Ergonomics最新文献

Innovative approaches are needed for managing risk and system change in healthcare. This paper presents a case study of a project that took place over two years, taking a systems approach to managing the risk of healthcare acquired infection in an acute hospital setting, supported by an Access Risk Knowledge Platform which brings together Human Factors Ergonomics, Data Science, Data Governance and AI expertise. Evidence for change including meeting notes and use of the platform were studied. The work on the project focused on first systematically building a rich picture of the current situation from a transdisciplinary perspective. This allowed for understanding risk in context and developing a better capability to support enterprise risk management and accountability. From there a linking of operational and risk data took place which led to mapping of the risk pattern in the hospital.

Exoskeleton robots are a promising solution to reduce musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in different work environments, but a specific usability scale for evaluating them is lacking. This study aimed to develop and verify a preliminary Exoskeleton Usability Questionnaire (EUQ) for the lower limb exoskeletons by creating a draft survey questionnaire from existing questions in prior studies. An experiment was conducted with 20 participants who performed a specific task while wearing three lower limb robots and provided subjective feedback using the developed questionnaire. Data were analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), resulting in a usability evaluation questionnaire for exoskeleton robots clustered into four main factors: mobility, adjustability, handling and safety. This study's findings are expected to be useful in evaluating the usability of the lower limb exoskeletons in both general production sites and agricultural work, which can aid in reducing the prevalence of lower limb MSDs.Practitioner Summary: This study developed a preliminary subjective usability evaluation questionnaire for exoskeleton robots. The questionnaire is clustered into four main factors: mobility, adjustability, handling and safety. These findings provide a valuable tool for assessing exoskeleton usability, potentially reducing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in various work environments.

The objective of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a passive back-support exosuit at reducing low back muscle fatigue during an 18-minute trunk posture maintenance task. On two separate days sixteen participants performed an 18-minute trunk posture profile that reflected trunk flexion postures observed during a challenging vascular surgery procedure. On one day they performed the procedure with the support of the exosuit, on the other day without. Test contractions were performed every three minutes to capture the time-dependent electromyographic activity of the bilateral erector spinae muscles. Time domain (amplitude) and frequency domain (median frequency) measures of erector spinae muscle fatigue were assessed. Results revealed that the exosuit significantly reduced the measures of erector spinae muscle fatigue in terms of both amplitude (6.1%) and median frequency (5.3%), demonstrating a fatigue reduction benefit of the exosuit in a realistic surgical posture maintenance task.

As sleep problems can impair quality of work, an online questionnaire was used to examine relationships between sleepiness and decision making while obtaining unobtrusive indices of performance. Participants (N = 344) completed the Insomnia Severity Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire in a Qualtrics survey while reporting mobile phone use. Qualtrics recorded the time and the number of clicks required to complete each page of the survey. Multiple regression indicated that insomnia was associated with daytime sleepiness and Hypervigilance, and mobile phone use before bed. Participants with moderate sleepiness required a greater number of clicks to complete the questionnaire. Greater sleepiness was associated with longer times to complete these self-assessment tasks. Clinically significant sleepiness produces changes in performance that can be detected from online responsivity. As sleepy individuals can be appreciably and quantitatively slower in performing subjective self-assessment tasks, this argues for objective measures of sleepiness and automated interventions and the design of systems that allow better quality sleep.Practitioner summary: Work can require processing of electronic messages, but 24/7 accessibility increases workload, causes fatigue and potentially creates security risks. Although most studies use people's self-reports, this study monitors time and clicks required to complete self-assessment rating scales. Sleepiness affected online responsivity, decreasing online accuracy and increasing response times and hypervigilance.

Lower limb body shape is important in the design of functional pants. The skin, muscles, and body shapes of the lower limbs of wheelchair users may differ from healthy people because of the different shapes of their legs and the prolonged seating position. This study aimed to classify the shapes of the lower limbs of adult female wheelchair users. The lower body measurement of 384 female wheelchair users was obtained. The principal component analysis and two-step cluster analysis were used to categorise the body shapes into three different types and five different size standards. Based on the study findings, female wheelchairs have larger waist, belly, and hip circumferences than healthy individuals, with 89.3% of them having prominent hips. Therefore, the design and production of trousers for wheelchair users should take into consideration the classification of lower limb shapes and sizes reported in this study.Practitioner summary: This work initiated the investigation of human body size assessment of clothes for handicapped persons in China, allowing paraplegic female wheelchair users to wear adapted trousers.

The way the road transport system is developed in a country affects safety. This study aims to identify the roles and relationships of road transport stakeholders and to explore the understanding of control and feedback mechanisms and associated gaps influencing road safety. A System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) model was applied to document and interview data (n = 30). Participants emphasised the hindrance of overlapping mandates among stakeholders on the road transport system's operations and underlined the roles of coalitions for road safety as system enablers. Further, the withdrawal of some controls by international agencies can increase system vulnerability. Most importantly, critical control and feedback gaps were shown to increase risks for safety within the road transport system. The findings underscore the complexity of the road transport system and add to the discussion on a system's approach to road safety.Practitioner summary: Using a STAMP methodology, we extensively studied the road transport system in Tanzania. Road transport stakeholders were identified through the review of documents, interviews were conducted, and the main findings were discussed. Control and feedback mechanisms and associated gaps were critically presented, recommendations were proposed, and policy implications were suggested.

Subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS) is the most common upper-extremity musculoskeletal problem among workers. In this study, a machine learning model was built to predict and classify the presence or absence of SAPS in assembly workers with shoulder joint range of motion (ROM) and muscle strength data using support vector machine (SVM). Permutation importance was used to determine important variables for predicting workers with or without SAPS. The accuracy of the support vector classifier (SVC) polynomial model for classifying workers with SAPS was 82.4%. The important variables in model construction were internal rotation and abduction of shoulder ROM and internal rotation of shoulder muscle strength. It is possible to accurately perform SAPS classification of workers with relatively easy-to-obtain shoulder ROM and muscle strength data using this model. In addition, preventing SAPS in workers is possible by adjusting the factors affecting model building using exercise or rehabilitation programs.Practitioner summary: This study aimed to create a machine learning model that can predict and classify SAPS using shoulder ROM and muscle strength and identify the variables that are of high importance in model construction. This model could be used to predict or classify workers' SAPS and manage or prevent SAPS.

Firefighter hoods must provide protection from elevated temperatures and products of combustion while simultaneously being comfortable and limiting interference with firefighting movement or completion of fireground activities. This study was to quantify the impact of hood design (traditional knit hood vs. several models of particulate-blocking hoods) on wearability measures such as range of motion, noise production and hearing threshold. Firefighters' perceptions of wearability were also collected. In a controlled laboratory environment, 24 firefighters performed movement and hearing tests. Wearing particulate-blocking hoods resulted in decreased rotational range of motion, and thicker hoods reduced hearing ability. Design, but not necessarily the number of layers, affected noise production by the hood during head movement.Practitioner summary: Particulate-blocking hoods resulted in reduced rotational range of motion relative to the traditional design and the no-hood condition. Hoods with additional layers resulted in decreased hearing ability. Noise production was increased in designs of particulate-blocking hoods with a membrane-based blocking layer independent of the number of layers.