Ergonomic Considerations Research Articles

E3(환경, 사용자, 경제) 친화형 제품 개발을 위한 디자인 아이디어 개발 및 평가 절차

Objective : The present study was intended to develop a design ideation and evaluation process for the development of ecology-, ergonomics-, and economy-friendly (<TEX>$E^3$</TEX>-friendly) products. Background : Due to increasing social and legal requirements on global sustainability, manufacturing companies have made more efforts ever than before for the development of eco-friendly products. However, most eco-friendly products are often criticized due to lacking ergonomic and/or economic considerations. Method : An <TEX>$E^3$</TEX>-friendly product development process consisting of (1) survey of eco-friendly products, (2) characterization of eco-friendly products, (3) design ideation for <TEX>$E^3$</TEX>-friendly product, and (4) design idea evaluation for <TEX>$E^3$</TEX>-friendliness was established and applied to the development of a novel product which supports drinking of daily recommended amount of water. Results : Fifty-five design characteristics were identified by a survey of forty eco-friendly products and incorporated into the proposed ideation and evaluation process. New ideas and design changes were developed effectively using the proposed development process for a novel <TEX>$E^3$</TEX>-friendly bottle for support of water drinking. Conclusion : The proposed process was found effective for the development of eco-friendly design ideas and improvements. Application : The proposed system would be of use to develop better design ideas having market competitiveness.

An overview of occupational hazards in dental practice and preventive measures

Abstract The purpose of this article is to review the occupational hazards related to the practice of Dentistry. The classification of hazards is based on major sources of risk by system or tissue and by dental office area (dental chair, laboratory, sterilization area, x-ray developing area). Potentially hazardous factors relate to the general practice setting; to specific materials and tools that expose the operator to vision and hearing risks; to chemical substances with known allergenic, toxic, or irritating actions; to increased microbial counts and silica particles of the aerosols produced during tooth preparation, removal of restorations; to ergonomic considerations that might have an impact on the provider's musculoskeletal system; and to psychological stress with proven undesirable sequalae. The identification and elimination of these risk factors should be incorporated into a standard practice management program as an integral part of dental education. Professional organizations can also assist in informing practitioners of potential hazards and methods to deal with them. How to cite this article Poorya Naik DS, Chetan S, Gopal Krishna BR, Naveen S. An overview of occupational hazards in dental practice and preventive measures. CODS J Dent 2014;6;19-25

REVIEW WORK ON ANALYSIS OF F1 CAR FRAME USING ANSYS

SAE Supra India organizes the undergraduate racing competition for 2013 in which teams are challenged to design considering the various circumstances and to fabricate the making a design in the campus itself. This paper’s sole focus is the design and analysis for a chassis which has to sustain the racing environment. As chassis plays a vital role in a race car and also it is the back bone of a good race car. Good designs allow a light, stiff and extremely safe chassis to be produced at. The work shown in this research paper was taken participation by Black Hawk SAE Supra team. This paper introduces several concepts of frame’s load distributions such a lateral, longitudinal vertical and horizontal torsion and consequent deformation modes. .Various studies were conducted upon the understanding the relation of the machine elements with the user according to Ergonomics consideration. Ergonomics considers factors such as Drivers visibility, seat inclination, thermal isolation etc. The chassis design was carried out on CAD software such as Pro-Engineers. Design model was prepared using anthropometric parameters of tallest driver as 95th percentile male was selected to SAE rules book. Static and dynamic load distributions were calculated analytically followed by extensive study of various boundary conditions to be applied during diverse FEA (Finite Element Analysis) test which was carried out in Ansys. Stress distributions, lateral displacements during static, dynamic and frequency modes were analyzed and found considerably high factor of safety as 3.85.

Friction-Assisted Pulling Force Detection Mechanism for Tactile Sensors

This paper proposes a novel friction-assisted capacitance tactile sensing mechanism to simultaneously detect pulling, normal, and shear forces for 3D display image control applications with integrated transparency and flexibility. The sensing mechanism supports fingertip sensing ranges with ergonomic considerations, which is an improvement on previous studies. The mechanism produces demonstration sensitivities of 0.38, 0.28, 0.24, and 0.33 pF/N and sensing ranges 0-1 N, 0-1.6 N, 0-1.4 N, and 0-2.0 N for pulling (θ = 90°), friction-assisted pulling (θ = 30°), normal, and shear forces, respectively. In this paper, we proposed friction-assisted pulling force under θ = 30°, which fit a human fingertip and allowed it to control 3D virtual image. On average, the demonstration tactile sensor transparency is over 80% in the visible region. This study conducts and examines the theoretical design, simulation, fabrication, and measurement of the mechanism.

Evaluation of Bio-Dynamic Responses of Human Body Subjected to Impacts Due to Speed Humps

Bio-dynamics of seated human subjects exposed to whole body vibration has been a topic of interest over the years. Most of the motorcycle riders are exposed to health risks, due to repeated exposure of mechanical shock when frequently riding over traffic speed humps. The present study describes a novel method to assess the acceleration transmissibility through the body and the apparent mass of the subject while riding a motorised two-wheeler over a speed hump. Sensitivity of human subjects to whole body vibration under low-frequency excitation in seated posture is also addressed by driving point mechanical impedance. Experiment methodology involves use of body mounted accelerometer as motion sensors to track these shocks for four healthy subjects. A four-degree of freedom lumped parameter model is simulated to quantify the instantaneous effects of mechanical shocks. This understanding is likely to aid the driving community, in general, and the motorcycle manufactures to incorporate better suspension and appropriate ergonomics considerations.

English

Jute provides employment to 40 million farmers and 0.2 million workers in factories in India. Weeding and pesticide spraying are serious problems in the crop due to scattered germination and higher planting density, owing to the absence of effective planting mechanisms, which increase the cost of production and decrease the yield and quality. The current research relates to a self-propelled seed drill, derived from rural load carrier (RLC), which comprises of a self propelled device and a seed drill body. The machine was designed and developed to sow jute seed considering agronomic and ergonomic considerations. RLC used a 3.94 kW diesel engine allowing field work forward speed of 1.9 to 2.8 and 6 to 8.3 kmh-1 for rural transportation. The control levers were placed in accordance with the anthropometric data of the user population. Around 67% germination and plant establishment was found with the developed seed drill. The effective field capacity at the mean speed of 2.1 kmh-1 being 0.23 hah-1 and fuel consumption was 1.4 Lh-1. Ergonomic measured data also proved the suitability of the machine for rural workers with higher cost effectiveness. Key words: Jute, self propelled seed drill, rural load carrier, mechanical design considerations, workplace.

An integrated approach for designing office chair with ergonomic consideration

Ergonomic consideration for designing an industrial or office work environment, taking into account both psychological and physical needs of employees, helps to enhance employee’s efficiency and productivity. It is essential to find optimum parameters that determine the design of a product, which possesses the characteristics not only to appeal to the users but also reduce fatigue and injury during use. Since most of the psychological needs of customers are difficult to express quantitatively, an integrated approach using statistical and artificial intelligence techniques has been proposed in this article to effectively handle subjective characteristics during the design phase. The approach has been demonstrated by using the design of an office chair. The design parameters have been compared with dimensions outlined in Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Anthropometric data reduction using confirmatory factor analysis.

The unavailability of anthropometric data especially in developing countries has remained a limiting factor towards the design of learning facilities with sufficient ergonomic consideration. Attempts to use anthropometric data from developed countries have led to provision of school facilities unfit for the users. The purpose of this paper is to use factor analysis to investigate the suitability of the collected anthropometric data as a database for school design in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Anthropometric data were collected from 288 male students in a Federal Polytechnic in North-West of Nigeria. Their age is between 18-25 years. Nine vertical anthropometric dimensions related to heights were collected using the conventional traditional equipment. Exploratory factor analysis was used to categorize the variables into a model consisting of two factors. Thereafter, confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the fit of the data to the proposed model. A just identified model, made of two factors, each with three variables was developed. The variables within the model accounted for 81% of the total variation of the entire data. The model was found to demonstrate adequate validity and reliability. Various measuring indices were used to verify that the model fits the data properly. The final model reveals that stature height and eye height sitting were the most stable variables for designs that have to do with standing and sitting construct. The study has shown the application of factor analysis in anthropometric data analysis. The study highlighted the relevance of these statistical tools to investigate variability among anthropometric data involving diverse population, which has not been widely used for analyzing previous anthropometric data. The collected data is therefore suitable for use while designing for Nigerian students.

Design of Workspace of Human Fingers and Computer Keyboard Operation

There are more and more complex tools and machinery that need be operated by human fingers in our modem industrial environment. Such as computer keyboards, screwdriver, handle wrench, button and switch. All of those should be designed to work effectively and safely with the operators for whom they were designed. At first, ergonomic consideration in design is reachable; this means the operators fingertip must be able to reach the operating component. This is generally no question because human arm has much more degrees of freedom required to position his arms, hands and fingers in the three-dimension space. However, some times we need the finger operate with a fixed wrist. For example in the case in the typing, the reachable workspace of the finger must take into account in such situation.Finger contacting is the most familiar operation mode of the man-machine system, and the index finger takes on the primary operation tasks. From viewpoint of ergonomic engineering, the operation component should be placed within the workspace of the fingertip to reduced or eliminate the movement of palm and arm should to the greatest extent during finger manipulation. Therefore the research of the workspace of ginger is significant to the ergonomic design of the operation device. In this paper, the reachable workspace and workspace under direction restrain of contacting for the index finger are determined using serial mechanism model and the Penalty Function Method based on geometric measurement of human body. The optimal operating position and orientation of human finger is analyzed.

Evaluation of bio-dynamic responses of human body subjected to impacts due to speed humps

Bio-dynamics of seated human subjects exposed to whole body vibration has been a topic of interest over the years. Most of the motorcycle riders are exposed to health risks, due to repeated exposure of mechanical shock when frequently riding over traffic speed humps. The present study describes a novel method to assess the acceleration transmissibility through the body and the apparent mass of the subject while riding a motorised two-wheeler over a speed hump. Sensitivity of human subjects to whole body vibration under low-frequency excitation in seated posture is also addressed by driving point mechanical impedance. Experiment methodology involves use of body mounted accelerometer as motion sensors to track these shocks for four healthy subjects. A four-degree of freedom lumped parameter model is simulated to quantify the instantaneous effects of mechanical shocks. This understanding is likely to aid the driving community, in general, and the motorcycle manufactures to incorporate better suspension and appropriate ergonomics considerations.

Multi-Response Ergonomic Analysis of Middle Age Group CNC Machine Operators

This work is aimed on exploiting the performance in a human-CNC machine interface (HCMI) environment. Here load cell based developed system is capable of measuring cognitive and motor action responses simultaneously. Performance measurement system designed may be replicated for other fields where systems are operated through control panels and also where responses of mentally retarded human-beings (or human beings with symptoms of Alzheimer disease) are to be observed and evaluated. Following main conclusions are drawn: (1) Optimum multi-performance characteristics for middle age operators are A1B3C3 (i.e. CNC machine panel height of 90 cm, panel angle of 90 degrees and working distance of 30 cm), (2) Percentage contributions of working distance, CNC machine panel angle and panel height are 55.93, 8.13 and 5.93, respectively and (3) An improvement of 41.12% in the multi-performance characteristics was achieved. This work has achieved a reasonable degree of validity through performing confirmation test. Practitioner Summary: The findings of this work are directly applicable to the practical field to improve the design of a CNC-machines system. This work suggests that those responsible for the functioning and operation of CNC machine workstations would have to redesign the system to reduce musculoskeletal injuries and other related problems of middle age male operators. Results presented in this paper can be quite useful for future system designers. It is emphasized that applying ergonomic principles to the design of CNC machines and interfaces can not only help to enhance machine performance and productivity, but can also enable the human operator to feel comfortable and secure. As most companies have acquired Automated Manufacturing Technology in recent years to be competitive, ergonomic and safety considerations are of the utmost importance in the design phase.

Utility of simultaneous interventional radiology and operative surgery in a dedicated suite for seriously injured patients

In recent years, combined interventional radiology and operative suites have been proposed and are now becoming operational in select trauma centres. Given the infancy of this technology, this review aims to review the rationale, benefits and challenges of hybrid suites in the management of seriously injured patients. No specific studies exist that investigate outcomes within hybrid trauma suites. Endovascular and interventional radiology techniques have been successfully employed in thoracic, abdominal, pelvic and extremity trauma. Although the association between delayed haemorrhage control and poorer patient outcomes is intuitive, most supporting scientific data are outdated. The hybrid suite model offers the potential to expedite haemorrhage control through synergistic operative, interventional radiology and resuscitative platforms. Maximizing the utility of these suites requires trained multidisciplinary teams, ergonomic and workplace considerations, as well as a fundamental paradigm shift of trauma care. This often translates into a more damage-control orientated philosophy. Hybrid suites offer tremendous potential to expedite haemorrhage control in trauma patients. Outcome evaluations from trauma units that currently have operational hybrid suites are required to establish clearer guidelines and criteria for patient management.

DESIGN OF WORKPLACE FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF MONOBLOCK PUMP

Productivity is an important aspect of every indust rial firm as well as for the economic growth of the country. High productivity means completing a quantum of work with minimum pos sible time and fewer amounts of resources. Work-stu dy is required for designing the work system, which identifies the eff ective means of completing the work. Also, it is kn own that the workers suffer from fatigue and injury during long hours of monotonous work when proper workplace/working environment is a bsent. This may indirectly contribute to decreased productivity in an industry . Human factor issues arise in simple systems and iproducts as well. Hence the ergonomic principles are to be considered while designing both consumer and industrial produ cts. One of the most prevalent types of work-related injuries is musculo skeletal disorder. Work-related musculoskeletal dis orders (WRMDs) results in continuous pain, functional capability loss and dis ability to work, but the prevailing disorder diagno sis is difficult because they are mainly based on complaints of pain and other sympto ms. Hence a proper workplace is to be designed to o vercome the above issues or to reduce them considerably. This research aims at improving the existing and proposed ways of doing w ork with Ergonomics and Anthropometric considerations, thereby improving th e productivity rate.

Design and Manufacture of an Ergonomic Computer Pen

A user friendly ergonomic computer input pen capable of obviating the use of the keyboard has been developed. It integrates the standard or conventional mouse functions with the touch stick input device functions. The pen-shaped input device developed can perform the normal mouse functions of scrolling and clicking together with handwriting recognition functions. From the stand point of ergonomic considerations, an input device which does not involve the keyboard and allows an operator to work efficiently is to be preferred in order to reduce the medical conditions called cumulative traumatic disorders (CTD) and repetitive strain injuries (RSI). A test set up to determine the acceptability of the ergonomic input pen using participants drawn from traditional mouse and keyboard users indicated a preference for the ergonomic computer pen. Also the average time by 15 participants to type a particular sentence containing all the letters of the English alphabet using the keyboard was 39.6 seconds, while the average time of the same 15 participants to write the same sentence using the ergonomic pen was 38.5 seconds.

Multi-response ergonomic design of human–CNC machine interface

This work is aimed at enriching a research theme, focused on exploiting the performance in a human–computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine interface (HCMI) environment. A salient contribution of this research effort is focused on adopting the concept of load cell for the system of human-performance measurement. The developed novel system is capable of measuring cognitive and motor action responses simultaneously. The performance measurement system designed for this work may be replicated for other fields where systems are operated through control panels and also where responses of mentally retarded human-beings (or the human beings with the symptoms of Alzheimer disease) are to be observed and evaluated. As regard to the evaluation and trustworthiness of the designed research, search time, motor action time and applied force were selected as response variables to evaluate the CNC machine operator’s performance. Based on Taguchi’s experimental design, a full factorial design consisting of 27 $$(3^{3})$$ experiments was used to collect the data for human performances. The collected data were analyzed using grey relational analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) and F-test. ANOVA was carried out using Design-Expert software. The designed research has achieved a reasonable degree of validity through performing confirmation test. This study has presented an effective approach for the optimization of the HCMI environment with multi-performance characteristics based on the combined Taguchi method and Grey relational analysis. Relevance to industry: The findings of this work are directly applicable to the practical field to improve the design of a CNC-machines system. This work suggests that those responsible for the functioning and operation of CNC-machines workstations would have to redesign the system to reduce musculoskeletal injuries and other related problems. The present results can be quite useful for future system designers. It is emphasized that applying ergonomic principles to the design of CNC machines and interfaces can not only help to enhance machine performance and productivity but can also enable the human operator to feel comfortable and secure. As most companies have acquired automated manufacturing technology in recent years to be competitive, ergonomic and safety considerations are of the utmost importance.

Ergonomic Considerations in Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: Lessons Learned from Laparoscopic Surgeons

Endoscopic sinus procedures are increasingly common, and more technically difficult procedures are being undertaken to provide patients with minimally invasive alternatives to traditional open surgical techniques. However, such endoscopic approaches have increasing physical demands on the surgeon. The aim of this review is to summarize current literature on surgical ergonomic principles as they relate to endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery and focus on future needs for our specialty. Literature review was performed of surgical ergonomics and, particularly, laparoscopic ergonomic principles. Existing ergonomic principles for laparoscopic surgery can be applied to endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery and can be expected to offer benefits in terms of surgeon fatigue, physical discomfort, and task efficiency. Increasing surgeon awareness will allow for many basic ergonomic principles to be applied to endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery. Although many simple changes can be immediately made, there is a clear need for further study and abundant room for innovation.

A Critical Study on the Underground Environment of Coal Mines in India-an Ergonomic Approach

Ergonomics application on underground miner’s health plays a great role in controlling the efficiency of miners. The job stress in underground mine is still physically demanding and continuous stress due to certain posture or movement of miners during work leads to localized muscle fatigue creating musculo-skeletal disorders. A good working environment can change the degree of job heaviness and thermal stress (WBGT values) can directly have the effect on stretch of work of miners. Out of many unit operations in underground mine, roof bolting keeps an important contribution with regard to safety of the mine and miners. Occupational stress of roof bolters from ergonomic consideration has been discussed in the paper.

Considering Human Factors When Designing for Safety

Because there are so many things to consider when designing a healthcare facility, it is crit- ical to search the literature, talk to experts, review post-occupancy evaluations, and interview end users of newly completed proj- ects. All evidence informs the deci- sion making regarding the ultimate design solutions to troublesome chal- lenges. This issue of Health Environ- ments Research & Design focuses on the effects of on design of human fac- tors and ergonomics (HFE). Human factors and ergonomics must include how people use both their bodies and minds in an environment- how they move, bend, stretch, lift, reach, and walk as well as what they need to know, see, smell, and hear in order to make critical decisions. How people in an environ- ment is also a critical consideration. Do they feel happy, sad, oppressed, vulnerable, safe, incentivized, fatigued, or energetic in the environment? All of these feelings are human factors to be considered and can affect how a person completes the cognitive, behavioral, interactional, and physical tasks that make up his or her work. Although some consider the terms human factors and ergonomics to be synonymous, others expand the concept of human factors to include the human psychology related to a person's use of or interac- tion with equipment and the envi- ronment while performing work or other activities.The concept of ergonomics has been around since at least the 19th cen- tury, while the term human fac- tors didn't came into use until more recently, beginning in the 1940s. Human factors became an important design consideration with increased awareness and met- rics of quality and safety in health- care environments. Taken together, human factors and ergonomics is a multidisciplinary field that inte- grates theory and science drawn from organizational studies, psy- chology, engineering, industrial design, quality science, statistics, and anthropometry. The intent is to fit the equipment and environment to serve the person(s), as contrasted to having the person(s) adapt his or her work to fit the equipment or envi- ronment (Feiler & Stichler, 2011; Stichler & Feiler, 2011; Waters, 2010).On its own, ergonomics marries multiple sciences as well, with its integration of kinesiology, phys- iology, psychology, industrial engineering and design, biometrics, anthropometry, and informa- tion design. How the healthcare provider fits into chairs, slides under desktops, reaches for supplies or pharmaceuticals, prepares medications, or even hangs intravenous (IV) solutions on an IV pole are all ergonomic considerations. Though it is a daunt- challenge to design environments and equip- ment for the wide variations in providers' heights, ages, and physical capabilities, it is important to create a good fit between the worker and the envi- ronment. The goal is to have the worker in a neu- tral position, one in which the biomechanical joints and surrounding soft tissues are not stressed when engaging in tasks (Feiler & Stichler, 2011; Stichler & Feiler, 2011). When the worker is fight- ing with the environment or equipment, injuries are more likely to occur, errors increase, productiv- ity is negatively affected, and the worker is less sat- isfied. Ergonomically sensitive design therefore has tremendous implications for healthcare providers, particularly nurses given that nursing is the fifth- most injured occupation in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). Certainly ergo- nomics in the workplace must be considered for all healthcare providers, and adaptable and adaptive equipment and work spaces are essential to meet- the ergonomic needs of healthcare providers and their variances in cognitive and physical capa- bilities and limitations.Human factors is a concept that is steeped in deci- sion theory and is a growing focus in risk man- agement science. Hospitals and other healthcare environments are intended to be healing environ- ments, but there are inherent risks to the health of both patients and providers in these environments. …

Scanning through the pain: Ergonomic considerations for performing echocardiography of animals

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are a common problem among sonographers, with prevalence in human sonographers of 80–90%. However, this problem appears to be largely neglected in the veterinary literature. Awareness of MSDs, ergonomic redesign, workplace management, and physical self-care are components to reducing the risk of developing MSDs. Work-place redesign and alterations in work flow management are discussed, and a template for a more ergonomically favorable echocardiogram table is provided.

A Study of Design Demand of Applying Quality Function Deployment in Plastic Folding Chairs

The design of folding chairs has long been focused on the low-price market targeting at mass gathering with high demand. Following the changes in society, a number of public have accustomed to use the folding chairs as household use, whereas the household folding chair with mid to high price range also emerge from the market eventually. The progress in science and technology, plus the continuous enhancement in plastic molding development and the injection molding technology as well as to the diversity in plastic materials, have all driven to the use of plastic folding chair. Nonetheless, the rise of consumer awareness and enhanced demand for product quality from the public have shifted the design of plastic folding chair from general folding chair to the designers perception oriented chairs. Hence, the study applied quality function deployment to establish user demand for plastic folding chairs, inducing the five expectations for plastic folding chair through the procedures in quality function deployment, namely into “aesthetics,” “convenience,” “structural safety,” “comfort,” and “environmental protection.” These five demands are placed into the House of Quality and transformed into the design elements and benchmark. The research results show that the first three projects and weights for customer requirements are sorted in the order of “parts unlikely to fall off (6.8%),” “non-pinching during use (6.7%)” and “ergonomic considerations (6.5%).” Among the parameter characteristics of design, the first three projects and weights are sorted in order of “use sliders or pullers to prevent pinching (10%),” “no screws used (9.4%)” and “holistic design of structure and form (8.5%).” The designers can fully understand customer demand through this transformation and the designers can add the above demand quality into the design of plastic folding chair during the conceptual design, attempt to assure the new product design can solve the existing inconvenience. The study analysis and results can be proposed as specific reference for the relevant design developers in designing plastic folding chairs.