Background and Purpose: Dental students and practitioners are frequently prone to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) due to the unawareness of ergonomic principles when practicing ...dentistry. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge about MSDs in dental practitioners. Materials and Methods: A self-administered 28-item online questionnaire study was conducted among 100 dental practitioners. The study questionnaire captured demographic details of the participants as well as knowledge of ergonomic practices and MSDs and the nature of treatment. Descriptive analysis was done wherein the qualitative variables were expressed as percentages and proportions, whereas quantitative data were expressed as mean and standard deviation. The Chi-square test was used to check statistical associations and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: All the participants practiced four-handed dentistry. Only 12% of the responders stated that the ideal position for treating the maxillary arch in patient as supine, whereas 86% responded as semi-supine and 2% as sitting position. Similarly, 97% of the responders rightly answered that the ideal position for treating mandibular arch in patient as semi-supine. Forty percentage of them answered correctly that the word ergonomics means work and law. Seventy-two percentage of the responders think that knowing ergonomics is useful in routine dental practice. Fifty-eight percentage of the dentists believe that stretching exercise during work will reduce muscle tension and stress. Conclusion: The present study provides an insight into ergonomics for dental students during routine dental procedures. Hence, emphasis on providing ergonomic principles both theoretically and practically to dental health-care professionals must be placed in all educational institutions and at continuing dental health programs, and it should be included in the curriculum.
Construction jobs are more labor-intensive compared to other industries. As such, construction workers are often required to exceed their natural physical capability to cope with the increasing ...complexity and challenges in this industry. Over long periods of time, this sustained physical labor causes bodily injuries to the workers which in turn, conveys huge losses to the industry in terms of money, time, and productivity. Various safety and health organizations have established rules and regulations that limit the amount and intensity of workers' physical movements to mitigate work-related bodily injuries. A precursor to enforcing and implementing such regulations and improving the ergonomics conditions on the jobsite is to identify physical risks associated with a particular task. Manually assessing a field activity to identify the ergonomic risks is not trivial and often requires extra effort which may render it to be challenging if not impossible. In this paper, a low-cost ubiquitous approach is presented and validated which deploys built-in smartphone sensors to unobtrusively monitor workers’ bodily postures and autonomously identify potential work-related ergonomic risks. Results indicates that measurements of trunk and shoulder flexions of a worker by smartphone sensory data are very close to corresponding measurements by observation. The proposed method is applicable for workers in various occupations who are exposed to WMSDs due to awkward postures. Examples include, but are not limited to industry laborers, carpenters, welders, farmers, health assistants, teachers, and office workers.
•Construction ergonomics can be improved by collecting data at the source level.•Data collection is often intrusive, imprecise, and can cause work interruptions.•In this research, a wearable sensor-based data collection technique was designed.•Data from smartphone sensors were used to unobtrusively analyze body postures.•Designed methods were validated and results were used to assess the ergonomic risk.
Occupational exoskeletons (EXOs) provide the opportunity to reduce fatigue and physical demands, however little is known about adoption and use of such technologies especially among varying company ...sizes and especially small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Ten focus groups (including seven SMEs) were held across the state of Ohio, with participants representing line employees, management, and safety. Employees tried on a variety of EXOs and then participated in discussions focusing on the adoption and use of this new technology at their site. Consistent comments were obtained regarding donning, fitting, dissemination, and use strategies; space constraints related to EXO “footprints”; and potential undesirable impacts of EXO use. Major concerns expressed by participants were task-specific, and were related to costs and work conditions (e.g., humidity, temperature, dust). Overall, individuals from larger companies and diverse SMEs expressed a strong interest in how EXOs could help employees with repetitive tasks that were often difficult to modify or eliminate. Many concerns still exist, though, regarding specific benefits and costs, how to develop training programs on EXO use, and understanding potential adverse effects of EXO use. Findings from this study help capture the perspectives of diverse enterprises toward adopting and using occupational EXOs to reduce the risk of injury.
•Focus groups used to assess adoption potential of occupational exoskeletons (EXOs).•Manufacturing enterprises shared diverse benefits of and barriers to adopting EXOs.•Major benefits related to work tasks difficult to modify or eliminate.•Major concerns included fit, comfort, cost, work conditions, and training needs.•Further evidence is needed on potential adverse effects of EXOs.
This study was conducted to examine the effect of a posture correction–based intervention (with a biofeedback device) on the occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS) and fatigue among control ...room operators in a petrochemical plant in Iran. A total of 188 office workers (91 in the case group and 97 in the control group) participated at baseline as well as at 6- and 12-month follow-up. A questionnaire survey (including the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory) and direct observations of working postures by using the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) method were used. The occurrence of MSS in the shoulders, upper back, neck, and low back areas, as well as the mental and physical dimensions of fatigue were found to be the most common problems. The results showed considerable improvements in working postures (in the neck, trunk, and RULA grand scores) and the occurrence of MSS (particularly in the neck, shoulders, and upper back and low back areas) and fatigue (in particular the mental and physical aspects) after the intervention. The overall mean RULA grand score for the case group was significantly decreased after the intervention (mean scores of 5.1, 4.4, and 4.6 at pre-intervention, post-intervention 1, and post-intervention 2, respectively). A total of 81 operators (89.0%) reported some kind of MSS at baseline, which were reduced to 75 operators (82.4%) and 77 operators (84.6%) at post-interventions 1 and 2, respectively. Significant differences were also found between the pre- and post-intervention scores for the physical fatigue (mean of 12.19, 10.16, and 9.99 at pre-intervention, post-intervention 1, and post-intervention 2, respectively) and mental fatigue (mean of 14.03, 12.05, and 12.16 at pre-intervention, post-intervention 1, and post-intervention 2, respectively) dimensions. The findings confirm the effectiveness of this low-cost, simple, and easy-to-use ergonomic intervention.
•Musculoskeletal symptoms and fatigue were common among control room operators.•Working postures (neck, trunk and RULA grand scores) improved after the intervention.•Neck, shoulder, upper back and low back symptoms decreased after the intervention.•Fatigue (particularly the mental and physical aspects) decreased after the intervention.
Para los lectores que aún no han tenido la oportunidad de leer la primera parte de dicha colección en el número anterior, recordamos que la originalidad de este proyecto resulta de la publicación del ...conjunto de los textos del simposio "Ergonomics work analysis and training (EWAT)". Ergonomic analysis of work activity and training: basic paradigm, evolutions and challenges. In, R. Pikaar, E. Koningsveld, and P. Settels, (eds.), Meeting diversity in ergonomics (129-142), Amsterdam and Boston: Elsevier. (https://www.elsevier.com/books/meeting-diversity-in-ergonomics/pikaar/978-0-08-045373-6). -
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Participatory ergonomic (PE) interventions may vary in implementation. A systematic review was done to determine the evidence regarding context, barriers and facilitators to the implementation of ...participatory ergonomic interventions in workplaces. In total, 17 electronic databases were searched. Data on PE process and implementation were extracted from documents meeting content and quality criteria and synthesised. The search yielded 2151 references. Of these, 190 documents were relevant and 52 met content and quality criteria. Different ergonomic teams were described in the documents as were the type, duration and content of ergonomic training. PE interventions tended to focus on physical and work process changes and report positive impacts. Resources, programme support, ergonomic training, organisational training and communication were the most often noted facilitators or barriers. Successful PE interventions require the right people to be involved, appropriate ergonomic training and clear responsibilities. Addressing key facilitators and barriers such as programme support, resources, and communication is paramount.
Statement of Relevance: A recent systematic review has suggested that PE has some effect on reducing symptoms, lost days of work and claims. Systematic reviews of effectiveness provide practitioners with the desire to implement but do not provide clear information about how. This article reviews the literature on process and implementation of PE.
In this paper, we analyse two approaches that attempt to address how a human factors and ergonomics (HFE) perspective can contribute to the sustainability of the human race. We outline the ...principles, purposes and fields of application of ergoecology and green ergonomics, and thereafter deal with their context of emergence, and the overlaps in purpose, and principles. Shared values are deduced and related to socio-technical principles for systems' design. Social responsibility and environmental/ecospheric responsibility are the leading threads of ergoecology and green ergonomics, giving rise to the values of: respect for human rights, respect for the Earth, respect for ethical decision-making, appreciation of complexity, respect for transparency and openness, and respect for diversity. We discuss the consequences of considering these values in HFE theory and practice.
Practitioner summary: Through the analysis of ergoecology and green ergonomics, this qualitative interpretative study presents the importance of values in the shift towards sustainability from a human factors and ergonomics perspective, contributing to the design of more sustainable socio-technical systems and HFE practices.
The recent availability of the Kinect™ sensor, a low-cost Markerless Motion Capture (MMC) system, could give new and interesting insights into ergonomics (e.g. the creation of a morphological ...database). Extensive validation of this system is still missing. The aim of the study was to determine if the Kinect™ sensor can be used as an easy, cheap and fast tool to conduct morphology estimation. A total of 48 subjects were analysed using MMC. Results were compared with measurements obtained from a high-resolution stereophotogrammetric system, a marker-based system (MBS). Differences between MMC and MBS were found; however, these differences were systematically correlated and enabled regression equations to be obtained to correct MMC results. After correction, final results were in agreement with MBS data (p = 0.99). Results show that measurements were reproducible and precise after applying regression equations. Kinect™ sensors-based systems therefore seem to be suitable for use as fast and reliable tools to estimate morphology.
Practitioner Summary: The Kinect™ sensor could eventually be used for fast morphology estimation as a body scanner. This paper presents an extensive validation of this device for anthropometric measurements in comparison to manual measurements and stereophotogrammetric devices. The accuracy is dependent on the segment studied but the reproducibility is excellent.
Objective:
Motivation is a driving force in human–technology interaction. This paper represents an effort to (a) describe a theoretical model of motivation in human technology interaction, (b) ...provide design principles and guidelines based on this theory, and (c) describe a sequence of steps for the evaluation of motivational factors in human–technology interaction.
Background:
Motivation theory has been relatively neglected in human factors/ergonomics (HF/E). In both research and practice, the (implicit) assumption has been that the operator is already motivated or that motivation is an organizational concern and beyond the purview of HF/E. However, technology can induce task-related boredom (e.g., automation) that can be stressful and also increase system vulnerability to performance failures.
Method:
A theoretical model of motivation in human–technology interaction is proposed, based on extension of the self-determination theory of motivation to HF/E. This model provides the basis for both future research and for development of practical recommendations for design.
Results:
General principles and guidelines for motivational design are described as well as a sequence of steps for the design process.
Conclusion:
Human motivation is an important concern for HF/E research and practice. Procedures in the design of both simple and complex technologies can, and should, include the evaluation of motivational characteristics of the task, interface, or system. In addition, researchers should investigate these factors in specific human–technology domains.
Application:
The theory, principles, and guidelines described here can be incorporated into existing techniques for task analysis and for interface and system design.
Most authors have provided diameter recommendations for cylindrical handle design in order to increase performance, avoid discomfort, and reduce the risk of cumulative trauma disorders. None of the ...studies has investigated the importance of determining the correct handle shape on the subjective comfort ratings, which could further improve the handles' ergonomics. Therefore, new methods based on a virtual hand model in its optimal power grasp posture have been developed in order to obtain customised handles with best fits for targeted subjects. Cylindrical and anatomically shaped handles were evaluated covering ten subjects by means of an extensive subjective comfort questionnaire. The results suggest large impact of the handle shape on the perceived subjective comfort ratings. Anatomically shaped handles were rated as being considerably more comfortable than cylindrical handles for almost all the subjective comfort predictors. They showed that handle shapes based on optimal power grasp postures can improve subjective comfort ratings, thus maximising performance. Future research should consider real conditions, since the comfort ratings can vary based on the specific task and by the tool selected for the task.
•Anatomically shaped handle based on the hand shape in an optimal power grasp posture.•Comparison between anatomically shaped tool handle and optimal cylindrical handle.•Anatomically shaped handle provides higher comfort ratings than cylindrical handle.•Handle shape has significant impact on user subjective comfort rating.
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