Health and Safety at Work: A Challenge for the Factory of the Future

The LC2S Safe Work Situation Design Laboratory
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Research

"Analysis of health and safety aspects during the dismantling of machinery or equipment" and "Detection of events that precede dangerous situations" are two examples of issues currently being addressed by the Laboratoire Conception Sûre de Situation de Travail (LC2S), a joint laboratory run by Arts et Métiers INRS.

Created in 2012 as a partnership betweenINRS (the French National Research and Safety Institute) and the LCFC (Design, Manufacturing, Control Laboratory) in Metz, this joint laboratory focuses on taking occupational risks into account at a very early stage in the design of equipment.

Protecting operators in a constantly changing environment

Work is now focusing on the new challenges posed by the Factory of the Future: how can operators be protected in a constantly changing environment consisting of autonomous platforms or collaborative robots? Can production data be used to identify weak signals that indicate a dangerous work situation? How can production be managed in a variable and disrupted environment? How can performance and health and safety objectives be reconciled?

Regular meetings are held with INRS to present the work carried out and exchange scientific information, enabling the development of knowledge concerning the safe design of work situations.

Conferences, publications, and awards

Arts et Métiers researchers Arts et Métiers on these topics also raise students' awareness of them through third-year projects in the Arts et Métiers Grande École program, the national Master of Science program, or the national doctoral program.

The results of the research are disseminated at national and international conferences and in articles published in journals aimed at scientists and industrialists.

In terms of awards, Juan Camilo Gomez Etcheveri won first prize in the young researcher category at the S.Mart conference in April 2019 for his Master of Science project on “Task allocation between humans and machines based on production needs.”

And in 2018, Rhita El Idrissi won first prize from AINF (Association for the Promotion of Safety and Health at Work, Prevention and Control of Occupational Risks) for her final-year internship in mechanical design. This is another key focus area for the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Metz, which is leading the partnership with INRS.

Health and Safety at Work at the LCFC

Health and safety at work is one of the areas of expertise developed at the Metz campus. The LCFC is participating in the ANR HECTTOR project (Humain Engagé par la Cobotisation dans les Transformations du Travail et des ORganisations dans les usines du futur), which focuses on collaborative robotics and the industry of the future in SMEs.
Similarly, the LCFC holds the industrial chair "Reconfigurable, Safe, and High-Performance Production Systems." Created in 2016, this chair is supported byUIMM Lorraine (Union of Metallurgy Industries and Trades), Thyssen Krupp, the European Union with the ERDF, and the Grand Est Region.

 

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