Ergonomic Workplace Design Research Articles

Psychophysiological Responses Reflecting Driver's Emotional Reaction to Interior Noise during Sumulated Driving

In this study, psychophysiological stress was quantitatively evaluated at various car interior noise levels by using Electroencephalogram (EEG). An experiment was performed to investigate the most comfortable range of noise level during simulated driving condition. Twelve healthy volunteers participated in the experiment. They were asked to operate the driving simulator while six levels of interior noise were given, such as 50dB(A), 55dB(A), 60dB(A), 65dB(A), 70dB(A), and 85dB(A). EEG signals were recorded for 60 seconds in each noise level. The power spectral analysis was performed to analyze EEG signal. At the same time, psychological stress was also measured subjectively by using a magnitude estimation method. The results showed that subjective stress and EEG spectrum indicated a statistically significant difference between noise levels. In particular, high level noise produced an increase in beta power at parietal(Pz) and temporal(T3, T4) areas. It was also found that beta activity was highly correlated with subjective perception of discomfort, and subjects responded to car interior noise as arousing or negative stimuli. Moreover, beta power remained stable above 70dB(A), whereas subjective discomfort continued to increase even above 70dB(A). We concluded that brain waves could provide psychophysiological information of driver's emotional reaction to car interior noise. Thus, EEG parameters could be a new measure to determine optimal noise level in ergonomic workplace design after further verification in various experimental conditions.

Ergonomic Issues in the USA

This presentation reviews the practice of ergonomics (human factors) as a profession in the USA today as well as some of the critical issues that we face in the future. These issues are (1) creating better awareness of the benefits of ergonomic workplace design, (2) certification of ergonomists (3), development of ergonomic technical standards, and (4) development of laws regulating workplace health and safety.With regard to these issues, our experience teaches us that good ergonomic design can decrease errors and increase productivity. Unfortunately, we are only just beginning to communicate this to the rest of our society! Experience also teaches us that there is a need to concentrate our knowledge into technical standards that are accessible to new users, non-ergonomists such as process engineers and industrial designers. Thirdly, it teaches us that, as awareness of the benefits of applying ergonomics increases and more people attempt to utilize ergonomic science, it is important to establish criteria for recognizing competent ergonomics practitioners. Finally, poor ergonomic design is implicated as a causal factor in the development of occupational musculoskeletal disorders. As the State and National governments in the USA begin to protect workers from developing musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomists have necessarily been closely involved in developing the content of these workplace health and safety laws.

Ergonomic Issues in the USA: Today and A Perspective on Tomorrow.

This presentation reviews the practice of ergonomics (human factors) as a profession in the USA today as well as some of the critical issues that we face in the future. These issues are (1) creating better awareness of the benefits of ergonomic workplace design, (2) certification of ergonomists (3), development of ergonomic technical standards, and (4) development of laws regulating workplace health and safety.With regard to these issues, our experience teaches us that good ergonomic design can decrease errors and increase productivity. Unfortunately, we are only just beginning to communicate this to the rest of our society! Experience also teaches us that there is a need to concentrate our knowledge into technical standards that are accessible to new users, non-ergonomists such as process engineers and industrial designers. Thirdly, it teaches us that, as awareness of the benefits of applying ergonomics increases and more people attempt to utilize ergonomic science, it is important to establish criteria for recognizing competent ergonomics practitioners. Finally, poor ergonomic design is implicated as a causal factor in the development of occupational musculoskeletal disorders. As the State and National governments in the USA begin to protect workers from developing musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomists have necessarily been closely involved in developing the content of these workplace health and safety laws.

A computer-aided tool for ergonomic workplace design and preventive health care

Preventive health care is one of the basic challenges facing ergonomics. The aim to prevent occupationally generated musculoskeletal disorders and diseases may be achieved by appropriate workplace and product design. ERGOMan is a computer-aided 3D man model suitable for ergonomic and movement simulation at industrial workstations. Within a common project of the above mentioned institutions ERGOMan's inventory of ergonomics design tools shall be enhanced in a way that ERGOMan will be able to give detailed information on load or stress situations, which might effect the executability and tolerability of work situations with high probability. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The integration of employees with disabilities in Germany and the importance of workplace design.

This paper reviews the occupational integration of employees with disabilities in Germany. A short sketch of historical trends is followed by a presentation of the current tasks and goals of rehabilitation, as well as the legal and institutional framing conditions for the integration and reintegration of people with disabilities into the work process. It is shown that one important guarantee for the success of integration is an ergonomic workplace design that takes the needs of employees with disabilities into account.

Research to optimise human performance

The need for greater understanding of the factors which limit human movement and functional capacity and for determining effective methods for ensuring optimum performance has led to a wide range of related research studies. This paper draws on some of the research projects pursued or supervised by the author, to show the knowledge gained in aspects of movement capacity, muscle function and the influence of sensory motor deficits on movement and function. The inter-relationship of the many factors influencing functional capacity emphasise the need to think broadly in research. Studies of effectiveness of physiotherapy and collection of data for ergonomic workplace design highlight the importance of both prevention and therapeutic care and demonstrate the contributions which physiotherapists can make through research to optimise human performance.

Development of An Expert Systems for Ergonomic Workplace Design and Evaluation

Industrial workplace design and evaluation is the outcome of a multi-factored process which requires diverse disciplines and interrelated techniques to consider alternative factors and to achieve an optimal design solution. However, it is still evident that industrial workplace design fails to incorporate ergonomic principles throughout all stages of design and evaluation, One approach to solve the problem is to introduce an expert system for integrating existing analytic models and expertises into a framework which guides the designer along the necessary steps to reach a solution, with explanations on its reasoning process. This paper discusses the framework of the prototype expert system being implemented using VM/PROLOG on IBM VM/CMS mainframe. The rule-based production system was selected as a representation scheme due to its versatility and expressive power. It is consisted of two main parts, First, modularized knowledge bases incorporate multidisciplinary ergonomic factors such as biomechanics, work physiology, and psychophysics. Each module stores knowledge either in the fact base or the rule base, however, massive experimental findings and table-lookups are separately stored in the external database through its interface and retrieved without bothering the main inference mechanism. Secondly, inference mechanism was built as a control mechanism, with a front-end user interface. It has a pattern-directed architecture coupled with a normal forward/backward chaining mechanism. The prototype expert system also incorporates analytical models (usually written in FORTRAN) into the reasoning process so that it is highly flexible to the problem specificity.

A workplace design expert system

Although there is an abundance of reference material available, most facility design engineers lack the proficiency required to design ergonomically sound workplaces. This may be due to several factors. This paper presents an initial knowledge-based system to assist a design engineer in achieving an ergonomic workplace design. The developed system is, in reality, a subsystem consisting of the primary module of the knowledge base as a prototype. The root context, Dimensional Design, was selected for prototyping using the Texas Instruments Personal Consultant. A total of 41 parameters were defined for use by the prototype with 13 of those being goal parameters. In addition 57 rules are imbedded into the system.

Concept of ergonomic and systematic work design for disabled workers.

Ergonomic work-place design for disabled persons contains the selection of work-places appropriate for disabled, work-place design and work instruction and training. In order to support industry and administration in their activities of designing work-places for disabled workers a taxonomy of technical aids is presented taking into account the information most essential for practitioners. This classification is in accordance with the postulate of the ISO emphasizing the necessity for a classification of aids containing technical work aids as a main group. Therefore the classification system proposed should be considered as a frame work for a general taxonomy of technical aids at all.