The Work-bench or Table.
Few work-benches or tables should be considered as absolutely satisfactory that do not permit the worker to do his work standing or sitting. Our ideas as to proper work-benches or tables, and as to the proper placing, height, etc., of machinery and tools have too often been prescribed to us by the manufacturers of the articles, who have thought more of what was convenient to manufacture than of what was least fatiguing to use. Such manufacturers are not to be blamed in the least for their attitude. They, naturally, have been guided by what would sell best. They have, as a rule, shown themselves more than willing to supply any legitimate demand. The user must demand what will be best for his work. It is no slight, short-time job to determine the proper height, positioning, and layout of a work-bench, using this term in a general sense to cover the place of any kind of work upon which the worker is engaged. As preliminary work, we may, usually, then, boost everything that can be so lifted to such a height that the worker, at his option, may stand or sit. If it becomes a case of single choice, that is, his either standing or sitting, arrange the work so that he does it sitting, and does the necessary standing or moving about during his rest periods.
Fig. 7
This picture shows the “Gilbreth” table laid down in its lower position. This table is particularly adapted for a work-bench or table where it is desired to have two different heights for different kinds of work. The table and its load can be picked up with a booster truck in either this position or the higher position simply by operating the lever of the booster truck and without touching the table at all.
Fig. 8
This picture shows the “Gilbreth” table standing in its higher position.
Fig. 9
This is a sample of photographs that are taken to impress upon the foreman the reasons why certain methods are wrong. For example, this picture shows two “Gilbreth” tables resting on their long side at their low height, so fixed that they can be picked up by “booster” trucks. The in-and-out bins are not the same size. The outward one is considerably too high to be convenient for the worker, and the worker is provided with a box instead of a comfortable stool.
The change in industrial conditions has made this problem important. The question once was, “Can we make it of a quality that will pass?” Since the day of intensive outputs, the question has become, “How many can we make of a given quality?” In the first case, any kind of work-bench was good enough,—the worry being limited to the question of “Can we make it?” Now it is no trouble to make almost anything; but the worry is “Can we make enough so that the cost will enable us to pay the required wages and still compete, or must we give up manufacturing in this location?” This makes us think of the least fatiguing conditions and of making work-benches of two levels, etc.