Job Rotation

Job rotation can reduce muscle fatigue and discomfort by changing the postures and the muscle groups employees must use during their workday. Job rotation is also a way to provide cross training and reduce boredom from monotonous, repetitive tasks. However, there are some cautions, which should be considered when developing and implementing a job rotation program.

The following is excerpted from the Fed/OSHA’s, Ergonomics Program Management Guidelines for Meatpacking Plants:

“Job rotation should be used with caution and as a preventive measure, not as a response to symptoms. The principle of job rotation is to alleviate physical fatigue and stress of a particular set of muscles and tendons by rotating employees among other jobs that use different muscle-tendon groups. If rotation is utilized, the job analyses must be reviewed by a qualified person to ensure that the same muscle-tendon groups are not used.

Job rotation can mean that a worker performs two or more different tasks in different parts of the day (i.e. switching between task "A" and task "B" at 2-hour or 4-hour intervals). The important consideration is to ensure that the different tasks do not present the same ergonomic stressors to the same parts of the body (muscle-tendon groups). There is no single work-rest regimen that OSHA recommends; it must be determined by the nature of the task.”

Some job rotation program tips include:

• Analyze which jobs are the most repetitive or demanding and which jobs are the least repetitive or demanding and rotate between them. Or, look to make changes to the most repetitive or demanding jobs as risks are identified.
• Ensure that the rotation plan relieves stress on muscle groups most often used in a task or job. Develop a rotation cycle that has lighter tasks following heavier tasks to give muscles and other soft tissues a chance to recover. For example, alternate tasks that require forward flexion or lifting with tasks that require standing or walking.
• Look at improving job tasks through process and design changes before implementing rotation. The goal is to reduce reaching, lifting, and forward flexion from jobs and consider if the job or task can benefit or be better performed at a seated workstation.
• Teach employees to self-rotate. If not a safety hazard, they may be able to switch sides of the machinery, move to the opposite side of a conveyor, or change hands periodically so that one side or one part of the body is not over-used. Changing the mousing hand—move the mouse to the left hand if it is normally used with the right hand and vice versa—is often suggested for heavy computer usage.

Resources

Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders, University of Waterloo

Revised: 04/2017