Mr. Everton works in a local meatpacking plant. He recently hurt his hand in a work-related accident. The occupational therapist is asked to analyze his work to understand how to prevent future accidents. When interviewing Mr. Everton, he reports the job is so routine he lost his focus. Related to cognitive workload, Mr. Everton reports experiencing which of the following?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The measurement of cognitive workload in a workplace setting involves assessing how much mental effort is used to accomplish a task, based on that worker's perception of work performance, work difficulty, and associated psychological stress. Information that may contribute to understanding this stress includes time pressure or how busy the individual appears, the complexity of work tasks and the contribution of technology to this complexity, the attention demands of the task, and the supports or resources available to the worker. If the cognitive demands of work exceed the cognitive abilities of the worker, cognitive overload can occur. Conversely, if the work is routine and automatic, the worker may experience underload. In either case, errors in work performance or incidents that can be harmful to the worker may occur. Therefore, it is important to balance the cognitive task demands and the cognitive skills of the worker for optimal health and work performance. Understanding the cognitive stress of work, and its resulting worker strain, cannot be ignored in a thorough ergonomic analysis (Young, Brookhuis, Wickens, & Hancock, 2015).

Mr Everton Works in a Local Meatpacking Plant