IISE transactions on occupational ergonomics and human factors最新文献

TECHNICAL ABSTRACTBackground: Commercial drones are rapidly transforming business operations, however there is a paucity of research evaluating occupational hazards and risks associated with drone deployment in the workplace.Purpose: We aimed to identify challenges of human-drone collaborations and assess drone pilot perceptions of workplace safety.Methods: An online questionnaire was generated and sent to 308 drone pilots working in different industries. A total of 75 of responses were included for data analysis. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and association rule mining were employed to extract knowledge from the obtained data.Results: Our results indicate that human factors are the main contributors to workplace drone mishaps. Poor communication, information display, and control modes were found to be chief obstacles to effective human-drone collaboration. Drone pilots indicated a propensity for complying with and participating in safety practices. Following safety procedures, receiving technical training, and flying outdoors may all be associated with a lower risk of drone mishaps.Conclusions: Offering professional training to pilots and following safety procedures could decrease the risks associated with occupational drones.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSAfter viewing video vignettes of human interactions with a novel soft growing robot, we found that participants reported fewer perceived safety hazards, less anxiety and fear about robots, reduced social hesitancy about human-robot collaboration (HRC), and lower technology-induced fears of job insecurity. Unlike prior research with traditional rigid manipulators, we found that the manipulated proximity of the human-robot interactions was unrelated to any of these outcomes, suggesting closer interactions may be possible without adverse psychological resistance. On the other hand, fear of robots, perceived hazards, technology-induced job insecurity, and robot anxiety were all significantly lower when human-robot interactions were slower. Interestingly, participants with more extensive prior robot experience displayed preferences for faster HRC interactions. Many occupations are ripe for automation within the next two decades, yet technical and psychological barriers to adoption remain. Our research suggests that novel soft growing flexible robots may be a fruitful area for future advancements.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS"Overassistive" robots can adversely impact long-term human-robot collaboration in the workplace, leading to risks of worker complacency, reduced workforce skill sets, and diminished situational awareness. Ergonomics practitioners should thus be cautious about solely targeting widely adopted metrics for improving human-robot collaboration, such as user trust and comfort. By contrast, introducing variability and adaptation into a collaborative robot's behavior could prove vital in preventing the negative consequences of overreliance and overtrust in an autonomous partner. This work reported here explored how instilling variability into physical human-robot collaboration can have a measurably positive effect on ergonomics in a repetitive task. A review of principles related to this notion of "stimulating" robot behavior is also provided to further inform ergonomics practitioners of existing human-robot collaboration frameworks.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSOur survey of 100 manufacturing facilities revealed statistically significant differences among company types in their perceptions of cost savings, productivity gains, and safety improvements as benefits of robotic implementation. Regardless of company type or size, indications of presence of cumulative, incidental, and static postural hazards were identified as primary perceived factors for injury potential. More than half of the surveyed companies reported being unaware of general safety standards utilized within their facilities, and most (70%) robotic companies were unaware of any robotic-specific standards utilized at their company. Our results indicate the importance of accounting for varying perspectives between company types regarding motivation for and safety impacts of robotics. With the advancement of technology and robotization of the manufacturing industry, there are also pressing needs for advancing robotic safety standards, implementing training programs, and continuous promotion of the general safety awareness.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSMultiple occupational exoskeletons have been developed recently with potential to reduce physical demands, muscle fatigue, and risk of over-exertion injuries in manufacturing, yet there are currently challenges in practical, large-scale deployment. We explored how stakeholder perceptions of exoskeletons were affected by exposure to passive arm- and back-support exoskeletons. Our outcomes indicate that even brief exposure to exoskeletons can positively influence worker and stakeholder perceptions on the usefulness and safety of exoskeletons. However, worker concerns about device usability and acceptability in the field were not mitigated by such brief exposure. This work may help manufacturing industry stakeholders understand what technology-adoption factors need further consideration when planning for exoskeleton deployment.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSMusculoskeletal disorders are prevalent among warehouse workers who engage in repetitive and dynamic tasks. To prevent such injuries, it is vital to identify the factors that influence fatigue in the upper extremities during these repetitive activities. Our study reveals that task factors, namely the bottle mass and picking rate, significantly influence upper extremity fatigue. In most cases, the fatigue indicator is a functional variable, meaning that the fatigue score or measurement is a curve captured over time, which could be modeled as a function. In this study, we demonstrate that functional data analysis tools, such as functional analysis of variance (FANOVA), prove more effective than traditional methods in specifying how task factors contribute to the development of fatigue in the upper extremities. Furthermore, since there are inherent differences among workers that could affect their fatigue development process, the data heterogeneity could be tackled by employing clustering methods.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSSedentary behavior is a significant health concern among office workers. We completed the same 6-month sit-stand table intervention at work for groups of normal-weight and overweight workers, and compared it to not having sit-stand tables. The intervention caused the intended decrease in sitting time in both groups and a corresponding increase in standing. We did not find compensation effects on physical behavior outside of work. Furthermore, the intervention did not change the composition of fat, lean, and bone mass in either group. Thus, strategies including initiatives to increase physical activity are likely needed to have effects on body composition; and an intervention needs to be sustained for longer than six months for any changes in body composition to be observed.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSWe developed a method for integrating back-assist exosuit capabilities into regular clothing to make musculoskeletal relief accessible to more workers. We demonstrated proof-of-concept that this uniform-integrated exosuit can be effective and usable. Existing occupational exosuits are standalone accessories worn on top of a user's clothing and are not suitable for all workers. Our newly developed sub-class of exosuit could be beneficial to workers who alternate between bending, lifting, and sitting tasks, or to those in customer- or patient-facing jobs where it is important for wearable technology to be discreet.