Modeling and evaluation of ergonomic risks and controlling plans through discrete-event simulation

Ergonomic risks due to repetitive, awkward and physically demanding operations in construction pose a serious threat to the health and safety of workers, stimulating the need to decide an appropriate measure to control them. This paper introduces a discrete-event simulation (DES)-based platform to model and evaluate the ergonomic risks and the controlling plans for construction processes. The ergonomics theories about energy expenditure for the fatigue, the Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System (OWAS) for the work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), and the dynamic productivity of a worker related to his ergonomic risk level are utilized. The activity-based strategy of the DES methodology is incorporated with relevant ergonomics theories to achieve the modeling and simulation platform. Justification and application of the proposed method are presented through a construction case. This study contributes a DES methodology through incorporating the activity-based strategy with the ergonomics, facilitating effective management on workers' health without losing the construction performance.