Applying Metaheuristics to Minimize Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

This article covers the topic of planning and organization of work, which is one of the biggest problems is to establish the most appropriate allocations between human and technical resources, according to the characteristics that define and characterize each individual. These adjustments to decision-making regarding the characteristics of a new larger workforce is a challenge for human resource managers and researchers working to provide well-being and quality of life improvements for employees. The problem of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, coupled with the aging of the active population, may increase the number of citizens with permanent disabilities. Given the complexity and uniqueness of the problems, a decision support system that uses some metaheuristic approaches is presented. The result is a hybrid approach that gives the best solution according to several parameters defined by the decision-maker. Computational results of real problem instances are presented, proving that in most cases, the optimal solution is achieved.