Heuristic job rotation procedures for reducing daily exposure to occupational hazards

This paper discusses 2 heuristic job rotation procedures for preventing industrial workers from being excessively exposed to ergonomics and safety hazards in their workplaces. The objective of the procedures is 2-fold: (a) to find a minimum number of workers required for the given set of jobs, and (b) to determine a set of safe worker-job-period assignments such that all workers' exposure to hazard does not exceed the permissible limit. Here, occupational hazards are divided into 2 categories: single- and variable-limit hazards. In the first category, workers are considered to have equal capability to withstand the hazard; in the second category, the limit of hazard exposure varies for different individuals. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the procedures.