A risk control framework for safe manufacturing workstations in view of COVID-19

Paper in proceeding, 2020

The manufacturing industry is resuming operations after the Covid-19 pandemic supported by return-to-work guidelines, which are mostly personal protection measures for the workers and employees. In this paper, we propose a framework for assessing risk at the workstation level by linking the risk levels to possible mitigation strategies that can be implemented using standard operating procedures (SOP), 5S and problem solving. Within industrial plants, operators work in close contact with coworkers and supervisors, they are also sharing tools and machines, it is therefore essential to develop strategies that reduce the operator’s exposure to viruses in the workplace. The purpose of this work is that when implemented, the risk assessment model and specifically how SOP, 5S and problem solving can be used to implement administrative and engineering controls resulting in a safe workplace and increasing level of confidence for the operators working within the plant.