 

equipment* Out of pocket costs for the new system w ere estim ated at 

$ 150,000*

Nature of the R edesign

Under the new system the basic p ro ce ss flow rem ained the sam e as 

b e fo re , but the com pany m ade sp ecific tasks autom atic. T hese sp ecific tasks 

included loading and feeding the cast iron pipes to the pipe rotating m achines, 

grinding or cleaning the pipe in teriors, pipe p ressu re testing, and rem oval of 

the pipes from this last step. M otorized grinding units, fitted with long p oles 

topped with abrasive grinding rock s and linking pipe con v ey ors, rep la ced the 

three previous pipe rotating m achines. To rep la ce the m anually con trolled 

le v e rs which actuated the pipe rotating m achines, the com pany installed 

pneum atic e le ctric con trols. The sta tion ^ op erator activated these con trols 

from a pushbutton panel to ca rry through the com plete operational cy cle , 

including the test p re ss, without any manual assistance*

The change elim inated the hard, physically demanding job s of the 

loa d er, the six grinders and the two test p ress m en, all of whom w ere tra n sfe rre d to other jo b s . The w orker operated the new equipm ent after a few 

w eeks of o n -th e -jo b training. B ecause of the pushbutton pneum atic con trol 

system he cou ld sit during m ost of his w ork tour. P rev iou sly fatigue resu lted

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because he had to stand m ost of the day. Five years after the redesign, the 

op era tor, the only man in the pipe grinding and test p ress operation and who 

is now 55 years old, is still w orking.

The six grinders who w ere tra n sferred from the rotating grinding 

m achines to other jo b s, also experienced a reduction in p h ysical dem ands. 

Three w ere m oved to another section of the cleaning departm ent, and 

assigned to touchup grinding w ork, using handtools (manual or e le ctric) to 

grind or clean rough or irregu la r su rfaces on castings. They frequently sit 

while w orking. The com pany assigned two of the m en to pipe-bundling fo rk ­

lift trucks and the sixth m an to operating a pipe printing m achine, via pushbutton con trol. These m en needed only a sm all amount of on -th e -jo b training 

to prepare them fo r their new jo b s, which w ere m uch less difficu lt, p h ysica lly , than their fo rm e r jo b s. The fo rm e r grin d ers are em ployed currently 

at the foundry. The other w ork ers (loader and two p re ss m en) w ere tra n sfe rre d also to less fatiguing w ork.

The new system has reduced greatly the extent of p ossib le hazards 

to health and safety. The operator w orks in a p rotected en closu re, freed 

from exposure to the dusty conditions. The other w ork ers have been tra n sfe rre d to areas w here the dust conditions w ere not so bad and w here there is 

no steam vapor p rob lem . Thus, although the redesign was not undertaken 

sp ecifica lly to accom m odate the w ork to the lim itations of old er w ork ers, it 

did lessen the heavier physical w ork. It also bettered the w ork conditions 

for all of the w ork ers involved, including at least four m en who w ere over 45 

yea rs of age.

The new pipe grinding and test p ress system was designed to a c c o m ­

plish the grinding and testing of approxim ately 135 pipes p er hour, a 50 p e rcent in crea se in production over the fo rm e r m ethod. (H ow ever, the a n ticipated in crea se in demand for the plant1 s pipe products did not m a teria lize, 

and the actual output has rem ained at the fo rm e r level of 90 pipes per h o u r .) 

Labor cost savings as a result of the reduction in m anpow er fo r the operation 

w ere estim ated at $ 6 ,0 0 0 per w ork er, per y ea r, or a total of $ 5 4,0 00 per 

year fo r the nine m en tra n sferred to other jo b s.

The em ployees w ere reported satisfied that the change m ade their 

job s som ewhat ea sier and im proved their working conditions. They retained 

their sam e job grade lev els and there was no downgrading of wage ra tes.

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W irecutter and P orters at an Instrum ent F actory

Introduction and Summary

A plant, which produces p re cisio n instrum ents, em phasizes the 

m odification of jobs to accom m odate the physical lim itations of em ployees.

Two instances relate to job redesign for older w ork ers. The first case con ­

cern s m echanization of a manual task. The plant assigned the ea sier w ork on 

a fu ll-tim e basis to a 63 y e a r-o ld w orker with an arth ritic condition. P r o ­

ductivity doubled and the man rem ained on the job until he was eligible for a 

pension. The second case involves the reduction of weights that the plantfs 

p orters lift. M iddle-age w ork ers m ay extend their w orking lives because of 

this reduction of w eights.

D escrip tion of the E stablishm ent

The plant m anufactures potentiom eters and other p re cisio n control 

instrum ents, m ostly for use by the Governm ent in space and defense p r o ­

g ra m s. P rod u ction system s vary accordin g to the instrum ent or com ponent 

being m ade. This system includes unit operations in which the w ork er m akes 

the entire part on a custom basis as w ell as batch and assem b ly line operations.

The plant em ploys 440 p erson s, of whom nearly half are nonproduction w ork ers, including 110 su p ervisory, engineering, and tech n ical, and 106 

c le r ic a l. P roduction w ork ers include 80 skilled and 154 sem isk illed , m ost 

of whom p erform operations of a b en ch -a ssem b ly nature. N early all p rod u ction jobs require som e degree of training. Much of this training is obtained 

in form ally on the job , under the su p ervision of a forem an.

A personn el departm ent extends plant se rv ice s for w ork ers. These 

se rv ice s include a m edical unit staffed by a reg istered nu rse, a safety c o o r ­

dinator, and a safety engineer. W orkers at the plant are represented by a 

union. The com pany has long had a p olicy of utilizing ph ysically handicapped 

w ork ers on som e jo b s .

The com pany pension plan p rovides for benefits to em ployees who 

retire at age 65 with a m inim um of 10 years of s e rv ic e . E a rlier retirem ent 

is p ossib le after 20 yea rs of serv ice if the com pany m anagem ent consents or 

if the em ployee becom es perm anently and totally disabled.

I. M echanization Benefiting a Handicapped W orker

Nature of the R edesign

One of the m any tasks of a group of potentiom eter fin ish ers is to 

stretch w ire to reduce its diam eter, and then cut it to the d esired length.

They use the p ro ce sse d w ire as a com ponent in a poten tiom eter. Each of

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these w ork ers stood a sm all part of the day at a cutting fixtu re, using sm all 

hand tools to clam p the w ire and to adjust the fixtu re. This task required a 

m oderate degree of manual dexterity and strength.

In 1964, as part of norm al efforts to in crea se productivity and cut 

c o s ts , the plant production m anager con ferred with the m ethods engineer and 

forem an concerning the m echanization of the w ire stretching operation .

A fter thorough study, the engineer designed an autom atic w ire stretching 

fixture costing $700 which m ech an ically stretches the w ire to p rop er dim ension and cuts it off at a p reset length. With this m achine the w ork er can sit 

at his w ork, and p erform the task with m inim um ph ysical exertion . Learning 

to operate the new m achine requ ires only 1 to 2 hours of o n -th e -jo b training.

One of the potentiom eter fin ish ers was a 63 y e a r-o ld w ork er who 

had been having in creasin g difficulty in perform in g various tasks because an 

arth ritic condition had reduced his ability to m ove his hands and fin g ers.

The plant forem an had been assigning him odd job s to keep him at w ork until 

he could re tire . H ow ever, as his condition w orsened it becam e m ore d ifficult to find w ork he could p erform . He had been em ployed by the com pany 

fo r 15 y e a rs. This length of tim e was not long enough to qualify him for ea rly 

retirem ent or for disability benefits under the com pany pension plan.

The forem a n and other m anagem ent officia ls becam e concerned 

about keeping him p rodu ctively em ployed. A fter the com pany m echanized the 

w ire cutting task, which required v ery little manual dexterity, they assigned 

him this task exclu sively on a fu ll-tim e b a sis. He p erform ed very sa tisfa cto rily , and relieved the other potentiom eter fin ish ers of cutting and stretch ­

ing w ire.

R esults of the R edesign

The old er w orker is now expected to rem ain on the job until he 

retires late in 1966, at age 65. He w ill draw the com pany pension, in addition to Social Security benefits. The red esign of this job w ill enable him to 

com plete his w orking life in a productive capacity.

Output per m an-hour has doubled on the w ire stretching task as a 

result of red esign . M oreov er, the m echanized device produ ces m ore uniform diam eters of w ire. The wage rate of the old er w ork er who receiv ed the 

standard hourly rate of a potentiom eter fin ish er, has not been affected by the 

job redesign.

H. Reducing the Lifting Burden 

D escrip tion of the Job P r io r to R edesign

The com pany em ploys four p o rte rs, age 43 to 59, to clean flo o rs 

and surrounding a rea s. They em pty and clean trash con tain ers, which are 

located in the fa ctory and office areas of the three buildings of the plant.

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E veryday three of the four p orters do this task, which takes an average of 

l j h ou rs, one p orter doing it in each building. Emptying large trash con ­

tainer units in the fa ctory area occu pies m uch m ore tim e than em ptying office 

waste baskets.

The large m etal trash container units in the fa cto rie s w ere about 2 

feet in diam eter and 3 feet high. A hollow m etal cylin der with a sem iglobe 

top that housed a hinged door through which trash item s w ere pushed cov ered 

the container. To em pty the container, the p orter had to lift this outer 

cov erin g, weighing about 25 pounds, above the top of the inside container.

The container itself weighed about 5 pounds when em pty and 15 pounds when 

fu ll. On trash collection rounds the p orter em ptied the container into a 55 

gallon, 4 feet high, steel drum set on a heavy w ooden truck with iron tracked 

w h eels, which he pulled through the plant buildings. A fter em ptying each 

container, he put it back in place and covered it with the cy lin d rica l outer 

shell.

On com pletion of the rounds, the p orter pulled the wagon to the side 

of a plant building to em pty the heavy tra sh -fille d drum s into a large m obile 

trash recep ta cle, approxim ately 5 feet high and 10 feet square. Then the 

p orter cleaned the drum s with a w ater hose and stored them fo r the next 

day’ s u se.

Nature and R esults of the R edesign

In 1964, severa l of the m etal trash containers and outer shells 

becam e badly rusted, and needed to be rep la ced . To benefit the p orter crew , 

the Industrial R elations M anager purchased corrugated p la stic containers 

that w ere lighter in weight and m ore convenient to handle. They are topped 

by a p rism -sh a p ed p lastic lid, having a hinged opening through which trash 

is put into the container. Lid and container each weigh about 1 pound. The 

purchase of severa l of these units, with plans to purchase m o re , led to the 

replacem ent of the heavy ungainly truck, and the 55-g a llon drum s, by a 

lightweight, rubber-w heeled push-truck, costing about $100, on which two 

3 0 -gallon size p lastic drum s w ere set.

The new p lastic container units cost about as m uch as the m etal 

units they have rep la ced , and are expected to last equally long. Since they 

are lighter in w eight, these plastic recep ta cles are ea sier to handle for 

cleaning. M o reov er, the clean new recep ta cles and the quieter truck are 

m ore desirable in a plant w here p re cisio n w ork predom in ates.

Reduced physical strain on the p orters in lifting and handling trash 

containers is the m ost im portant gain from adoption of the new system . The 

new equipm ent boosts m ora le and produ ces a saving of 20 percent in w ork ­

tim e resulting in greater efficien cy in the p o r te r s 1 other cleaning tasks. The 

easing of the p o r te r s ’ job through acquisition of the new equipment m ay 

lengthen the w orking liv es of these old er m en.

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C ircu it A ssem b ly W ork ers in a Com puter Plant

Introduction and Sum m ary

This ca se d iscu sses a group o f a ssem b ly w ork ers at a com puter 

m anufacturing plant, all of whom w ere over 45 years of age* Som e would 

have had difficulty continuing with an in crea sed workload* To im prove 

efficien cy , the engineering staff designed a new system of operations which 

elim inated eye strain, bending, stretching, and squatting* The productivity 

of the group in crea sed substantially*

D escription of the E stablishm ents

The plant develops and produces electron ic com puters and other co m ­

ponent parts used in data p rocessin g equipm ent and com puters* P rod u ction 

system s are changed frequently, som etim es to im prove m ethods, but m ore 

often because of the introduction of im proved m odels o f com puters offerin g 

greater speed, m em ory capacity, etc* , over older m od els.

The general p ra ctice provides m echanical equipment to reduce fatigue 

and facilitate production. H oists and other lifting devices assure that w ork ers 

are usually not requ ired to lift m ore than 25 to 30 pounds* Seats of varying 

heights are available for production w orkers* Although im provem ents in 

equipment and techniques are not usually undertaken with the lim itations of 

individual w ork ers in m ind, som e esp ecia lly designed equipment has been 

installed to accom m odate disabled and blind w ork ers.

The plant em ploys 7,400 w o rk e rs, of whom about 4, 600 are nonproduction and 2, 800 are production w orkers* The high p rop ortion of nonproduction w ork ers re fle cts strong em phasis on engineering. The plant has a 

personn el staff of 87 which includes 5 safety rep resen tatives, 2 m ed ical 

d octors, and 9 n u rses. P roduction w orker training is p rim a rily on the job* 

N onproduction w ork ers average 8 hours of cla ss ro o m training during the year*

The com pany pension plan perm its an em ployee to re tire at age 55 on 

a partial pension with 15 years of se rv ice , and on full pension at age 65, which 

is the m andatory retirem en t age* T h ere is no union at the plant* W o rk e rs1 

earnings are based on w eekly salary only*

D escrip tion of Job P rio r to R edesign

The production operation in which job redesign was ca rrie d out is 

ca lled nch a ssis populating*f! E leven w ork ers, all o f whom w ere over 45, 

stood at w ork tables and in serted 2- by 5-inch epoxy lam inated cards containing electron ic circu its, into a ch a ssis fram e, designed to hold approxim ately 

200 such ca rd s. Each w orker placed an em pty ch a ssis fram e on a w orktable 

and visually scanned a long printed instruction list which indicated the proper 

circu it ca rd to in sert in each slot of the ch a ssis fram e* Next, he walked to 

a supply area, 15 to 20 feet away, chose the part he needed, returned to the

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w orktable, and plugged the part into the ch assis fram e* He repeated this 

p roced u re until he "populated" the chassis* The w orker frequently had to 

sea rch for cards in the supply rack s, which contained sev era l thousand 

d ifferently num bered ca rd s. O cca sion a lly, ca rd s w ere not stored conveniently, or w ere not ea sily identifiable. T o find the p rop er part the w orker 

had to bend, squat, and reach over his head* Som e w ork ers su ffered eye 

fatigue trying to read the instructions to in sert the individual cards*

When the w orker finished a ch assis (now weighing 15 pounds), which 

took from 45 m inutes to an hour, he lifted it from the table and set it on top 

of com pleted ch a ssis, ready for use as a com ponent part of the total circu itry 

of the electron ic com puter. Then, using the same or a different instruction 

list, he started w ork on the next ch a ssis.

Learning the operation requ ired only a short p eriod of o n -th e -jo b 

training* H ow ever, insertion requ ired great care to prevent m alfunction of 

a com puter.

Nature of the R edesign

A staff of engineers is engaged constantly in studying w ork m ethods 

in all operations to reduce co sts, in crea se output, and elim inate ob sta cles to 

high productivity* The p ro je ct m anager drew the attention of the engineers 

to the ch a ssis populating operation in 1962, after m anagem ent had requested 

him to find a way to in crea se productivity. W hile redesign of the operation 

w as not undertaken d irectly because of physical strain experien ced by the 

em ployees, greater a ccu ra cy and productivity am ong the group, of whom all 

w ere over 45, under conditions of growing w orkloads, w ere fa cto rs in m aking 

changes in the operation. A fter m uch experim entation, engineers designed a 

new system with three distinctly new elem ents: a new ca rd storage system ,

a sw ivel top w orktable, and a record in g device which dictates taped in stru ction s. The new system elim inated in several ways physical effort in reaching 

and bending, and p ossib le eye strain.

The w orker now p laces the em pty ch a ssis fram e on a sw ivel top table 

which is ra ise d or low ered h ydrau lically to bring the fram e to supply rack s 

at a convenient height for the a ssem b ler to w ork. M etal supply ra ck s store 

the circu it ca rd parts so that gravity pushes the card s forw a rd as the w ork er 

rem ov es them from the rack. The cards are arranged m ore system atically 

than b efore, and their num bers can be read ea sily .

A record in g m achine announcing vocal d irection s elim inates the rea d ­

ing o f instructions fro m a printed list, and allow s the w orker to have both hands 

free for plugging cards* He no longer had to hold and read an instruction sheet. 

He p la ces the tape in the record in g m achine, puts on earphones, and activates 

the m achine by depressing a foot pedal* The voice gives the location of each 

ca rd in the ch a ssis. The w orker listen s and w orks sim ultaneously rather than 

having to rea d and then w ork. He regulates the speed o f the tape. He plays it 

back or stops it as desired*

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S everal speaking v o ice s w ere tested on the instructional tape b efore 

the w ork ers accep ted a few as sa tisfa ctory. V oices m ust be pleasing to the 

ear since w ork ers listen to instruction interm ittently throughout the day.

The new system req u ired 2 to 3 w eeks of o n -th e -jo b training in the 

use of the tape record in g device and the location of parts in the storage ra ck s. 

E arnings w ere not affected by the redesign since the w ork ers re ceiv e w eekly 

sa la ries.

The cost of equipping the 11 w ork stations was about $ 45,000* Each 

record in g m achine co st $ 400; the sw ivel top w ork table and storage ra ck s 

accounted fo r the rem ain der. E ngineering co sts am ounted to an additional 

$ 2 ,5 0 0 to $ 5 ,0 0 0 . E ngineers designed only one w ork station at a tim e to 

avoid seriou s w ork interruption.

R esults of the R edesign

Since the redesign , the output per em ployee on this operation has 

trip led at lea st. R edesign shortened the tim e req u ired to fill a ch a ssis from 

45 to 60 m inutes to 15 to 20 m inutes and reduced e r r o r s in in sertion 65 p ercent. The new system has lessen ed fatigue substantially— the m ain cause of 

e r r o r s in in sertion . Substituting auditory for visual instruction spread the 

w orkload over m ore of the op era torls senses since auditory fatigue does not 

take effect so quickly as does visual (optical) fatigue.

Stooping, bending, squatting, and eye strain w ere elim inated virtually by 

installing the convenient hydraulic sw ivel top table and rearrangin g the storage 

ra ck s. T hese new ra ck s provided m ore efficien t arrangem ent of circu it cards 

and cle a re r m ethod of identification than the previous system .

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A ppendix A , U nion-Industry Sponsored R ehabilitation P r o je c t

The experien ce of a union-industry sponsored p ro je ct involving job 

red esign is d escrib ed in this appendix. This descrip tion is based on d iscu ssions with the p roject d ire cto rs and on the published rep ort, Dem and for 

R ehabilitation in a L abor Union Population: P art One: R esea rcli ReportT, 

Hyman J* 1/Yeiner, Shelley H. Akabas, B ruce Grynbaum (1964) ; P a ri T w o: 

A ction P ro g ra m , Hyman J. W einer, Shelley H* A kabas, M o rr is Brand* 

B ruce Grynbaum (1966)} Sidney H illm an Health Center of New Y ork, New 

Y ork, N. Y .

Job m odification s to accom m odate som e old er w ork ers in the men*s 

clothing industry in New Y ork C ity w ere ca rrie d out in this p roject as one 

part of a 3 -y ea r (1961-64) vocational rehabilitation re se a rch and action p r o ­

gram conducted by the Sidney H illm an Health Center* The Center itse lf w as 

established as an outpatient health fa cility , in 1951, by the New Y ork Joint 

B oard of the A m algam ated Clothing W orkers of A m erica (A FL-C IO ) and the 

New Y ork Clothing M anufacturers A ssocia tion , to serve the health needs of 

union m em b ers and fem ale spou ses. It -undertook the rehabilitation p roject 

as a resu lt of a resea rch and dem onstration grant from the V ocational 

R ehabilitation A dm inistration (HEW) and additional financial support from the 

New Y ork chapter and national office of the A m erica n H eart A ssocia tion .

The C enter was selected for the p ro je ct because it serv iced the 

health needs of the industry*s w ork ers; relations between m anagem ent and 

labor w ere good; and efforts at rehabilitating w ork ers and placing them in 

job s could be expected to re ceiv e full coop eration of all the p arties, including 

public w elfare and rehabilitation agencies* A dditionally, the industry*s w ork 

fo rce in New Y ork City is an aging one, w hose m edian age is 50 as com p ared 

with the m edian age of the City*s w ork fo r c e , which is 44* A lm ost 20 percent 

of the industry*s m ale w ork ers w ere over 65 years of age, com pared with 5 

percent for the City* s w orking population*

Many groups w elcom ed the p ro je ct, based on an industryw ide approach 

to the rehabilitation of w ork ers needing help. A part from humanitarian 

a sp ects, m aintaining a skilled w ork fo rce in the face of labor sca rcity was a 

con cern of both union and management*

The initial or nre se a rch n stage of the p ro je ct included a m ail survey 

of 25 percent of 20, 000 w orking m em b ers of the u n ion --th ose who had w orked 

full tim e at lea st som e part of the year b efore the beginning of the p ro je ct.

The purpose of the m ail survey was to learn the extent of rehabilitation need, 

based on ch ron ic conditions (heart, arth ritis, e tc .) as rep orted by the m em b ership. Spouses of the m em b ers w ere included. F rom a 60 percent resp on se, 

a sam ple of 300 positive respondents was selected for intensive person al in terview . A dem onstrated need for rehabilitation due to a substantial lim itation in 

a m a jor activity (job or housew ork), person al ca re , or socia l participation, 

plus the p h y siolog ica l capacity to benefit from the program determ ined the 

selection of sam ples for help.

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The second or "a ction ” stage of the p roject involved the actual reh abilitation and placem ent efforts of the p rofession al staff* Som e of the m ail 

respondents w ere not in need of help or could not be helped through reh a b ilitation efforts* Others w ere m aintained on their jo b s, or enabled to return to 

their w ork with som e p rofession al guidance. F or still others, adjustm ents 

in their job duties or w orking environm ent m ade it p ossib le for them to 

resum e active w orking liv e s.

One ca se involved a 57 y e a r-o ld skilled cutter who had had a heart 

attack several m onths b efore his re fe rr a l to the p roject staff. He could do 

all of his duties as a cutter except lift the 60 to 100-pound bolts of cloth onto 

the cutting table* Other w ork ers in the cutting room assum ed resp on sibility 

for his lifting duties, enabling the cutter to return to w ork.

A num ber of other ca ses involved individuals with em otional p rob ­

le m s. In som e instances, partial su ccesses w ere achieved in m odifying 

w orking arrangem ents affecting these w ork ers. When the p roject was 

extended after 1964, for another 4 y ea rs, rehabilitation of w ork ers with 

m ental health p roblem s receiv ed greater em phasis. Job m odification w ill be 

one of the techniques that w ill be significant in helping w ork ers with m ental 

and em otional d ifficu lties.

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Appendix B. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Wa sh in g to n, D.C. 2 02 1 2

In reply refer to:

No. kOO

Dear Mr.

Efforts to improve employment opportunities for the older

■worker are an important program of the United States Department of

Labor. Special problems of older workers, and ways in which nrivate

industry has helped them accommodate to changes in job requirements,

have been studied.

Our Bureau is currently attempting to locate companies

which have redesigned or adapted jobs to accommodate existing physical

capacities of older workers. Practical applications of job redesign

techniques could be helpful to other employers who wish to benefit from

the skills and experience of older workers. Job adaptation may range

from a simple change to an involved redesign. (The enclosed sheet

presents some examples.)

We are asking a number of leading companies whether they

have had any experience in adapting jobs for older workers. Later, we

plan to visit a small number of companies.

Could you let us know whether any of your company's plants

have ever redesigned jobs for older workers? If they have, we would

appreciate it if you would give us the names of plant or company

officials whom we should contact to discuss the circumstances leading

to the redesign, the action taken, and the results for the worker and

the company.

Your cooperation will be of great assistance. We should

appreciate a reply b y ____________, in order to complete this phase of

our survey.

Sincerely yours,

Enclosure

Arthur M. Ross

Commissioner

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Illustrations of Job Bedesign for Older Workers

Foundry; An operator of a mold-making sand-slinger machine in a foundry

had to guide the suspended machine head hack and forth over the mold by

hand. This required heavy physical work and standing during the full work

shift. After working at the job a number of years, the operator began to

lose weight and he requested a transfer to other work. However, the company decided to alter the equipment so that the machine head was moved by

hydraulic power remotely controlled by the operator from a sitting position. Shortly after the change, the operator had regained his weight,

his health was improved, and the production of the sand-slinger unit went

up 20 percent.

Chemical plant: Carboys containing chemicals and weighing up to 50 pounds,

were stored in the storerooms of a chemical manufacturing plant. To fill

an order, it was necessary to lift the carboys from storage shelves and

then pour out the required amount. As the storeroom employees grew older,

they found it increasingly difficult to perform the work. To make the

task less physically demanding, the company placed the carboys in rockers

and had siphoning devices attached.

Food processing plant: A company was confronted with the need for redesigning jobs of 40 older women engaged in a spinach trimming operation. The

women worked an eight-hour day, standing up. They had to carry 30-pound

spinach baskets. The job was reengineered by reducing the movement of

hands 50 percent, supplying stools with backs and special work tables

adjusted to standing-sitting positions, furnishing hardwood foot rests to

provide insulation against cold steel, installing conveyors and improving

work scheduling.

Chemical plant: Work of older men was made easier through installation of

an automatic conveyor which brought raw materials directly to their machines,

eliminating heavy lifting and carrying. These workers, who were skilled in

blending the company’s compounds, were thus able to remain on this job into

their late years.

Radio and TV plant: The performance of a group of older workers engaged in

inspecting printed radio and television circuits was improved by providing

them with an opaque stencil in which a small number of holes had been punched.

When placed on top of a circuit to be inspected, it kept the workers from

being distracted by the mass of detail that was present and helped them to

concentrate their attention on the areas to be inspected.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics Budget Bureau No. 2872 

Washington, D.C. 20212 Approval Expires 6-30-66

Appendix C. CHECKLIST FOR STUDY OF JOB REDESIGN FOR OLDER WORKERS

PART I: REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT (to be filled in once only for all

cases).

1. Name of Establishment

2. Location

3* • Number of Employees: Total ____________

Nonproduction ____________ Production ____________

End Product or Service ____________

5. Types of production system: Unit ____________;

Batch ____________; Assembly Line ____________ ;

Mass Production ____________; Continuous Flow ____________

6. Plant Services: Personnel ____________;

Personal counseling and other services ____________; Safety ____________;

Medical____________; Training (O.T.J., vestibule; formal, informal, etc.)

7. Jobs (percentage) Clerical ____________; Skilled ____________;

Semi-skilled ____________; Unskilled ____________

3 . Proportion of females of employees in each category:

Total ____________ Nonproduction ____________ Production ___________

9. Is there a range of jobs calling for the same skills or which allow

for relatively simple interchangeability of employees? Describe.

PART II: REPORT ON JOB REDESIGNED (this part should be printed on a

separate sheet to be filled out individually for each redesigned

job).

1. Administrative procedure (describe the position of the person

initiating the request; persons who collected the data to decide

case; and person determining need for redesign; person who redesigned

job).

2. Cite the critical factors that alerted the firm to the need for or

desirability of job redesign (output, earnings, absences, turnover,

accidents, medical review, employee request, etc.). Was the job

redesigned to retain senior employee so he could complete service

requirements for pension? Did labor shortage necessitate change?

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3. Description of Job Conditions:

A. Describe the job itself and machines (photograph if possible).

B. Type of skill (manual, specific control, information handling,

visual; diagnostic).

C. Nature of manual work: light, medium or heavy.

D. Organization of work: Individual, size of team or group,

assembly line.

E. Pace: Man or machine-paced.

P. Production m s : single, short, medium or long runs (specify

number).

G. Operational cycles: short, average or long (specify time).

H. Method of remuneration: time, piece, bonus, collective bonus.

I. Responsibility (Financial, state in money terms the damage that

can occur).

J. Responsibility (degree to which worker on his own controls safety,

quality and productivity of the job).

K. Physical environment (Note unusual conditions as to noise, heat,

cold, humidity, lighting).

L. Safety hazards (rate and severity of accidents).

M. Health hazards.

N. Posture for work: Standing, sitting or others.

O. Age Distribution of Employees on Job.

h . Personal Difficulties of Older Workers Necessitating Change.

A. Physical disability (heart, lung, spinal weakness, handicapped

movements, varicose veins, deafness, eyes...).

B. Psychological disability (nervous state, memory).

C. Other reasons: Output, inadequate physical stamina, pace,

night shift, accident prone.

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5. Action taken (describe under appropriate heading).

A. Action in case of difficult physical work (e.g., elimination of

difficulty, mechanization, change in position of controls).

B. Action in case of machine or conveyor belt pacing (e.g., slow

down, divert production from belt, more or less stations or

machines, regrouping of stations or machines, changes in signals).

C. Action in case of standing fatigue (e.g., addition of seat or

support; change of height; support for components or elements

to be carried).

D. In case of Eyesight Inadequate or Strained (e.g., better lighting;

enlargement of details; increased contrast; slow down of passing

component; encourage wearing of glasses).

E. In case of Inadequate Individual Output (e.g., change to day work;

change work standards).

F. In case of Extreme Physical Conditions (e.g., change in physical

conditions).

G. In case of Accidents (e.g., enforce regulations; redesign;

mechanizations, automatic controls, machine protectors, protective clothing).

H. In case of Health Hazards (e.g., change of substance; ventilation

air conditioning, etc.).

6. Training.

Please describe induction and retraining procedures for

employees for redesigned job.

7* Experience with Change and Results.

Please describe briefly the results of the change and its

effectiveness on production, accidents, physical conditions,

psychological pressures, earnings, recruitment of older workers,

elimination of complaints, employee satisfaction, etc. Give

date of change and of report.

Name of person reporting

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Supplementary Checklist-Job Redesign for Older Workers

With regard to employee earnings— consider such matters as:

(a) Was the job redesigned and performance elements

excluded which diluted the job content, and in

turn, reduced the rate of pay, or—

(b) Since the job redesign was minimal and all

important functions are performed by the incumbent older worker, did rate of pay remain

unchanged (— or increased).

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Selected Annotated B ibliography on O lder W orker 

Em ploym ent and Job R edesign

O lder W orker: G eneral

B irren , Jam es E. (ed. ). Handbook of Aging and the Individual: P sy ch o lo g ical and B iolog ica l A spects (C hicago, 111. , U niversity of Chicago P r e s s , 

1959). 918 pp.

Sum m arizes age changes in physical and m ental functions as they affect 

p erform a n ce. D escrib es m ethods of m atching old er people and their jo b s. 

D iscu sses the p erform an ce of old er people in industry, and con sid ers the 

difficu lties of retraining old er w ork ers. C oncerns the b iolog ica l and p sy ­

ch ologica l bases of changes in behavior and capacities of the individual 

organism which o ccu r with advancing age.

B irren , Jam es E. , R obert N. B utler, Samuel W. G reenhouse, Louis

Sokoloff and M arian R. Y arrow (e d s .). Human Aging: A B iolog ica l and 

B ehavioral Study. P ublic Health Service Pubrication No. 9&6 (W ashington, £). C. , tj. S. Governm ent Printing O ffice, 1963). 328 pp.

P resen ts the efforts of 22 investigators in understanding the aging 

experien ce and the p ro ce s s e s involved.

C lark, F. Le G ros and Agnes C. Dunne. A geing in Industry (London, 

N uffield Foundation, 1955).

D etailed survey of 32 selected occupations com pares the varying con ­

ditions of w ork , the opportunities for m odifying the w ork p r o c e s s e s , and the 

retirem ent and superannuation p ra ctices p ecu liar to different occupations.

C rook, G. Ham ilton and M artin H einstein. The O lder W orker in Industry:

A Study of the Attitudes of Industrial W orkers Tow ard Aging and R e tire ­

m ent (B erkeley, C alif. , The Regents of the U niversity of C alifornia, 

T^FF). 143 pp.

P resen ts and analyzes attitudes of 850 old er industrial w ork ers toward 

aging and retirem ent. Constitutes part of a R ock efeller in terd isciplin ary 

study of the p roblem of aging in an industrial society .

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F ox, Harland. ’'U tilization of O lder M a n p ow er,” H arvard B usiness R eview ,

Y ol. 29> N ovem ber 1961, pp. 40-54.

E xam ines three aspects of the question of w ork opportunities fo r the 

aged: p ost-retirem en t utilization of w ork ers, w o r k e rs 1 p referen ce fo r the 

norm al retiring age, and utilization of w ork ers at ages 45 to 65. Concludes 

that the prim e obstacle to utilization of w ork ers over 65 is the growth of 

private pension plans. B ecause of the need for econ om ic secu rity as w ell as 

the need to m aintain certain noneconom ic values, the m a jority of em ployees 

who reach 65 p re fe r to continue to w ork.

M cC onnell, John W. ’’The P rob lem s of W ork and Tim e fo r O lder P e rso n s, ” 

A Summ ary of the P roceed in gs of the State-W ide C onference on Aging 

(Albany, N .Y . , New Y ork State O ffice for the A ging, 1962), pp. 29-38.

States that autom ation and other technological innovations are creating 

greater productivity with few er people needed in the labor fo r c e . As new 

autom ated p ro ce s s e s of production are introduced, old er w ork ers with 

p oorer educational backgrounds are elim inated; exam ines relationship of 

w ork to le isu re .

O rganisation fo r E conom ic C ooperation and D evelopm ent. Age and E m ploym ent (P a ris, O rganisation fo r E con om ic C ooperation and D evelopm ent,

1 9 6 2 ) . 6 2 p p .

A b rief account of the p roceed in gs and conclusion s of the Stockholm 

Sem inar on age and em ploym ent. States that the popular notion of aging in 

relation to w ork has to be ra d ica lly rev ised . G eneral rep ort prepared by 

D r. A la stair H eron.

P roceed in g s of National C onference on the A ging. M anpower Training and 

the O lder W orker (Washington, D. C. , 1966). 756 pp.

Entire text of proceed in gs sponsored by the National C ouncil on the 

A ging. Includes counseling and vocational training a d d resses, con feren ce 

findings, and background p ap ers.

R oss, Arthur M* and Jane N. "E m ploym ent P rob lem s of O lder W o r k e r s ,” 

Studies in Unem ploym ent. P rep a red for the Special C om m ittee on 

Unem ployment P rob lem s, U. S. Senate, 86th C on g ress, 2d S ession 

(W ashington, D. C. , U. S. Governm ent Printing O ffice, I960), pp. 97-120.

D iscu sses econ om ic and socia l developm ents which have contributed to 

unem ploym ent p roblem s of older w ork ers. R eview s em ployer hiring p olicies 

and sum m arizes the types of p rotection given old er w ork ers under union 

agreem en ts.

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Sobel, Irwin and R ichard C. W ilcock . P lacem ent Techniques for O lder 

W orkers (OECD, M arch 1966). 84 pp.

D eals with the p roblem s of the com petitiveness of old er w ork ers in the 

labor m arket and the sp ecific p roced u res and techniques fo r helping in their 

reintegration into the labor fo r c e .

U. S. Departm ent of Health, Education and W elfare. Aging in the M odern 

W orld: An Annotated B ibliography (W ashington, D. C. , U. S. G overn - 

m ent Printing O ffice, 1963). 194 pp.

P resen ts annotated referen ces to books published between 1900-1963 

and to a rticles appearing from 1958 to 1963 related to the field of aging.

W olfbein, Seym our L . and E rnest W. B u rgess. ’’E m ploym ent and R e tire ­

m ent, ” A ^ in g in J V e s te r^ E rnest W. B urgess (ed. ) (C hicago,

U niversity of Chicago T*ress, I960)* 492 pp.

A statistical exam ination of length of w orking life , the older p erson as 

a w ork er, and the older w orker and retirem ent in the United States and other 

W estern so cie tie s . O ccupational distribution of old er w ork ers, fa ctors 

affecting retirem en t, and the prolongation of the w orking life are d iscu ssed .

O lder W orker: Job R edesign

A bram s, A lbert J. ’’Job Engineering and Job R e-A ssign m en t fo r the O lder 

W orker in A m erica n Industry, ” Growing with the Y e a rs . L egislative 

Docum ent No. 32 (Albany, N. Y . , New Y ork State Joint L egislative 

C om m ittee on P rob lem s of the Aging, 1954). 159 pp.

R esults of a survey of industry m ethods to m eet declining capacities of 

som e old er w ork ers. R eassignm ent found m ost com m on; redesign s p e cifically fo r old er w ork ers used infrequently.

Barkin, Solom on. ’’Job R edesign: A Technique fo r an E ra of Full E m p loym e n t,” M anpower in the United States: P rob lem s and P o lic ie s . Industrial R elations R esea rch A ssocia tion P ublication No. 11 (New Y ork, 

H arper and B roth ers, 1954), pp. 39-50.

E m phasizes need to redesign jobs for old er w ork ers to make m ore 

effective use of potential labor fo r c e . Cites su ccess of red esign in ca ses of 

handicapped w ork ers. P resen ts guides for reengineering job s in ord er to 

suit them to individual abilities of w ork ers.

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Barkin, Solom on. ’’Redesigning Jobs in Industry fo r a Maturing P op u la tion ,” 

Age Is No B a r r ie r . L egislative Docum ent No. 35 (New Y ork, New York 

State Joint L egislative Com m ittee on P rob lem s of the A ging, 1952).

171 pp.

D iscu sses the fea sib ility of com p u lsory hiring of old er p erson s, and the 

redesign of jo b s. A dvocates requiring new con cern s to m eet sp ecific ratios 

of m ature person s (men over 45, wom en over 35) to the total w ork fo r c e .

C lark, F . Le G ro s. Ageing on the F actory F loor: The P roduction of

D om estic Furniture (London, N uffield Foundation, 195?). 35 pp.

Study concludes that som e adjustm ents or con cession s had to be m ade 

for about 3 in 10 of those m en in their ea rly six ties, fo r about 6 in 10 of 

those in their late sixties, and fo r p ra ctica lly all the w orking su rvivors who 

w ere in their seventies. W here retirem ent o ccu rre d , it was due as often to 

old age as to som e chronic ailm ent or physical im pairm ent.

G riew , Stephen. Job R e-D esig n (P a ris, O rganisation fo r E con om ic C o -o p ­

eration and D evelopm ent,1 ^ 6 4 ). 86 pp.

C oncerns application of b iolog ica l data on aging to design of equipment 

and organization of w ork. E m phasizes potential sou rces of stress upon an 

individual or group of old er w ork ers and brings to light m ethods of rem oving 

strain in ord er to extend em ploym ent potential.

O rganisation fo r E con om ic C o-opera tion and D evelopm ent. Job R edesign and 

O ccupational Training fo r O lder W ork ers: Final R eport (j^aris, O rganisation fo r E con om ic C o-op era tion and D evelopm ent, 1965). 95 pp.

Sum m arizes the papers presented at the International Management 

Sem inar, London, 1964, and ideas exchanged in the cou rse of sem inar d is ­

cu ssion s. Outlines p rob lem s; presents papers on job red esign fo r older 

w ork ers, occupational training fo r old er w ork ers, vocational training 

m ethods for older w ork ers and case studies of experien ces of older people 

undergoing vocational retraining.

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O rganisation fo r E conom ic C o-operation and D evelopm ent. Job R e-D esign 

and Occupational Training for O lder W ork ers: Supplement to the Final 

R eport (P a ris, O rganisation for E con om ic C o-op era tion and D evelopm ent, 1965). 132 pp.

Contains reports prepared fo r London Sem inar in 1964 other than those 

that appear in final report; together with papers on training in the United 

States and the United Kingdom* Includes a questionnaire distributed to 

em ployers of m em ber countries and papers subm itted by participants 

d escribin g the situations in their own coun tries.

R ey, P aule. V arious C ases of Job R e-D esig n fo r O lder W o rk e rs, R eport

No. 3 of International Management Sem inar on Job R e-D esig n and O ccu ­

pational Training fo r O lder W orkers (P a ris, O rganisation for E con om ic 

C o-op era tion and D evelopm ent, 1965). 12 pp.

U ses exam ples of job redesign for older w ork ers to illustrate the 

m aintenance of output and the reduction in fatigue and effort which resu lt. 

D iscu sses the p ossib ilities of severa l m ethods of redesign, such as m ech a ­

nization and som e sim p ler, le ss expensive m ethods.

O lder W ork ers: Job P erform a n ce

B arkin, Solom on. The O lder W orker in Industry: A Study of New Y ork State 

M anufacturing Industries (Albany, N. Y. , J. B. Lyon Co. , 1933) 467 pp.

A study conducted under the auspices of the New Y ork State C om m ission 

on Old Age Security to investigate and report on the industrial conditions 

affecting aging m en and wom en.

B elbin, R. M. Training Methods fo r O lder W orkers (P a ris, O rganisation 

fo r E con om ic C o-operation and D evelopm ent, I”965). 72 pp.

Surveys current knowledge concerning changes in capacities resulting 

from aging; deals sp ecifica lly with changes in learning ability and pow er of 

adaptation. D escrib es m ethods of training already in u se. D esigned to 

collate and evaluate existing inform ation and to serve as a source book for 

further study.

G reenberg, Leon. "P rodu ctivity of O lder W o r k e r s ," The G eron tologist, 

M arch 1961, pp. 38-41.

Concludes that many individual older w ork ers can and do exceed the 

output of younger w ork ers, as illustrated by the findings of num erous studies. 

Yet surveys indicate that old er w ork ers are frequently elim inated from job 

consideration on the assum ption that they are not produ ctive.

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S ecretary of L abor. The O lder A m erica n W orker: Age D iscrim ination in 

E m ploym ent. R eport to the C ongress (W ashington, D. C. , U. S. G overnm ent Printing O ffice, 1965).

P resen ts recom m endations fo r dealing with a rb itra ry d iscrim in ation in 

em ploym ent because of age and with b a sic fa ctors which im pede the re e m ­

ploym ent of displaced w ork ers as they grow o ld er. D iscu sses m easu res 

which should be con sidered fo r fu ller use of talents and tim e of old er p erson s 

in private en terprise and in com m unity s e rv ic e . The sp ecial studies con ­

ducted for the reports are contained in a separate volum e of resea rch 

m a terial.

Schneider, B .V .H . The O lder W orker (B erk eley, C a lif., The Regents of 

the U niversity of C alifornia, 1962), pp. 35-50.

Findings show that old er w ork ers have as good or better attendance 

re co rd s than younger w o rk e rs, and low er turnover and injury ra tes. E xp erien ce, judgm ent, reasoning ability, and a ccu ra cy of old er people com p en ­

sate in m ost situations fo r the p h ysiologica l effects of age.

U. S. Departm ent of L abor, B ureau of E m ploym ent Security. Em ploying 

O lder W ork ers: A R ecord of E m p lo y e e s E x p erien ce. BES No. R -179 

(W ashington, D. C. , U. S. G overnm ent Printing O ffice, 1959).

R eports a series of ca ses in which com panies su ccessfu lly used old er 

w ork ers fo r a wide variety of jo b s . Study stresses the capabilities of old er 

w ork ers as shown by status of their p rodu ctivity, p h ysical strength, sk ills, 

and flex ib ility , and suggests that in crea sed m echanization of job s prom otes 

the retention of old er w ork ers by placing in crea sed relian ce on m aturity and 

dependability.

U. S. Departm ent of L abor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. C om parative Job

P erform a n ce by A ge: O ffice W ork ers. Bulletin 1273 (W ashington, D. C. , 

U .S . Governm ent Printing O ffice, I960). 36 pp.

C om pares the relative w ork p erform an ce of old er office w ork ers with 

other office w o rk e rs. Three im portant findings em erg e. F irs t, the d iffe r ­

ences in output per m an-hour among age groups of the office w ork ers within 

the scope of the survey w ere fo r the m ost part insignificant. Second, there 

w ere con siderable variations among w ork ers within age grou p s. T hird, 

w ork ers in the old er age groups had a steadier rate of output. Findings substantiate the need fo r individual evaluation of w ork ers.

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U .S . Department of L a b or, Bureau of Labor Statistics. C om parative Job 

P erform a n ce by A ge: Large Plants in the M en's F ootw ear and H ousehold Furniture Industries. Bulletin No. 1223 (W ashington, DC., U. S. 

Governm ent Printing O ffice, 1957). 60 pp. Sum m arized by Jerom e A .

M ark in Monthly Labor R eview , D ecem ber 1957, pp. 1467-71.

C om pares old er and younger w o rk e rs' attendance, produ ctivity, and job 

stability. Concludes that som e old er w ork ers outperform younger w ork ers 

in all three a rea s, and that a rb itra ry discrim in ation against a w ork er because 

of age is not a valid criterion .

W elford, A . T. Aging and Human Skill. (London, O xford U niversity P r e s s , 

1958). 300 pp.

Final report of the Nuffield Unit on the study of changes in p erform an ce 

with aging. Includes both laboratory and field studies. C oncludes that w here 

age changes im pinge upon p erform a n ce, som e relatively triv ia l fa ctor m ay 

be lim iting the a g ed 's p erform a n ce, and a com p aratively sm all change in the 

task could bring it within the capacity of the old er p erson .

C lark, F. Le G ros. Growing Old in a M echanized W orld: The Human P r o b ­

lem of a T ech nical R evolution! Studies of Ageing Within Conditions of 

M odern Industry (London, N uffield Foundation, I960). 145 pp.

Concludes that the em ploym ent p rosp ects of old er m en dim inish as m anufacturing m ethods change. Indicates a need fo r a new socia l theory of r e t ir e ­

m ent. Appendix surveys em ploym ent p rosp ects outside the field of m anufacturing which m ight o ffe r alternative occupations fo r eld erly m en.

K rep s, Juanita and Ralph Law s. A utom ation and the O lder W orker: An

Annotated B ibliography (New Y ork , Tlie National C ouncil on the A ging, 

19'63);.."43 pp.---------------

Annotated bibliography published by the National C ouncil on the Aging for 

those interested in the em ploym ent and retirem ent of aging p erson s in an 

industrial society.

U. S. Department of L abor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Adjustm ents to the 

Introduction of O ffice Autom ation. Bulletin 1276 (W ashington, D. C. , 

U .S . Governm ent Printing O ffice, I960). 87 pp.

A study of som e im plications of the installation of e lectron ic data p r o c ­

essing in 20 o ffice s in private industry, with sp ecial referen ce to older 

w ork ers.

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U .S . Departm ent of L a b or, Bureau of Labor S tatistics, Industrial R etrain ­

ing P rog ra m s for T ech n ologica l Change, Bulletin 1363 (W ashington,

D. C. , U .S , G overnm ent Printing O ffice, June 1963). 34 pp. Sum m arize d by E dgar W einberg under the title "O ld er W o rk e rs’ P erform a n ce 

in Industrial R etraining P rog ra m s, " M onthly Labor R eview , August 1963, 

pp. 935-939.

P ilot study on old er w orker adaptability to tech n ological change. A nalyzes 

resu lts of retraining p rogram s of four com panies in different in d u stries, to 

com pare p erform an ce of old er w ork ers with that of younger w ork ers. Confirm s con clu sion s of e a rlie r studies that age alone is an insufficient criterion 

for determ ining capacity o f older w ork ers to adapt to tech n ological change.

Human E ngineering

Bennett, Edward, Jam es Regan and Joseph Spiegel (e d s .). Human F a ctors in 

T ech n ology (New Y ork, M cG raw -H ill Book C o ,, 1963). 685 pp.

E n com passes a range of topics focu sed upon the m an y-faceted relation 

between m an and his technology by an in terd iscip lin a ry team of scien tists and 

en gin eers.

B erthon, Jean and A ndre G helfi. About Fitting the Job to the W orker (P a ris, 

O rganisation for E con om ic C o-op era tion and D evelopm entj 1961). 63 pp.

C oncludes that job s w ill never be com p letely fitted to w ork ers due to the 

d ifferen ces in m en, B ecause techniques are constantly developing, any 

adaptations achieved are never sufficient. T h is, how ever, is no reason to 

ca ll a halt to the effort of accom m odating the w orker as best as p o ssib le . 

D iscu sses fatigue and w ork environm ent.

Chapanis, A lphonse, W endell R . G arner and C lifford T . M organ, A pplied 

E xperim ental P sych ology: Human F a ctors in E ngineering D esign (New 

Y ork , John W iley and Sons, I n c ., 1949). 434 ppT

D e scrib e s ro le o f experim ental p sych ology in the field of human engineering. P rov id es an explanation o f m eth odolog y --ex p erim en ta l and statistica l te ch n iq u e s--n e ce ss a ry in the assessm en t and evaluation o f human 

cap acities and p erform a n ce.

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Departm ent of S cien tific and Industrial R esea rch , P roceed in g s of C onference 

on E rgon om ics in Industry (London, Her M a jesty 's Stationery O ffice, 

1961). "1‘9'O pp’.----------------

D iscu sses im plications of ergon om ics in industry, p a rticu la rly in r e la ­

tion to production engineering, equipment design, w ork study and industrial 

health. Includes all con feren ce papers and rep orts of d iscu ssion s.

M cC orm ick , E rn est J, Human F a ctors E ngineering (New Y ork , M cG raw - 

H ill B ook C o ., 1964]": 653 pp.

D eals with resu lts and im plications of re se a rch investigations of som e of 

the p ra ctica l p rob lem s of design of m an-m achine system s and environm ents. 

Draws m a terials from a variety of discip lin es that have relevan ce to the human 

fa ctors area, including p sych ology, physical anthropology, physiology, and 

clim a tology.

M cF arland, R oss A . and Frank Randolf PhH brook. "J ob P lacem ent and 

Adjustm ent for Old W ork ers: U tilization and P rotection of Skills and 

P h ysical A b ilit ie s ,11 G e r ia trics, D ecem ber 1958, pp. 802-807.

P resen ts a new p roced u re fo r m atching physical requirem en ts of job s 

with the ph ysical cap acities of w ork ers, together with the relative advantages 

and disadvantages of all other known placem ent m ethods. E m phasizes the 

value of the m ethod in its application to old er w o rk e rs.

M u rrell, K. F . H. Human P erform a n ce in Industry (New Y ork , R einhold 

Publishing C orp. , 19&5). 496 pp. *

D escrib es the stru ctu re, functioning, and size of the human body. D iscu sses resea rch findings and their application to design, environm ent co n ­

ditions, and organizational p rob lem s.

O rganisation for E con om ic C o-op era tion and D evelopm ent, Fitting the Job 

to the W orker: Sem inar on E rgon om ics for E ngineers (London, 

O rganisation fo r E con om ic C o-op era tion and developm en t, 1961), 106 pp.

R eport of a sem inar aim ed at giving w ider exposure to the rela tively new 

scien tific d isciplin e of erg on om ics, or fitting the jo b to the w ork er. Includes 

chapters on: the structure of engineering education in the participating 

cou n tries; presen t state and outlook for ergon om ics in engineering training 

establishm ents; program of lectu res and other events; and, recom m endations 

to the OECD and other international b od ies.

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O rganisation fo r E uropean E con om ic C o-operation . Fitting the Job to the 

W orker: International C onference of Zu rich (P a ris, O rgansation for 

European E conom ic C o-operation , 1959). 115 pp.

A report on papers presented at the conference concerning the a p p lica ­

tion of ergon om ic p rin cip les, and problem s to be dealt with.

O rganisation for European E con om ic C o-operation . Fitting the Job to the 

W orker: A Survey of A m erica n and European R esea rch Into W orking 

Conditions in Industry (P a ris, O rganisation fo r E uropean E con om ic 

C o-operation , 1958). li6 pp. ' '

A survey of experim ental m ethods and results in the United States and 

Europe in the various d iscip lin es and techniques involved in fitting the job to 

the w ork er.

Tufts C ollege Institute fo r A pplied E xperim ental P sy ch ology . Handbook of 

Human Engineering Data fo r D esign E ngineers (M edford, M ass. , 

T ru stees of Tufts C ollege, 1949).

P rov id es the planner and designer with the probable ch a ra cteristics of 

the average individuals who w ill man m achines of the future. Deals with 

quantitative m easu res of human capabilities and lim itations and their application to m achine design. Sum m arizes the relevant resea rch findings 

without making any attempt at interpretation.

W elford, A . T. E rgon om ics of A utom ation. P rob lem s of P ro g re s s in 

Industry No. 8 (London, I^CSyT^^O^ppT

Surveys in broad outline those aspects of ergon om ics or human en gin eering which are lik ely to bear on questions of designing autom atic equipm ent, 

and on human p rob lem s likely to a rise in autom ation w ork; con sid ers human 

capacities and job ch a ra cteristics in designing autom ated equipm ent.

☆ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1967 0-247-589

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