Case Study
Workplace design for a quality assurance employee at a supplier company

The company is a medium-sized supplier to the mechanical engineering industry.

The woman has an illness of the peripheral nervous system (residual nerves outside the brain and spinal cord). The disability results in motor disorders which, for example, restrict movement coordination and the targeted application of strength for an activity. The degree of disability (GdB) is 50.

The woman works as a semi-skilled quality assurance technician at the company.

The woman works in the quality assurance department, which is attached to the production area. In the quality assurance area, she carries out measuring work and identifies impermissible dimensional deviations or defective workpieces, which she then sorts out. To determine the measured values, i.e. to measure the specified dimensions, the employee used a caliper gauge with a digital display. Due to her disability, the woman is unable to apply a constant measuring force to determine the measured values. She therefore caused incorrect measurements, which were caused by the deformation of the workpieces when the measuring force was increased. She also had difficulties with the computerized recording of the measured values on the computer and needed more time to enter the data using the existing standard keyboard and mouse.
A special caliper gauge with a digital display and constant measuring force, which is otherwise used to measure easily deformable and elastic workpieces, is used to measure the workpieces in a way that is suitable for disabled people. Using the digital interface of the caliper and an additional transmitter, the measurement results can be sent wirelessly to the receiving device, which is connected to the PC via the USB interface. In addition to the software offered by the manufacturer of the special caliper, the measurement results can also be transferred to standard spreadsheet programs. To operate the computer and thus compensate for motor impairments when working on the screen, the employee is provided with a large-area keyboard with keystroke delay, press duration setting, etc. for the keys and a trackball as a mouse replacement.

The design suitable for disabled people was supported by the Integration and Inclusion Office. Advice was provided by the Technical Advisory Service of the Integration and Inclusion Office.