The Environmental Factors, Performance and the Workers

Everywhere in society efficiency has become the prevailing factor. Performance seems to be the result of a technical progress offering to everyone consumption goods formerly reserved to a minority. However those goods are too often obtained to the detriment of the moral and physical health of the workers. We are just beginning to understand that maximum performance is rarely the same as optimum performance.

To soften the work and to make it more attracting materially, psychologically and moraly is basic duty and an economic necessity. The machine is indifferent to its environment. However man is strongly influenced by the psychological and material conditions prevailing in his milieu. He becomes a poor hand when insufficiently paid, badly administered, tired and not in good health.

The physical environment in which man performs his tasks have a true influence on accidents, on the general climate of the firm, on the quality and on the quantity of his work. Contrary to the popular belief mecanization and modernization of the means of production have not entirely eliminated the problem of physical fatigue. On the one hand, this mecanization has often been made without even considering man's capabilities, comfort and fatigue. Many machines are not adapted to the worker especially regarding seats, signals and controls. On the other hand much work implying heavy weights still exists in industry.

TEMPERATURE

The human body is particularly sensible to environmental temperature. According to physiologists the temperature should be held between 55° and 68° in ordinary industrial works while office temperature should be kept between 66° and 72°. For works performed under high temperatures longer breaks and rehydratation of the body must be favorized.

NOISE

The influence of noise on the health of workers has become one of the main points in professionnal pathology. Besides hurting the ear excessively, intense noise disturbs the entire mecanism of the body. In addition to this, it has a bad influence on communications and therefore is a major cause of accidents, errors and absenteism.

LIGHTING

Great progress has been made in this field. The degree of light to be used depends upon the task to be performed. In order to be adequate it has to fulfill a few conditions:

1.—sufficient intensity (1000 lux maximum for ordinary work);

2.—the passing of light to shadow must not be too brutal;

3.—avoid excessive brilliancy and dazzling;

4.—light must be well distributed and the installations well cleaned in order to avoid dusting.

AIR COMPOSITION

The air must be changed and purified in order to eliminate carbonic gaz. The hygrometric level must stand around 50% of normal saturation of water vapour. A few kinds of works require a filter and a vacuum-cleaning.