Development of a risk management approach for data gloves used in assembly

Abstract

Integrating manufacturing into industry 4.0 has attracted researchers’ attention to deal with the emerging challenges and broaden knowledge in manufacturing in the context of industry 4.0. The rapid development of industry 4.0 increases the interaction of humans, technologies, and organizations. Thus, the possibility of increasing complexity and new challenges. Hence, new topics in the research area will arise to address these complexities and challenges. Safety as a priority in designing any systems is one subject that requires more attention in manufacturing in industry 4.0. Applying emerging technologies in the manufacturing 4.0 contexts may introduce new hazards to the system. Therefore, methods that can help identify these hazards are of interest. Many approaches, from classical to systemic, have been studied in the manufacturing 4.0 contexts. However, classical approaches might not identify all factors that affect system safety. Hence, innovative and different approaches are required to address the complexity of these systems and assist analysts in risk analysis. These innovative approaches should consider a systemic perspective. Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) and Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) are two new systemic approaches that have attracted many types of research in various fields of study in recent decades. In this study, they will be applied in an assembly 4.0 context to provide an understanding of the system from the perspective of occupational health and safety (OHS) and operational risk analysis. Firstly, smart wearables use in manufacturing and their OHS and operational concerns are discussed to show the project's relevance and priority and originality. Then, a description of case studies, their components, and their interactions with each other will be elaborated. Regarding the complexity of the studied systems, FRAM and STAMP will be applied to draw conclusions. The obtained results of each application revealed new findings of the systems’ components and their interactions that could be considered in designing an assembly 4.0 system when a new technology (in this study, a data glove) is introduced. Despite the considerable advantages of these tools in OHS and operational risk analysis, there is still the need for more research to develop them, particularly for our specific study context. While FRAM captures an overview of the system components and their interactions, STAMP allows for a detailed analysis of different system components. Therefore, the integration of FRAM/STAMP is proposed to benefit the analysts from advantages offered by FRAM and STAMP without sacrificing their characteristics and covering their weak points in the analysis. The proposed unique integrated approach will assist in analyzing OHS and operational risks of assembly 4.0 systems, especially in the designing phase, to ensure safe working conditions for humans and machines interactions. Moreover, the results can improve the design of data gloves that will be applied in manufacturing and provide a perspective for designers to develop this emerging technology. Finally, this study hopes to provide answers for researchers and an outlook for more arising questions, the proposed method's development, and application in other fields in future studies.

Date	26 May 2022
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	Sylvie Nadeau (Supervisor)