- Project number: F 2501
- Institution: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
- Status: Completed Project
Description:
The world of work is undergoing constant digital change. This project investigated how the digital transformation is changing object-related work tasks and affecting employees. The aim was to develop specific visions of the future for human-centered knowledge-related activities in the digital age.
In cooperation with the other components of the Federal institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) programme "Safety and Health in the Digital World of Work", criteria and design guidelines for human-centered work in the digitally transformed world of work were developed in a multi-stage interdisciplinary consensus process. For further investigation, the current state of knowledge was determined through literature and data analyses. Divided into “manufacturing”, “transporting” and “cleaning”, the changing requirements for object-related tasks were analysed.
Object-related tasks put high physical demands as well as high time and performance pressure on employees. It is precisely here that new opportunities are emerging as a result of digitisation. The use of physical assistance systems such as collaborative robots or exoskeletons can reduce risks to the musculoskeletal system of employees provided the systems are adapted to the skills of its user. Furthermore, the use of context-sensitive mobile devices and augmented reality offers potential for cognitive relief of employees. In this context, it is important to design the assistance systems in a way that is conducive to learning and to adapt them to the respective experiential knowledge of the employees as well as enable a specific, individually adaptable provision of information.
Building on these a future scenario was developed for each of the three object-related activities. Based on fictitious persons of the respective task, the future scenarios describe how this task can be designed in a humane way in the digital world of work.
