Virtual Ergonomics Research Articles

Integrating human factors engineering into your pediatric radiology practice.

Human factors engineering involves the study and development of methods aimed at enhancing performance, improving safety, and optimizing user satisfaction. The focus of human factors engineering encompasses the design of work environments and an understanding of human mental processes to prevent errors. In this review, we summarize the history, applications, and impacts of human factors engineering on the healthcare field. To illustrate these applications and impacts, we provide several examples of how successful integration of a human factors engineer in our pediatric radiology department has positively impacted various projects. The successful integration of human factors engineering expertise has contributed to projects including improving response times for portable radiography requests, deploying COVID-19 response resources, informing the redesign of scheduling workflows, and implementation of a virtual ergonomics program for remote workers. In sum, the integration of human factors engineering insight into our department has resulted in tangible benefits and has also positioned us as proactive contributors to broader hospital-wide improvements.

Analyzing musculoskeletal risk-severity among small scale casting workers using ergonomic assessment tools: A statistical approach

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are leading cause of injuries among economically backward workers employed under small scale metal casting units especially in developing countries. In India, most casting unit's falls under small and medium enterprises having inadequacy of advanced technological equipment's due to several economic constraints and rely intensively on manual labour. Foundry work is very much prone to WMSDs involving much physical interaction of workers with their jobs which includes several risk factors. The study objectives were to analyse the musculoskeletal risk prevalence among small scale casting workers using ergonomic assessment tools and statistical approach. In present study, WMSDs risk prevalence has been examined using Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and virtual ergonomics. Further, risk evaluations were analysed using Mann-Whitney U test and Taguchi L25 orthogonal array. Results revealed manual handling task as being most vulnerable followed by the fettling section. Statistically significant differences were observed (p-value < 0.05) among all the work-sections except lift-lower task and molding section (p = 0.361; p > 0.05) for left side region; and lift-lower task and fettling section (p = 0.230; p > 0.05) for the right side region, where differences were not statistically significant. ANOVA results indicated that workstation height followed by population percentile and object weight were dominant factors significantly affecting the response parameter i.e. L4-L5 spine compression (p-value < 0.01); however workstation width (p-value > 0.05) had no significant effect. The present study may guide foundry industrialists in analysing the mismatch between the workers' job profile and redesigning existing workstation layouts in small scale foundries based on minimizing the WMSDs risk severity associated with the work tasks.

Design and user-related outcomes of virtual ergonomics training for office workers: scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature

Design and user-related outcomes of virtual ergonomics training for office workers: scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature

A Pilot Program of Virtual Ergonomics Consults for Radiology Staff Working From Home.

In March 2020, social distancing measures and other safety concerns related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic meant that all possible personnel and radiologists in the Department of Radiology at our institution who could work from home needed to do so on short notice. Although most radiologists already had a home workstation, most were not individually ergonomically optimized. Previously, nonradiologist staff did not have the ability to work from home and scrambled to adapt. Consequently, many traded their multimonitor workstations, task chairs, and desks for laptops on sofas and kitchen tables.

Monitoring Respirable Dust Exposure in Fettling Work Environment of a Foundry: A Proposed Design Intervention

Foundry workers are exposed to numerous health hazards, which includes respirable dust exposure as a prominent health issue. Apart from metallic dust, respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is generated during the fettling operation, which is very hazardous and a leading cause for silicosis. Evaluation and control of such hazards deserve particular attention in order to reduce the dust exposure level upto the permissible limits. In present study, an attempt was made to propose a low-cost design control intervention utilizing sensor based intelligence (ATmega328P microcontroller and an optical dust-sensor, SHARP GP2Y1010AU0F) for monitoring the dust exposure, followed by virtual ergonomics approach in CATIAV5R20. The proposed device was tested under several operating conditions. The results indicated that the prototype was sensitive to dust, having higher average dust density values under the dust haze weather condition (arithmetic mean (AM): 0.2590 mg/m3, geometric mean (GM): 0.2350 mg/m3) and fettling work-section (AM: 0.2550 mg/m3, GM: 0.2164 mg/m3) respectively, as compared to other conditions. Also, biomechanics analysis yielded the spine compression values lesser than the recommended limits, validating that the proposed fettling booth models could be considered as suggestive engineering control measures in conjunction with the designed prototype, so as to minimize the respirable dust exposure levels.

Ergonomics and efficient workplace design for hand-sewn footwear artisans in Kolhapur, India.

The footwear manufacturing industry is one of the significant sectors of leather businesses in India. In the Indian footwear production industry, there is an enormous potential for employment, export, and development. Kolhapuri footwear is a popular handmade craft in India. It is a well-designed craft used by Indian people for many years. Artisans using traditional tools manufacture this footwear manually. Workers of this craft use traditional methods and work in cottage-based enterprises where organized laws and legislations are not applicable. Therefore, any occupational hazard-related documentation is not available. Due to the nature of the job, workers occupy various apparent non-optimal postures that may cause multiple work-related disorders such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The main objective was to study and assess different footwear manufacturing workstations and working postures. The work further aimed to improve the design of current workstations and evaluate the proposed design using virtual ergonomic assessment techniques. An anthropometric database for the Kolhapuri footwear making population was developed. This work measured 35 different body dimensions of the footwear manufacturing artisans. Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was used for postural analysis of the artisans. It was observed that the entire footwear making activity was carried out in awkward postures. RULA scores suggested that 'a change in posture' to improve the efficiency of artisans was required for most of the workstations. This work proposed a novel workstation design to reduce the high risk of MSDs. The design was evaluated for thigh clearance, vision analysis and RULA analysis with the help of Digital Human Modelling (DHM). The virtual ergonomics assessment of this design revealed that the vision, thigh clearances, and RULA scores were satisfactory in the new design. The anthropometric database proposed in this study is likely to be useful in designing Kolhapuri footwear manufacturing tools. The proposed workstation and work layout are helpful to improve the accessibility of required tools and materials to footwear workers. It also helps to reduce occupational risks by easing uncomfortable work positions.

Seating comfort analysis: a virtual ergonomics study of bus drivers in private transportation

Background: Seating comfort is one of the most important indicators of the performance of automotive seats. Seat is one of the places in the vehicle where most of the drivers spent driving. A good seat can prevent a lot of painful disorders including low back pain, which is typical of bad posture. Driver posture is one of the most important issues that need to be considered in the vehicle seat design process. Research Gap: Around the world, there have been many studies on seating comfort including car seats, truck seats, bus seats, train seats, etc. However, in India there are not many studies focusing on bus drivers seating comfort. Objective: This study aimed at investigating bus drivers seating comfort in private transportation using virtual ergonomics. Methods: We have considered a group of male bus drivers with different percentiles. And, we have selected a bus seat typically used in private transportation. The anthropometry of drivers and dimensions of the seat has been measured and modelled in the virtual environment (CATIA V6). For the seating comfort analysis, RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) analysis was performed. Results and Discussion: The RULA score revealed that the drivers with 77th to 94th percentile felt comfortable with the seat. The rest had higher RULA scores and felt discomfort. Conclusion: The bus seat design needs to be changed by considering Indian anthropometry. Also, this study only examined a few subjects; hence, further investigation would give better recommendations. Application: The benefit of virtual ergonomics is used in this project. The methodology used in this study could be used for other seat studies.

Interactive tools for safety 4.0: virtual ergonomics and serious games in real working contexts

This paper presents an innovative safety training method based on digital ergonomics simulations and serious games, which are games that focus on education. Digital ergonomics is intended to disseminate the culture of safety among workers, while serious games are used to train the operators on specific safety procedures and verify their skills. The results of the experimentation in a real industrial environment showed that, compared to the traditional training methodology, multimedia contents and quantitative ergonomic analyses improve the level of attention and the awareness of the workers about their own safety. However, serious games turned out to be promising training tools with regard to standard operating procedures that are usually difficult or dangerous to simulate in a real working scenario without stopping production. Practitioner summary: Digital ergonomics and serious games are used to disseminate the culture of safety among the workers and for safety training. Our results show that the proposed methodology improves the level of attention and provides a better feedback about the actual skills of the workers than the standard educational strategies. Abbreviations:

Ergonomics demands associated with combinations of manual and powered emergency medical service cots and ambulance loading systems: A work simulation study

Digital human models were used to perform a virtual ergonomics assessment of manual and powered emergency medical services cots combined with both manual and powered ambulance loading systems. Simulations were run with all combinations of emergency medical technicians (EMTs), at 50 kg (female), 72 kg (female) and 125 kg (male) with cots containing no patient and patients of 125 kg and 159 kg. There was a substantial decrease in low back and upper extremity demands with the use of a powered cot, and a further decrease with the additional use of a powered loading system, even though it only required one EMT. The benefits of a fully powered system were magnified with the simulation of both heavier EMTs and patients. Additionally, this study demonstrates the utility of digital human models and work simulation to evaluate product designs that impact occupational demands and injury risk.

Occupational ergonomics research and applied contextual design implementation for an industrial shop-floor workstation

The aim of this original research article is to identify the occurrence of work-related ergonomics risk factors, in order to implement context specific human centered design interventions in the injection molding shop-floor workstations of plastic furniture manufacturing factories within the framework of industrially developing countries. Questionnaire study, postural assessment tools, computer aided design, digital human modeling and simulation, and basic work study techniques were used. Plastic processing industry is highly fragmented, consisting of small, medium scale enterprises with tremendous growth potential. Occupational design ergonomics research in the injection molding plastic furniture manufacturing shop-floor workstations is very scarce in industrially developing countries. Shop-floor workers are affected by prevalent awkward working postures and consequent body part discomforts. Useful and easily implementable accessories/fixtures with convenient design features were conceptualized. Virtual ergonomics evaluation of the workstation with proposed accessories/fixtures showed significant reduction of awkward working postures. Physical prototypes of the proposed fixtures were constructed and real human trials were performed in the factories. Time study indicated reduction in operator cycle time when compared with time taken before design modifications. Research methodology, results and design solutions described from an ergonomics perspective would definitely serve as a helpful guide for existing as well as upcoming factories in the injection molded plastic furniture manufacturing industry of industrially developing countries and further similar research endeavors.

Predictive model of tractor driving posture considering front and rear view

Recently, tractor research and development has focused on ergonomic performance design and proposed improved requirements for driving comfort and safety. The digital human model is important for virtual ergonomics design because whether or not the driving posture of the model matches reality significantly influences the design results. Because of the poor accuracy and integrity of predictions for tractor driving posture, simulations for the front and rear driving postures of high-power tractors were analysed. Fifteen dependent variables were determined by simplifying driving posture according to the representative and measurability of the joint angle of the human body and the effective segment size. The data from 54 subjects in the forward driving and backward working postures were measured using a portable three-coordinate measuring machine. The key factors influencing each dependent variable were determined through comprehensive correlation, scatter plot, and linear regression analyses. Correlation analysis of the dependent variables revealed that regression of the dependent variable was arranged in descending order. The regression prediction model of each dependent variable was established by analysing the lower-level regression variables while introducing strong correlation and high-level variables into the model. To verify the accuracy and rationality of the model, statistical tests and experimental verification were carried out, respectively. The model was accurate (p

Ergonomics Simulation in Aircraft Manufacturing – Methods and Potentials

In aircraft manufacturing, despite automation, there is a high proportion of manual activities. Especially in the final assembly of the aircraft, the employees perform various tasks in adverse postures causing work-induced illnesses. Working in kneeing or overhead position are two posture, which often occur. This paper describes an approach on how to develop human-centered assembly tasks by using virtual ergonomics analysis. Within the approach, various scientific assessment methods are compared and their applicability to aircraft manufacturing will be presented.

The incorporation of virtual ergonomics to improve the occupational safety condition in a factory

Proper manual material handling (MMH) is the important step leading to the occupational safety of the workers on the shop floor as well as the productivity improvement of the manufacturing process. The objectives of this study are the application of different risk assessment methods, the redesign of the workstation to reduce the occupational risk and the utilization of software package to validate the proposed interventions. As a result, an assembly line of a product is selected as the case study to validate the proposed agenda. Afterwards, four lifting assessment methods, i.e. NIOSH lift equation, Snook Psychophysical Table, OSU Lift guidelines and ACGIH/TLV, are used to assess the hazard risk in the assembly line. After these methods are performed, the results are introduced to recommend the newly designed working conditions, i.e. postures, movements and the barriers. To validate the improved design, new configurations are simulated by the virtual ergonomic program and the ergonomic analysis is performed. The important results, e.g. low back compression and percent of population capable, are calculated by the software to determine the appropriate values which are used as the guidelines for a safe working condition. Moreover, the manufacturing process is also simulated to improve that the ergonomic redesign of the shop floor environment and another consequence of the implementation leads to the significant increase of the productivity.

Review of Recent Developments in Ergonomic Design and Digital Human Models

Background: Ergonomic interventions and ergonomic redesign are researched upon today in the realms of 'Prevention through Design' towards addressing the occupational health and safety concerns of the industry. Objective: To review the developments over the past ten years relating to computer aided ergonomic design, and propose an ergonomic intervention framework for manufacturing systems. Methods: The literature was selected from ergonomics journals indexed in the SCOPUS bibliographic database, by filtering abstracts and titles using select words such as 'ergonomic design', 'ergonomic evaluation', 'ergonomic intervention', 'virtual reality' and 'digital human model'. Results: The three areas reviewed include: Ergonomic interventions and Ergonomic Design, Ergonomic analysis and tools, and Digital human model (DHM) and Virtual Ergonomics. The DHM modeling approach is favored by designers towards ergonomic redesign of products and systems. DHM software is being integrated with ergonomic analysis tools and human features. A DHM based intervention framework is proposed that attempts to integrate human and machine performance metrics in making interventions, thereby making a sustainable human compatible system. Conclusions: The review has emphasized on design focus in intervention strategy. An ergonomic intervention framework has been proposed. Participative ergonomic approach with multiple stakeholders is suggested for implementation of interventions.

An assessment of the realism of digital human manikins used for simulation in ergonomics

In this study, the accuracy of the joint centres of the manikins generated by RAMSIS and Human Builder (HB), two digital human modelling (DHM) systems widely used in industry for virtual ergonomics simulation, was investigated. Eighteen variously sized females and males were generated from external anthropometric dimensions and six joint centres (knee, hip and four spine joints) were compared with their anatomic locations obtained from the three-dimensional reconstructed bones from a low-dose X-ray system. Both RAMSIS and HB could correctly reproduce external anthropometric dimensions, while the estimation of internal joint centres location presented an average error of 27.6 mm for HB and 38.3 mm for RAMSIS. Differences between both manikins showed that a more realistic kinematic linkage led to better accuracy in joint location. This study opens the way to further research on the relationship between the external body geometry and internal skeleton in order to improve the realism of the internal skeleton of DHMs, especially for a biomechanical analysis requiring information of joint load and muscle force estimation.Practitioner summary: This study assessed two digital human modelling (DHM) systems widely used in industry for virtual ergonomics. Results support the need of a more realistic human modelling, especially for a biomechanical analysis and a standardisation of DHMs.

Towards virtual ergonomics: aviation and aerospace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight state-of-the-art digital human modeling applications in aviation and aerospace industry, generate research interest and promote application of digital human modeling technology among audience of diverse background including researchers, students, trainees, etc. in academia and industry; designers; engineers; and ergonomists associated with aviation and aerospace sectors. Design/methodology/approach – Comprehensive literature search was performed and, subsequently, all publications identified were studied thoroughly at least by abstracts. Available information has been segregated under different headings and depicted systematically for easy understanding by readers. Findings – Virtual human modeling technology has been used in assessing reach and accessibility in aircraft cockpits, creating accurate posture libraries, performing vision analysis for pilots, determining design modifications to accommodate female users, predicting probable pilot behavior in ...

Applications of DHM in Agricultural Engineering: A Review

Research towards developing user-compatible, ease in use and safe agricultural equipment with proper consideration of human factors using cutting edge technology like Digital Human Modeling (DHM) and simulation is very important in todays scenario. This technology offers new possibilities to integrate ergonomics principles into design process from the very beginning (conceptual phase) to solve complex problems in many engineering disciplines. However, its application is till very limited in agricultural sector. This paper provides overview of up-to-date research in virtual ergonomics evaluation technology (through DHM) and its applications in agriculture. Attempt has also been made to highlight future research direction in many areas of agricultural sectors where DHM might contribute potentially for ergonomic interventions to reduce drudgery and chances of errors and accidents. Authors have also identified reasons behind less adoption of this technology in agricultural sectors and tried to highlight strategies to be followed for wide adoption.

Digital Human Models and Virtual Ergonomics to Improve Maintainability

Maintenance is one of the key drivers for future company success, due to the fact that these kinds of operations are strictly related to human labor cost, an expensive factor for western states. Furthermore, in the last decades, norms and laws on safety and ergonomics of the work place have taken importance among industrialized countries. Design for Maintenance is a design methodology that since early stages of product life cycle outlines needs and necessities of maintainers, in order to reduces time and cost; decreasing the complexity and the difficulties of these procedures and achieving a higher standard of workers’ health. In order to reach this goal, Digital Human Models (DHM) have been used to simulate assembly and maintenance processes. Virtual ergonomic analysis performed with a human model allows evaluating visibility, reachability and postures, stress and fatigue. The lack of methods supporting virtual ergonomics simulation has been addressed by proposing a systematic approach based on a step-by...

DHM an Aid for Virtual Ergonomics of Manufacturing Shop Floor: A Review with Reference to Industrially Developing Countries

strategies adopted by majority of industries in third world/industrially developing countries especially in India and China are still far from world class practices. Competition due to entry of multinational companies is forcing them to turn their attention to seek improvements for long term survival and associated benefits. Ergonomics, more specifically computer aided ergonomics finds a low level of acceptance in manufacturing industries and thus results in poorly designed work system/place, low productivity and prevalence of musculoskeletal problems in industrial workforce. Taking these facts into consideration an effort has been made through extensive literature review to highlight relevance of digital Human Modeling Software (DHMS) as a tool for evaluating, improving existing/ proposed manufacturing workstation/ workplace, and its associated tasks. Attempt has also been made to encourage manufacturing industries (including small and medium scale industries that are unaware of this technology) in developing countries to focus their attention towards this exceptionally useful tool for their betterment. It is strongly recommended that industrial/ production engineers can certainly without any doubt advocate use of DHM as an indispensible tool for developing human centered manufacturing work station/ workplace and harness its benefits.

Towards Bridging the Gap between Biomechanics and Motor Control for Virtual Ergonomics Applications

Posture prediction algorithms, particularly those that consider comfort (or discomfort), are typically based on gross movements rather than on the finer movements of the upper extremity. However, understanding these finer movements, particularly during goal-directed reaching tasks, is critical to accurately predicting postures, and the associated potential injury risks, when using virtual ergonomic tools. Furthermore, it is expected that these finer movements will be highly sensitive to the planning processes used to perform sequential tasks, particularly when start and terminal orientation, terminal precision, and terminal force are manipulated. Thus, the purpose of this proposed study is to challenge the theory of the end-state comfort effect under conditions of varying terminal precision and exertion force requirements during both discrete and sequential goal-directed reaching tasks. It is expected that each of these manipulations (i.e. start and terminal orientation, terminal precision, terminal force, and number of movement sequences) will influence the chosen movement patterns. Understanding how each of these variables affects movement patterns will provide important information for the development of posture prediction algorithms for use with virtual ergonomics tools.