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

The meat processing is a labor-intensive industry dealing with manual handling of heavy loads of meat at high frequency. Meat processing workers are under pressure to maintain high rates of work, performing arduous repetitive movements while keeping awkward postures. This paper presents the study of an Italian ham processing company. The ergonomic risk assessment reveals that manual material handling and repetitive tasks expose deboning line workers to high physical risk. The reference manual ham-deboning line is introduced, together with the semi-automatic ham-deboning line proposal. Particularly, the new layout proposal involves the adoption of a semi-automatic ham-deboning machine. The characteristics of the meat processing industry and the features of the work environment are analyzed before the study of the new layout proposal. The feasibility study encompasses the cost of the semi-automatic deboning line proposal, including the non-safety cost analysis. Results reveal the positive impact of the semi-automatic ham-deboning system on the company's profitability. As a consequence, automated technology leads to economic and ergonomic benefits for workers, employers and customers, improving the product quality, hygiene and security.