Risk Assessment Process for Collaborative Assembly – A Job Safety Analysis Approach

Abstract

International safety standards state that risk assessment is the first step in understanding and eliminating hazardous work environment. The traditional method of risk assessment using Job Safety Analysis, where sequential tasks of the operator are analysed for potential risks, needs to be adapted to applications where humans and robots collaborate to complete assembly tasks. This article proposes a novel approach by placing equal emphasis on various participants working within their workspaces. An industrial case study wil be used to showcase the merits of the process when used at an early stage in the development of a collaborative assembly cell.