ACD3 as a framework for design of ergonomic workplaces.

BACKGROUND: Workplace Ergonomics and Human Factors (E/HF) remains as relevant and important as ever to respond to contemporary workplace design challenges. Therefore, E/HF expertise must be involved in early and appropriate phases of the workplace design process, in order to leverage user needs and requirements to constrain the proposed design solution. In this process, design decisions are made. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to describe the use of a systems-theoretical framework as a guide in collaborative workplace design, focussing on planning and documenting which decisions and activities should involve E/HF expertise. METHODS: As this is a conceptual paper, its method is to synthesise a framework from a combination of design process methodology-, general systems theory- and sociotechnical systems literature. RESULTS: The framework organises the design decisions to be made into hierarchical abstraction levels and cross-cuts them into five perspectives from which the design problem can be viewed holistically. CONCLUSIONS: The ACD3 framework is intended as an enabler of many types of design, including the design of work systems. It provides a framework that allows all stakeholders to converge around design decisions that ensure that the work system is optimised to human characteristics and the activity to be performed.

Effectiveness of a multifactorial ergonomic intervention and exercise conditioning kinesiology program for subsequent work related musculoskeletal disorder prevention.

BACKGROUND: Health care workers are known to be at high risk for occupational musculoskeletal disorders and injuries. Many different intervention strategies have been implemented in order to reduce the risk of injury to health care workers, however not many have been proven to be effective. A continuing care establishment in Ottawa, Canada, implemented a multidimensional kinesiology intervention program for injured employees. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the kinesiology intervention program on reducing subsequent rates for the nursing personnel and analyze the impact of age, position (RN, RPN, PCA) and sex on subsequent injuries. METHODS: The number of recorded work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) for each patient care worker was counted from 2007-2011. The control group included injured employees that were not referred to the kinesiologists, or who chose not to participate in the program. The intervention group included injured employees that were referred to the kinesiology service and followed their treatment program. RESULTS: The intervention group showed a statistically significant reduction of subsequent acute cases when compared to the control group. Nevertheless there was no significant impact regarding age, position or sex on subsequent acute cases. CONCLUSION: The kinesiology intervention program within the health care facility was effective at reducing subsequent WRMSD rates within the nursing personnel.

Ergonomics observation: Harvesting tasks at oil palm plantation.

OBJECTIVES: Production agriculture is commonly associated with high prevalence of ergonomic injuries, particularly during intensive manual labor and during harvesting. This paper intends to briefly describe an overview of oil palm plantation management highlighting the ergonomics problem each of the breakdown task analysis. METHODS: Although cross-sectional field visits were conducted in the current study, insight into past and present occupational safety and health concerns particularly regarding the ergonomics of oil palm plantations was further exploited. Besides discussion, video recordings were extensively used for ergonomics analysis. RESULTS: The unique commodity of oil palm plantations presents significantly different ergonomics risk factors for fresh fruit bunch (FFB) cutters during different stages of harvesting. Although the ergonomics risk factors remain the same for FFB collectors, the intensity of manual lifting increases significantly with the age of the oil palm trees-weight of FFB. CONCLUSIONS: There is urgent need to establish surveillance in order to determine the current prevalence of ergonomic injuries. Thereafter, ergonomics interventions that are holistic and comprehensive should be conducted and evaluated for their efficacy using approaches that are integrated, participatory and cost-effective.

Human factors engineering in oil and gas--a review of industry guidance.

Oil and gas exploration and production activities are carried out in hazardous environments in many parts of the world. Recent events in the Gulf of Mexico highlight those risks and underline the importance of considering human factors during facility design. Ergonomic factors such as machinery design, facility and accommodation layout and the organization of work activities have been systematically considered over the past twenty years on a limited number of offshore facility design projects to a) minimize the occupational risks to personnel, b) support operations and maintenance tasks and c) improve personnel wellbeing. During this period, several regulators and industry bodies such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Oil and Gas Producers (OGP), and Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) have developed specific HFE design standards and guidance documents for the application of Human Factors Engineering (HFE) to the design and operation of Oil and Gas projects. However, despite the existence of these guidance and recommended design practise documents, and documented proof of their value in enhancing crew safety and efficiency, HFE is still not well understood across the industry and application across projects is inconsistent. This paper summarizes the key Oil and Gas industry bodies' HFE guidance documents, identifies recurring themes and current trends in the use of these standards, provides examples of where and how these HFE standards have been used on past major offshore facility design projects, and suggests criteria for selecting the appropriate HFE strategy and tasks for future major oil and gas projects. It also provides a short history of the application of HFE to the offshore industry, beginning with the use of ASTM F 1166 to a major operator's Deepwater Gulf of Mexico facility in 1990 and the application of HFE to diverse world regions. This latter point highlights the need to consider user populations when selecting HFE design criteria, an aspect strongly emphasized in current industry guidance.

Cooling vests with phase change material packs: the effects of temperature gradient, mass and covering area.

Phase change material (PCM) absorbs or releases latent heat when it changes phases, making thermal-regulated clothing possible. The objective of this study was to quantify the relationships between PCM cooling rate and temperature gradient, mass and covering area on a thermal manikin in a climatic chamber. Three melting temperatures (24, 28, 32 degrees C) of the PCMs, different mass, covering areas and two manikin temperatures (34 and 38 degrees C) were used. The results showed that the cooling rate of the PCM vests tested is positively correlated with the temperature gradient between the thermal manikin and the melting temperature of the PCMs. The required temperature gradient is suggested to be greater than 6 degrees C when PCM vests are used in hot climates. With the same temperature gradient, the cooling rate is mainly determined by the covering area. The duration of the cooling effect is dependent on PCM mass and the latent heat. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The study of factors affecting the cooling rate of personal cooling equipment incorporated with PCM helps to understand cooling mechanisms. The results suggest climatic conditions, the required temperature gradient, PCM mass and covering area should be taken into account when choosing personal PCM cooling equipment.

Avaliação da utilização do mobiliário em postos administrativos / Evaluation of the use of office workstation furniture

Este estudo foi realizado em uma empresa multinacional de mineração, no setor de novos projetos, com o intuito de avaliar se o trabalhador utiliza o mobiliário corretamente de acordo com as normas e conceitos de boa postura no trabalho. Participaram da pesquisa 100 funcionários do sexo masculino, com altura de 160 a 180 cm, que utilizavam postos de trabalhos considerados adequados segundo as normas técnicas e conceitos de ergonomia. Para a avaliação foi realizado um checklist, levando em conta as possibilidades de ajustes existentes neste posto de trabalho: altura de cadeira, angulação de encosto, altura do encosto, posição do computador na mesa (profundidade e altura), utilização do apoio de pé quando necessário. Após avaliação de cada unidade (interação entre posto de trabalho/funcionário), estas foram classificadas como excelente, ótimo, bom, regular, ruim e péssimo. Teve-se como resultado a classificação de 12 por cento como péssimo, 24 por cento como ruim, 34 por cento regular, 17 por cento bom, 10 por cento ótimo e 3 por cento excelente. Desta forma, verifica-se a necessidade de investir em educação e treinamento para que postos adequados segundo as normas técnicas e conceitos de ergonomia sejam usados de forma correta pelos seus usuários.

This study was carried out in a multinational mining company, at new projects department, aiming at analyzing if employee uses workstation furniture properly according to standard working posture model. One hundred (100) male employees, with 160 to 180 cm height, composed this sample. The workplace was in accordance to ergonomic standards and guidelines. A checklist was prepared in case of possible adjustments in furniture: chair height adjustment, seat back angle, seat back height, computer position on the desk (height and depth), and usage of feet support when necessary. After analysis of each tested unit (interaction between workstation/employee), they were classified under 6 (six) different categories: excellent, great, good, regular, poor and very poor. The results varied from 12 percent which was classified as very poor, 24 percent as poor, 34 percent as regular, 17 percent as good, 10 percent as great to 3 percent as excellent. Thereupon, vast investment should be made in education and training so that workstations according to ergonomic standards and guidelines can be correctly adjusted by users.

[Medical device use errors]. / Fehlerhafter Umgang mit Medizingeräten.

Medical devices define our everyday patient treatment processes. But despite the beneficial effect, every use can also lead to damages. Use errors are thus often explained by human failure. But human errors can never be completely extinct, especially in such complex work processes like those in medicine that often involve time pressure. Therefore we need error-tolerant work systems in which potential problems are identified and solved as early as possible. In this context human engineering uses the TOP principle: technological before organisational and then person-related solutions. But especially in everyday medical work we realise that error-prone usability concepts can often only be counterbalanced by organisational or person-related measures. Thus human failure is pre-programmed. In addition, many medical work places represent a somewhat chaotic accumulation of individual devices with totally different user interaction concepts. There is not only a lack of holistic work place concepts, but of holistic process and system concepts as well. However, this can only be achieved through the co-operation of producers, healthcare providers and clinical users, by systematically analyzing and iteratively optimizing the underlying treatment processes from both a technological and organizational perspective. What we need is a joint platform like medilab V of the TU Berlin, in which the entire medical treatment chain can be simulated in order to discuss, experiment and model--a key to a safe and efficient healthcare system of the future.

Historical perspective milestones in the evolution of lumbar spinal postural health in seating.

The best knowledge on seated posture before the Enlightenment was not scientific, but influenced by sociocultural, economic, and manufacturing factors. Although the pursuit of knowledge related to spinal postural health was advanced with the advent of empirico-analytic research, academic opinion continued to be influenced by unsubstantiated information, often resulting in incorrect advice to the public. Only in the past decade has advice on "correct" seated posture, spanning the time from the Hippocratic texts to the present, been brought into question by evidence-based research. By exploring seating from 3100 B.C to the present, this article discusses key influences that have an impact on seating functional to spinal postural health. Emphasis is placed on the role of medical opinion.