Global Utilities

Centre for Ergonomics and Human Factors

Workload and Work Rates:
Achieving optimal performance and employee well-being

Documents Available For Downloading (.pdf format)

Some documents related to a recent research project on 'Setting Work Rates', funded by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, can now be downloaded. Reports available for downloading:

  • Presentation to Victorian Health and Safety Representatives Seminar, Moonee Valley Racecourse 27 October, 2004: in PDF format (67Kb)
  • Setting Line Speeds or Production Targets - practical guidelines:in PDF format (22Kb)
  • Assessing Task Demands - practical guidelines:in PDF format (14Kb)
  • Setting Work Rates - slides from the public seminar given by Wendy Macdonald at La Trobe's City Campus, Sept, 2000: in PDF format (70Kb)
  • An Evaluation of Current Practice in Setting Work Rates - Executive summary from the Final Report to the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, December 1999, by Wendy Macdonald, Owen Evans, Gerri Nolan and Liz Pratt: in PDF format (49Kb)

Current Projects

  • Relationships between occupational workload and employee well-being. PhD research by Peta Miller under the supervision of Wendy Macdonald
  • A field study of factors affecting fatigue associated with forest harvesting operations. Thesis research by Ngoc-Bich Huynh under the supervision of Owen Evans and Wendy Macdonald, in cooperation with the Victorian WorkCover Authority
  • An examination of intra-shift factors contributing to manual handling injuries among nurses. Thesis research by Gillian Elix and Paul Rothmore, under the supervision of Owen Evans.

Contract Research & Consultancy Projects In This Area

  • Determination of appropriate work-rest ratios for production workers on 12-hour shifts.
  • Review of the National Manual Handling Standard and Codes of Practice: Summary of current and emerging issues in the physical handling work environment.
  • Review of the National Manual Handling Standard and Codes of Practice: Determinants of work-related stress in physical handling work environments
  • Formulation of a Job Load Index
  • Effects of workload and heat stress on the need for rest breaks
  • Measurement of effects of automation on train controller workload and job design
  • Analysis of the determinants of workload of employees performing a defined task under different conditions; specification of implications for appropriate work rates
  • Advice concerning relationships between human performance (particularly error probability and associated accident risk), workload level and diurnal variation in performance capacity
  • Evaluation of current practice in setting workrates
  • Advice on setting sorting rates

Reports On Related Topics

  • Macdonald, W. 2003. Workload and Work Stress. Chapter 6 in Work Stress: Studies of the context, content and outcomes of stress. A Book of Readings. Baywood Publishing, New York.
  • Macdonald, W. 2003. Work Demands and Stress in Repetitive 'Blue-Collar' Work. Chapter 7 in Work Stress: Studies of the context, content and outcomes of stress. A Book of Readings. Baywood Publishing, New York.
  • Macdonald, W.A. 2003. The impact of job demands and workload on stress and fatigue. Australian Psychologist, 38, 2, 102-117.
  • Macdonald, W. & Miller, P. 2003. Relationships between job demands, workload and employee wellbeing. Paper presented to Work, Stress, and Health: New Challenges in a Changing Workplace. The Fifth Interdisciplinary Conference on Occupational Stress & Health. Convened by the American Psychological Association and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Toronto, March.
  • Macdonald, W. and Munk, K. Determinants of work-related stress in physical handling work environments. Issues Paper 6, Review of the National Manual Handling Standard and Codes of Practice. National Occupational Health & Safety Commission. Available as pdf
  • Macdonald, W. and Evans, O. 2002. The Ergonomics of Setting Production Targets or Line Speeds. Invited paper to the Biennial Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Modapts Association, Melbourne, 23rd August.
  • Macdonald, W., & Evans, O. 2002 Assessing task demands to improve work design. HF2002 Human Factors Conference, Design for the whole person: Integrating physical, cognitive and social aspects. Melbourne, November 25-27.
  • Hehir, S.W. and Macdonald, W.A. 2002. Cognitive factors in work design: a mail sorting case study. Paper to the Safety in Action Conference, Melbourne, Safety Institute of Australia.
  • Macdonald, W.A. 2002. Effects of job demands and workload on employee stress and well-being. Faculty of Health Sciences Research Conference on Mental Health, Melbourne, December 9, La Trobe University.
  • Macdonald, W.A. 2001. Train controllers, interface design and mental workload. In People in Control, edited by J.M. Noyes and M.L. Bransby, pp.239-258. IEE Press, Stevenage, Herts, U.K.
  • Rothmore, Paul. 2001. Manual handling in nursing - the last quartile effect and the assessment of postural demand. Master of Ergonomics thesis, La Trobe University.
  • Elix, Gillian. 2001. Manual Handling in Nursing. Master of Ergonomics thesis, La Trobe University.
  • Macdonald, W.A. 2001. Stress, Arousal and Fatigue in Repetitive Assembly Line Work: A Case Study. Proceedings of the NOHSC Symposium on the OH&S Implications of Stress, pp.98-123. National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, December 2001
  • Evans, O.M. and Macdonald, W.A. 2001 Manual handling risk factors - more than meets the eye. Safety in Action Conference, Melbourne, Safety Institute of Australia
  • Macdonald, W.A. (2000). 'Workload, fatigue and job satisfaction in repetitive blue-collar work.' Annual Meeting of the Europe Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 1-3 November, Maastricht, NL. In Human System Interaction: Education, Research and Application in the 21st Century, Edited de Waard et al, Shaker Publishing BV, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • Macdonald, Wendy and Bendak, Salaheddine. 2000 Effects of workload level and 8- versus 12-h workday duration on test battery performance. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 26 (3), 399-416
  • Macdonald, W, Evans, O, Nolan, G. and Pratt, E, Work-related predictors of fatigue in repetitive blue-collar work. 36th Annual Conference of the Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc, Adelaide, 8-11 October 2000 46-51
  • Macdonald, Wendy, A. 2000. Workload, fatigue and job satisfaction in repetitive blue-collar work. Invited keynote address. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Europe Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 1-3 November, 2000
  • Evans, O.M. and Patterson, K, (2000) Predictors of neck and shoulder pain in non-secretarial computer users. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 26, 357-365
  • Macdonald, W.A., Evans, O.M., Nolan, G. & Pratt, E., 1999, An Evaluation of Current Practice in Setting Work Rates: Final report to WorkSafe Australia. Funded by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, Sydney, GPO Box 58, Sydney, NSW, 2001, Australia
  • Bendak, S. and Macdonald, W.A. 1998 Concurrent effects of work duration and workload level on workers' performance capacity. In Implementing Change: the role of Standards, Proceedings of the National Conference of the Ergonomics Society of Australia, Melbourne, 5-7 October 1998, Edited by M. Best, M. Di Stefano, O. Evans, Melbourne, Ergonomics Society of Australia, Inc, 79-87
  • Best, M., Macdonald, W. and Hely, M. (1998) Implementing and evaluating training in ergonomics: fitting the training to the people. In Implementing Change: the role of Standards, Proceedings of the National Conference of the Ergonomics Society of Australia, Melbourne, 5-7 October, Edited by M. Best, M. Di Stefano, O. Evans, Melbourne, Ergonomics Society of Australia, Inc, 214-222
  • Bendak, S.-E. and Macdonald, W.A. (1997) Effects of workload level and eight versus twelve-hour workday duration on test battery performance Proceedings of the 13th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, Tampere, Finland, 536-538
  • Patterson, K. & Evans, O.M. (1997) Typing skill, exposure, and occupational stress as risk factors for neck and shoulder injury in non-secretarial computer users. Proc. 13th Congress International Ergonomics Association, Tampere, Vol 4, 96-98
  • Macdonald, W.A. and Upsdell, T. (1996) Measuring job-related mental workload - or should that be stress? Proceedings of the '96 National Occupational Stress Conference, March, Brisbane
  • Jakob, A & Evans, OM. (1996) Ergonomics and Pear Picking: Horticulture Poses Universal Problems. 4th Pan Pacific Conference on Occupational Ergonomics, Taipei, 55-58
  • Patterson, K. & Evans, O.M. (1996) Touch typing skill and neck flexion during computer use. Proc. 32nd Ann. Conf. Ergonomics Society of Australia, Canberra, 44-50
  • Jakob, A.R. & Evans, O.M. (1995) An ergonomic systems approach to the physical work demands of pear picking. Proc. 31st Ann. Conf. Ergonomics Society of Australia, Glenelg, 223-231
  • Sutherland, S. and Evans, O,M. (1994) An evaluation of a musculoskeletal disorder prevention program in the motor vehicle industry. Proceedings of the 12th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, Toronto, 2, 429
  • Hidayat, D.D, Macmillan, R.H and Evans, O.M. (1993) Measurement of heart rate during simulated agricultural activity - spraying with a knapsack unit. Indonesian Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, 3, 55-68
  • Sutherland, R. and Evans, O.M. (1993) An investigation of an injury prevention program in the motor vehicle industry. Proceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the Ergonomics Society of Australia, Perth, 185-190
  • Hoffmann, E.R., Macdonald, W.A. and Almond, G.C. (1993) Quantification of the cognitive difficulty of mail sorting. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 11, 83-98
  • Thompson, DD, Chaffin, DB, Hughes, RE, Evans, OM. The relationship of isometric strength to peak dynamic hand forces during submaximal weight lifting. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 9, 15-23, 1992
  • Fibiger, W, Evans OM & Singer G. Hormonal Responses to a Graded Mental Workload. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 1986, 55:339-343.

Content approved by: Director of the Centre for Ergonomics and Human Factors
Page maintained by: C.E.H.F.
Last Updated: 7 October, 2009