Title: Innovation in ergonomics: a survey in the agribusiness sector of Brazil

Authors: Raquel Kraemer Sabadin; Eliana Andréa Severo; Julio Cesar Ferro De Guimarães

Addresses: Department of Master in Business Administration (PPGA-IMED), Faculdade Meridional (IMED), Senador Pinheiro, 304, 99070-220, Passo Fundo-RS, Brazil ' Department of Master in Business Administration (PPGA-UnP), University Potiguar (UnP), Roberto Freire, 2184, 59082-902, Natal-RN, Brazil ' Department of Master in Business Administration (PPGA-UnP), University Potiguar (UnP), Roberto Freire, 2184, 59082-902, Natal-RN, Brazil

Abstract: The healthy organisation encourages participatory environments, is innovative, is centralised in the sense of human relations in the workplace, and has an anthropocentric essence of ergonomics. The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between innovations in ergonomics, absenteeism and in the risk of lifting loads in six units of an agribusiness. The method we used was a quantitative survey of a descriptive nature, survey type with a sample of 419 workers, which used measures that explored the relationship between the study variables, through factor analysis and multiple linear regression. The results show that the workplace environment explains 46% of the occurrence of process and organisational innovations in ergonomics, since the process and organisational innovations in ergonomics justify by 40% the significant reduction of absenteeism. Healthy organisations have in their management processes the involvement of workers and make innovations that refine their performance and contribute to human relationships in the workplace, which positively affect both the organisation and the workers.

Keywords: process innovation; organisational innovation; ergonomics; absenteeism; agribusiness; Brazil.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2020.104319

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2020 Vol.34 No.1, pp.124 - 143

Received: 12 Dec 2017
Accepted: 10 May 2018
Published online: 03 Jan 2020 *

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