Heart rate variability during a simulated assembly task; influence of age and gender

Attention has been concentrated on productivity in manufacturing settings with assembly line tasks being a common area of focus. Prolonged fatigue can occur during various assembly tasks both cognitively and physically. This can place a damper on efficiency and productivity for workers in manufacturing. Intercession can subsequently take place centered on reducing excessive workload tasks to assure a worker's mental and physical thresholds are not contravened. Fatigue can be better understood by a person's physiologic measures specifically their heart rate. Heart rate variability (HRV) which consists of calculations taken from each heartbeat can objectively quantify human capacity levels and the onset of fatigue. This study considers HRV during an assembly line task and compares differences in cardiac parameters between younger and older participants. The results obtained from this study were used to better understand the pattern of fatigue during the task at each segmented time interval. The HRV outcomes exhibited an index for each interval which gave the ability to make improved task demand decisions within the assembly line task. Statistical differences between age groups were also prominent which gave notion that workplace tasks should consider age classification when designing work structures for employees. This study assessed the potential function of HRV during a simulated task by examining the autonomic responses of the heart. The relationship between the autonomic nervous system to HRV was examined.