HUMAN SIDE OF WORK

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 687, 12 June 1929, Page 7

HUMAN SIDE OF WORK

INVESTIGATION OF LABOUR PROBLEMS efficiency in industry (From Our Resident Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Today. Interesting conclusions reached from the investigation o£ the human side of labour problems are set out by a recent report ot the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. General conclusions reached are of major importance to New Zealand industrialists, and are as follow: Study of the movements of workers has resulted in the increase of 16 per cent, in output of coal-getters. 40 per cent, in tin box making, and 35 per cent, in chocolate packing. Traditional methods of training, it has been found, can often be greatly improved, and hew workers prevented from forming bad habits which lower output. Up to 37 per cent, saving iu time has been accomplished by this means. Tests for the selection of suitable •workers, devised on a simple and practical scale, have ensured that the right kind of staff will be engaged, with increased esprit de corps and reduction of the percentage of discharges. The fact that industrial processes are tending more and more toward monotony and the mechanical, thus dulling the capacity of the worker and lessening his capacity, has resulted in the introduction of methods to combat this feeling of boredom, with the result that a 14 per cent, increased output has been obtained. A factor linked with this has been tests made with rest pauses, conditions which need scientific treatment. Scientifically determined, these pauses during the day of labour have enabled the worker to finish fresher and to increase his work by up to 8 per cent. Another matter which has been studied is the reduction of waste. The causes of spoilt work, breakages and other sheer waste are recognised as often psychological. A good deal of this has been found to be due to hurry, worry and overstrain. Figures relating to this have been striking. In some tea-shops breakages have been reduced by over 50 per cent., while the saving in various directions has been marked. Reduction of spoilt work and saving in gas consumption represent two ends of the subject covered by this list. Better arrangements of materials and design of implements will spring from some of the time studies which have revealed hitherto unsuspected faults in tools, work-benches and machine controls. In addition, layout of plant is capable of great Improvement in most instances, manufacturers being prone to include new plant where there is room for it, and not where it should be placed in the interests of the economic operation of the factory. The fact that proper illumination is necessary, and that brilliant lighting is not necessarily good lighting, is also pointed out in the report.