This study aimed to assess fatigue among onshore oil rig shift workers in a petroleum company working in swing shifts. The work schedule consisted of 12 h of night shifts for one week followed by 12 h of day shifts for one week. Fatigue was assessed using both subjective and objective measurements which were visual analogue fatigue scale (VAFS) and simple reaction time (SRT) test, respectively. A total

The visual ability factors of peripheral perception, visual reaction and visual pursuit ability are important for safe driving. Thus, this study explored the influence of driving experience on these visual ability factors. Sixty-five drivers, including novice and experienced drivers, participated in this study. The visual ability levels of the three factors were measured by the Vienna Test System.

Research investigating lumbosacral corset designs and their effects are limited and conflicting. The objective was to compare thoraco-lumbo-sacral support corsets (polyester/nylon: TLSSC-poly and neoprene: TLSSC-neo) with a traditional model (TRAD) and Control. Twenty male, university-aged, healthy, recreationally active, participants performed Biering-Sorensen back endurance (BS) test and box lifting

The human discomfort from combined noise and vibration has been investigated with a new perspective. The concept in perturbation effect has been adopted to formulate a new novel predictive model of human discomfort from noise and vibration. A psycho-physics experiment has been designed to identify the perturbation effect which caused by noise stimulus. The experiment involved twelve (12) subjects.

This study was designed to investigate gait parameters upon crossing a barrier and environmental factors influencing the perceived risk of tripping. These factors included illumination and barrier conditions. Barrier conditions were divided into height, type, and color of the barrier. Illumination conditions included normal and dimmed conditions. Twelve male participants were recruited. They walked

This study compared three representative observational methods for assessing musculoskeletal loadings: Ovako Working Posture Analysis System (OWAS), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). The comparison was based on 209 cases of upper-body musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) diagnosed by medical doctors. The most awkward/stressful posture in each participant's tasks

Dimensional incompatibility between rider and motorcycle is one of the most causative factors responsible for the prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort among motorcyclists. The present study aims to identify the comfortable riding posture (CRP) and optimum riding position (ORP) for improving motorcycle design for better riding experience. The data (through image processing technique) was acquired

Hot and humid working environments exist in civil engineering, exploration, shipping, and so on. Especially in mines and textile workplaces, the air humidity is usually close to saturation. Frontline workers perform physically demanding work, which will make the body sweat greatly and increase the occurrence of heat-related illnesses. The microenvironment under clothing can be improved by a ventilation

Routine inspection by insurance companies at their clients’ facility, also known as loss prevention survey, help identify the best strategies to minimize damages when there is a high-speed wind event. More specifically, wind vulnerabilities associated with a building are evaluated using a process known as windstorm risk inspection. This routine inspection helps clients reduce the extent of damages

Approximately 2.4 million janitors work in the United States. High physical workload may explain a lost-work days rate 2.7 times that of other occupations. Information is limited about non-physical workload factors for janitors and their relations to injuries. For this retrospective cross-sectional study, specially designed, pre-tested questionnaires were distributed to full-time janitor members of

Logistics and operations managers are always evaluating ways to improve their order picking operations. While there are numerous picking studies, currently there is a void in research focused on improving productivity and efficiency for putting-type warehousing tasks such as receiving, storing, and shipping. Studies have shown that the logistics industry demonstrates significant improvement when using

With the advent of future vehicles, passengers expect to travel in comfort, and the free leg space between facing-seats could be an issue due to the unsuitability for all people, according to their anthropometric variability. A previous investigation survey showed the need to increase the leg-space between facing seats and, if installed, to improve the surface of the table placed in between. So, four

Recently, many companies have increasingly emphasized product appearance aesthetics and emotional preference-based design to enhance the competitiveness and popularity of their products. Identifying the interaction between product appearance and customer preferences and mining design information from the interacting context play essential roles in affect-related design approaches. However, due to the

Prolonged use of the smartphone for texting was studied on a sample of 17 healthy young adult participants (11 females), who were asked to type interactively on a handheld device while standing and sitting. Upper body kinematics ad upper trapezius surface EMG were recorded to capture parameters of joint kinematics and muscular activity, which were then compared with self-reported indicators of discomfort

Because the oceanaut plays a significant role in safety and capability during manned deep-diving scientific tasks, preventing oceanaut performance decline is of paramount importance. However, the factors responsible for oceanaut performance are almost entirely unexplored. To address the preceding issues, a quantitative method of fuzzy integrated Bayesian network (FIBN) was modeled within the limits

Ladder handling by telecommunications technicians represents an indispensable part of their daily work, but may generate musculoskeletal injury risk. These workers have a high prevalence of shoulder and back injuries, motivating research to quantify postures and loading using different ladders during common handling tasks. Twenty-five participants completed carry, raise (against a wall or free standing)

Workload is a critical factor influencing team performance in complex systems. There remains no consensus on the selection of team workload measures. Through an experiment based on simulated maritime operation tasks, team workload was manipulated by time pressure and scenario complexity to investigate the responses of three categories (subjective, performance-based, and physiological) of potential

Workers engaged in repetitive manual material handling (MMH) generally suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), particularly in the arms, shoulders, neck, and waist; this significantly limits the individual's strength and ability to work. Currently, research on upper-limb injuries affecting manufacturing workers focusses on the effect of different working conditions on specific muscle

The paper aims primarily to study the sensitivity of Rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) and identification of insensitive and sensitive posture zones. The sensitivity analysis of RULA along with the ordinal regression analysis offer deeper insights into the methodology used for the assessment of posture. Full factorial design was divided into parts using a forward approach to access the sensitivity

Working conditions of 20 Swedish pig transport drivers (PTD) were assessed by a questionnaire, a workshop, and recorded postures and movements during on-farm loading, driving, unloading at abattoir and vehicle cleaning. High arm positions and high frequencies of shoulder problems indicated an excessive physical load on shoulders. Extreme crouching postures inside vehicles and high frequencies of lower

This study explored if an individual's aiming ability can be used to predict his or her overall performance in a precision assembly task. A tablet aiming test was developed. Ten participants in the Pilot group was asked to do both the tablet aiming test and the simulated assembly task to determine the number of trials that were required for participants to get familiar with each operation. Thirty participants

Arising out of the challenge for Local Authorities (LAs) to operate sustainable systems of work, is to avoid the creation of ill-health including the most significant causes of physical absence, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The study's aim was to compare the reliability of the manual handling element of the Health and Safety Executives (HSEs) risk comparator tool for different domestic waste collection

Infancy is a developmental stage in an individual's life. As an important part of infant development, sleep greatly influences the physiological and mental development of infants, and the health and comfort of infant sleep is a major public concern. From the viewpoint of ergonomics, this study investigated the effects of mattress firmness on the body pressure distribution of infants aged 0–3 years

The current systematic review aimed to summarize prevalence rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) and quantify the associations between physical or psychosocial risk factors and WRMSDs in construction workers. Literature searches were conducted in Web of Science, PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, and EMBASE from January 1, 2000 to September 30, 2020. The methodological quality of the included

A three-compartment controller model (3CC) predicts muscle fatigue development. Determination of fatigue (F) and recovery (R) model parameters is critical for model accuracy. Numerical methods can be used to determine parameter values using maximum voluntary contractions (MVCs) as input. We tested the effects of using reduced MVC data on parameter solutions using twenty published datasets of intermittent

Repetitive flexion of the lumbar spine during labour may have an impact on the development of low back pain, but current evidence is sparse. This study focuses on the effect of palletising on the lumbar spine's passive mechanics (flexion characteristics). As other passive structures begin to creep from long-term loading, changes in lumbar passive flexion characteristics have been hypothesised. The

Quarry workers are at high risk of developing musculoskeletal complaints. The aim of this study was to evaluate the working postures and prevalence of musculoskeletal problems among quarry workers. In this cross-sectional study 78 male quarry workers were assessed using the method of Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), and musculoskeletal complaints data were obtained by the Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal

This study considers the effect of bright and shade, and luminance difference of defects on defect detection in appearance inspection utilizing peripheral vision experimentally. Specifically, bright and shade of defect, luminance difference of defect, surface luminance of defect (evaluation index of the difficulty of defect detection, which was proposed in the previous study), and location of defect

Occupational exposure associated with unstructured, informal e-waste recycling has received very limited attention. This study aimed to quantify the occupational physical exposures among informal e-waste workers at the largest e-waste site in Africa. A cross-sectional field survey of 163 male e-waste workers was conducted using a self-report occupational physical activity questionnaire, along with

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

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of display type, reading content, and background music on accuracy, change of critical fusion frequency (CFF) and subjective visual fatigue while performing a reading comprehension task on mass rapid transit (MRT). Thirty-two participants were recruited in a three-way mixed factorial experiment to investigate the influence of three types of display

This paper aims to compare and contrast the perceived psychological experience of the traditional versus gig mobility service workers with respect to their human needs structure. Gig mobility service here refers to on-demand transportation service enabled by an online platform. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. Using the perspective of ERG (Existence, Relatedness and Growth)

The purposes of this study are to classify body types of Korean women in their twenties and thirties for the creation of the 3D avatars and to propose the representative body size of each body type by analyzing the body size of Korean women in their twenties and thirties, to propose a 3D avatar modeling process design that reflects the body shapes of Korean women in their twenties and thirties, and

Holding an asymmetrical load, like a rucksack, grocery bag, or travel backpack, is a part of daily and occupational activities. This pilot study was aimed to determine the effects of light, asymmetrical, handheld load on the body posture and foot pressure distribution in young adults. Thirteen young volunteers, free of any injury or pain, took part in the study (aged 21.53 ± 1.10 years). All the study

This paper sets new criteria to improve windows design strategies using participatory ergonomics and the grounded theory method. Focus groups are used to investigate participants' reactions and discussions about the visual stimuli and their deduction in terms of further employment of specific window design techniques or uses. Results framework is established through the relevance of the relationship

This study examined the influences of schoolbag carrying modes combined with carrying weights on the body posture alterations, muscle activations, and subjective discomfort scores of participants. Twelve male university students were recruited as participants and executed nine test combinations of three carrying methods (2-strap backpack, 1-strap side backpack, and 1-strap crossbody carrying) generally

Neck-shoulder and upper back musculoskeletal symptoms in smartphone users have gained increasing attention. We evaluated trapezius muscle activity and fatigue using an objective method (surface electromyography, sEMG), and discomfort using a subjective method (questionnaire), in smartphone users during the performance of different text-entry tasks. Fifteen participants were recruited to perform six

Through an ergonomic approach, this study aimed to evaluate whether workers involved in forest harvesting activities in rural properties are subject to the development of work-related diseases, as well as their consequences. A cross-sectional study with 267 forest workers in rural properties in the Brazilian Central region was used. The following evaluations were performed for each of the activities

The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in healthcare professionals is high, patient handling tasks being one of the main causes. This article focused on the analysis of the risk of musculoskeletal disorders in patient handling tasks, performed by emergency medical technicians. The study included 20 technicians from the National Institute of Medical Emergency and a total of 292 analysed postures

We propose a simple method to measure a driver's fatigue state by detecting the driver's grip force on the steering wheel while driving. We tested the grip force of 36 drivers on the steering wheel in conscious states (Alert) and fatigue states under actual road driving conditions. Using the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS), we divided drivers into Alert Group A, fatigue Group A, and fatigue Group B

Due to safety requirements for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), industrial robots have to meet high standards of safety requirements (ISO 10218). However, even if robots are incapable of causing serious physical harm, they still may influence people's mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as their trust, behaviour and performance in close collaboration. This work uses an HTC Vive Virtual Reality headset

In product handle ergonomic design optimisation researchers focused mainly on the size and shape of the handles; however, interface handle materials have been neglected despite showing potential to improve ergonomics. Deformable elastic cellular meta-materials with pre-engineered mechanical response based on the biomechanical evaluation of human hand soft tissue during grasping were designed and manufactured

Occupations that involve prolonged periods of standing and maintaining an upright posture are associated with an increased risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD), particularly of the lower back and lower extremities. Identifying factors that impact WMSD is therefore important, but the foot and footwear have been largely ignored to date. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence

In India, the manual brick making process is physical demanding jobs where millions of workers earn their livelihood. The study attempts to improve the organization of the work in brick manufacturing units and makes operations for the betterment and enhances its productivity. Observation studies and posture analysis were performed among them by the OWAS method. A detailed plan and time study were done

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) have a high impact on the health of dual role workers (student and work). The aim of this study was to analyse risk factor (active pauses and job position) associated with MSD in postgraduate students, Bogotá 2016. This Cross-sectional study was conducted in a random sample of 304 college graduate students and statistical analysis in SPSS version 24. We found that significant

The study objectives include: 1) to identify the visual key areas and the learning curves when learning the ASL alphabet, 2) to identify the impact of practice on key visual areas, and 3) to identify differences in visual learning curves between signs. An empirical behavioral study with twenty ASL untrained hearing participants performing the ASL alphabet for eight consecutive trials using virtual

The performance shaping factors (PSFs) of the standardized plant analysis of risk-human reliability analysis (SPAR-H) method are unclearly defined, which contributes to the uncertainty of human reliability analysis (HRA) in nuclear power plants (NPPs). This work proposes an expert-based modification approach for redefining the PSFs based on four criteria in terms of less overlap, hierarchy, flexibility

Background Agricultural pilots fly inside rural areas, usually, in runways without proper maintenance. Neglected runway maintenance contributes to increased exposure to shocks and vibrations. On the other hand, during cruise and spraying, the pilot is not exposed to the effect of the runway surface, and thus the exposure may be different. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the factors

Civil aircraft cabin comfort is a significant consideration for travelers when selecting an airline. Based on questionnaires, this study developed an assessment method that identified the indicators of cabin-comfort dissatisfaction and determined the degrees of dissatisfaction. Questionnaires were distributed to passengers traveling on Chinese airlines, and the data were processed using an assessment

Previous literature reported that Participatory Design (PD) results in satisfying products and presents other subjective benefits. PD implies an active involvement of users during all steps of the design process, including during concepts specification (contrary to user-centered design, UCD). This study compared the usability and acceptance of truck dashboards resulting either from a PD or from a UCD

Work shoe soles are a useful tool for decreasing the amplitude of vibration transmissibility to the human body for subjects exposed to foot-transmitted vibration (FTV) in the workplace. The main objective of this paper is to identify the viscoelastic safe area of work shoe soles in the sitting posture using a biomechanical model. To identify the model parameters, twelve young males participated in

Introduction Playing an instrument could lead to various disorders and several musicians report problems during their career. As there is no existing one, the aim of this study was to build a comprehensive model of injury prevention and risk factors in musicians by combining literature with interviews of musicians and experts. Methods The initial model has been based on literature. This model identified

Assembly workers using handheld powered tightening tools are repetitively subjected to reaction loads resulting from the tool handle. Despite the vast amount of research, tool manufacturers and OSH practitioners still lack well-grounded recommendations and benchmarks for ergonomics evaluations of reaction loads. This review provides an overview of research investigating reaction loads and operator

Progress indicators act as a status indicator for the visual response process, which in turn has a significant impact on human-computer interaction. We often see ring type and bar type progress indicators in our daily life, but how does one choose the appropriately shaped design? This study uses two experiments to answer the above question, with the aim of maximizing the quality of the user experience

Medical gloves have a direct effect on the safety of clinical staff and patients as well as optimal performance. Thus, it is necessary to identify the quantitative impact of gloves on hand performance indicators. This study aimed to investigate the effect of medical gloves on manual performance. This study was conducted on 40 hospital clinical staff. The participants’ dexterity, tactile sensitivity

Fault diagnosis is a key process in ensuring complex engineering system safety. It often requires collaborative and multidisciplinary efforts. This study seeks to understand the process of multidisciplinary fault diagnosis in complex engineering systems and the key human factors issues that impair this process. Data were collected from multidisciplinary diagnostic activities conducted in the commissioning

Forest vehicle operators are occupationally exposed to combined hazards such as noise, whole-body vibration(WBV), adverse microclimate, and carbon monoxide. Such combined exposures may not only increase the risk of accidents but they may also have some synergized effects on the developments of major occupational diseases of the workers, which have been among the major concerns of the occupational safety

Glass artware manufacturing activities are highly repetitive, labor-intensive, and demand prolonged standing during the working shift. This leads to the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) symptoms among the workers. However, there is a scarce of study on the prevalence of MSDs symptoms and their associated risk factors among the glass artware workers. To address this research gap, this