A Study on Crew Performance Measurement by Using Heart Rate and Oxygen Consumption

To improve crew-level productivity, accurately measuring crew performance is the key issue. The accuracy of examining crew performance relies on the correctness and effectiveness of data collection. Some data collection techniques, such as productivity rating and five-minute rating, have their distinct advantages. However, they also have disadvantages in common. For example, the rating of effective work is based on observer’s personal judgment that could cause different results from person to person. To overcome this drawback, a study for exploring the possibility of using heart rate and oxygen consumption to monitor crew’s working conditions was conducted by the authors. Three types of work (effective work, essential contributory work, and ineffective work) were compared using participants’ heart rate and oxygen consumption at work. Participants, aged between 23 and 25, were involved in assembling formwork in a laboratory setting. Experimental results indicate that oxygen consumption at work can be used to effectively distinguish between effective work tasks, but is ineffective at distinguishing some contributory work and ineffective work items. Heart rate at work is ineffective for distinguishing between some effective work and contributory work tasks, or between contributory work and ineffective work items.