Variations in cycle time and certain physiological measures of workers performing a paced assembly task

Continuous monitoring of heart rate, respiration rate and galvanic skin resistance was done for 5 days on five subjects while they assembled drum brake cylinders. Cycle time and number of errors committed (unsuccessful hand movements) were also recorded. The subjects were required to perform the paced, repetitive task over an 8-hour period. Scheduled breaks, similar to local factories, were adhered to. A simple reaction test was given to measure attention. ANOVA on data showed that well rested subjects had higher physiological readings and committed more errors than subjects who had less sleep. An increase in CT and variability seems to be an indication of decrement in work performance and a rest period is needed. An increase in all four parameters is another indicator of poor performance (increase in errors). The simple repetitive task seems to be not motivating enough to keep the worker's attention and keep him aroused enough to work at his peak performance level