Noise-safe job rotation in multi-workday scheduling considering skill and demand requirements

ABSTRACT

Productivity and occupational health issues are important subjects for labor-intensive industries. Excessive noise is among the hazards that need attention from industrial management due to the high cost of unaddressed hearing loss. This study is the first to develop a noise-safe job rotation approach that considers worker-task skill matching and demand fulfillment over a multi-workday period with overtime shifts. The proposed model is formulated as a binary integer programming model with labor cost minimization. The effects of worker skills on the total labor cost and the ability to reduce the noise exposure levels of workers to a safe level are examined. This study provides an improved understanding of how skill parameters affect the safety of workers. Reinforcing a workforce with experienced and skillful workers can lead to shorter hazard exposure and a lower risk of excessive exposure to loud noise.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Job rotation
• occupational health
• noise
• skill heterogeneity
• overtime assignments

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pavinee Rerkjirattikal

Pavinee Rerkjirattikal earned her master’s degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Systems Engineering from Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT). Currently, she is a PhD candidate under Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT) and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) dual doctoral degree program. Her research interests are the applications of operations research in industrial and healthcare workforce scheduling.

Sun Olapiriyakul

Dr. Sun Olapiriyakul is an assistant professor of the Industrial Engineering program at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT) of Thammasat University, Thailand. He completed his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology, US. His current research focuses on sustainable supply chain network design, urban freight transport, and workforce scheduling. His research approach revolves around the use of industrial engineering principles in conjunction with sustainability concepts and environmental impact assessment methodologies.