International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics RSS feedThis is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Feasibility of methods for early formative control room system evaluation
Publication date: January 2020Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 75Author(s): Eva Simonsen, Lars-Ola Bligård, Anna-Lisa OsvalderAbstractIn a nuclear power plant, human factors evaluation is an important activity in the design of the control room system to ensure safe operation. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of methods for early formative evaluation of nuclear power plant control room systems, that is to say assessment of more general design decisions. Two methods were chosen for the assessment, scenario-based talkthrough and heuristic evaluation, and they were tested in ...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - December 5, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Shoulder muscle activity in off-axis pushing and pulling tasks
Publication date: January 2020Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 75Author(s): Alison C. McDonald, Carmen Tsang, Kimberly A. Meszaros, Clark R. DickersonAbstractWorkspace design can often dictate the muscular efforts required to perform work, impacting injury risk. Within many environments, industrial workers often use sub-maximal forces in offset directions in to accomplish job tasks. The purpose of this research was to develop methods to estimate shoulder muscle activation during seated, static, sub-maximal exertions in off-axis (non-cardinal) directions. Surface EMG signals were recorded from ...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - December 4, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

An approach to human motor skill training for uniform group performance
This study introduces a new approach to support assignment of training protocols to operators to achieve comparable levels of motor performance. Thirty-six participants performed a computer-based motor test. Based on performance classification results, each participant was assigned to a specific haptic virtual reality training condition. Results revealed participants identified as ‘medium’ or ‘low’ performers achieved levels of motor performance comparable to ‘high’ performers through 1-h training.Relevance to IndustryFindings can be applied to operator training in manual assembly operations, promoting a group ...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - December 4, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Editorial Board
Publication date: November 2019Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 74Author(s): (Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics)
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 29, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Mobile pupillometry in manual assembly: A pilot study exploring the wearability and external validity of a renowned mental workload lab measure
Publication date: January 2020Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 75Author(s): Bram B. Van Acker, Klaas Bombeke, Wouter Durnez, Davy D. Parmentier, João Costa Mateus, Alessandro Biondi, Jelle Saldien, Peter VlerickAbstractHuman operators in the upcoming Industry 4.0 workplace will face accelerating job demands such as elevated cognitive complexity. Unobtrusive objective measures of mental workload (MWL) are therefore in high demand as indicated by both theory and practice. This pilot study explored the wearability and external validity of pupillometry, a MWL measure robustly validated in laborat...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 29, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Prediction of work-related musculoskeletal discomfort in the meat processing industry using statistical models
The objective of this study was the development of statistical models for the prediction of work-related musculoskeletal discomfort. A sample of 174 workers of the meat processing industry was taken. Diverse ergonomic evaluation methods were applied on data collected by means of direct observation and surveys. Later, pattern recognition techniques were used to identify the relevant predictor variables from an initial set of 20 variables. A prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort of 77% was found. The most suitable classification models to predict the discomfort were the models based on logistic regression and decision tre...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 26, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Relative Pointing Interface: A gesture interaction method based on the ability to divide space
Publication date: January 2020Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 75Author(s): Mingyu Lee, Jiyoung Kwahk, Sung H. Han, Hojin LeeA new type of 3D gesture interface called Relative Pointing Interface (RelPoInt) is suggested in this study. RelPoInt allows users to select a virtual button by pointing to a relative position in a virtual 3D menu. This approach makes use of the distance or angle between the relative point and the reference point. Users can set the reference point freely and operate all the functions on the menu with a simple gesture. Microsoft Kinect was used to implement the RelPoInt i...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 26, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Are knee savers and knee pads a viable intervention to reduce lower extremity musculoskeletal disorder risk in residential roofers?
This study has provided initial data that supports the use of knee savers as a potential intervention to reduce musculoskeletal disorder risk due to lower extremity joint angles on a sloped surface, nonetheless, further testing involving other musculoskeletal disorder risk factors is needed prior to a conclusive recommendation. (Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics)
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 19, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

The role of whole-body vibration in back pain: A cross-sectional study with agricultural pilots
ConclusionUsing the data from this study, it was possible to calculate the odds ratio of the agricultural pilot suffering low back pain, based on eight personal and work-related factors.Relevance for the industryBased on the results of the present study, it was possible to define strategies to reduce whole-body exposure in agricultural aircraft and, consequently, improve the pilots’ health. Strategies included management of the exposure and aircraft improvement.Graphical abstract (Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics)
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 16, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Ergonomic design visualization mapping- developing an assistive model for design activities
Publication date: November 2019Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 74Author(s): Ranit Eldar, Dafna Fisher-GewirtzmanAbstractErgonomic models and techniques are a fundamental issue in the design of comfortable and safe products and spaces. User studies, related to visualization tools are current issues in the ergonomics and design visualization literature. But researchers have begun to discover that user study is rarely straightforward, especially when drawing visualization data from interdisciplinary sources. The availability of a plethora of visualization techniques can make it difficult to dete...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 16, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Risk factors analysis: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among male traffic policemen using high-powered motorcycles
DiscussionThe majority of riders reported symptoms of WMSDs within the past 12 months. Riding duration, years of service, and hand-arm vibration (HAV) were found to be the most important risk factors for WMSDs in this rider group. The results highlight that in the context of ergonomic interaction, high-powered motorcycles and the police riders are not a good fit. Hence, further study is needed to improve the safety and health of the police riders. (Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics)
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 16, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Selection of key visual cues in real and virtual environments for assembly tasks
Publication date: November 2019Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 74Author(s): Salvador Rojas-Murillo, Priyadarshini R. PennathurAbstractPrevious research identified that learning assembly tasks in Virtual Environments (VEs) is more difficult than in Real Environments (REs). This work's objective is to identify the key visual areas for both environments when performing an assembly task for ten consecutive cycles, when following visual instructions and when having visual distractors. Using an eye-tracker, we identified the key visual areas required for an assembly task in both environments. Resul...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 16, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Evaluation of holding handheld scanner on muscle activity, heart rate variability, and model accuracy in industrial applications
Publication date: November 2019Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 74Author(s): Mohamed Z. Ramadan, Mustafa M. Nasr, Abdulmajeed A. Dabwan, Tamer M. Khalaf, Mohammed H. Alhaag, Ahmed T. Soliman, Abdelaty E. AbdelgawadAbstractPurposeThe capabilities of handheld scanners have been investigated previously in different applications, without considering its impact on the accuracy of model, heart rate variability (HRV), subjective measurements, and worker muscular activity. The present study aims to evaluate the impact of using two handheld scanners, elevation, and orientation of object that is scanned...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 15, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

Safety climate and health complaints in the Norwegian aquaculture industry
Publication date: November 2019Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 74Author(s): Trond Kongsvik, Øyvind Dahl, Ingunn Marie Holmen, Trine ThorvaldsenAbstractFew studies have explored the potential connection between safety climate and health issues. However, some recent research findings indicate that a poor safety climate can be considered a stressor that may be associated with physical symptoms and musculoskeletal complaints. This link is further explored in the present study on the basis of a questionnaire study of 446 sharp-end workers in the Norwegian aquaculture industry. The analysis reveal...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 14, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research

In-ear noise dosimetry under earplug: Method to exclude wearer-induced disturbances
Publication date: November 2019Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, Volume 74Author(s): Fabien Bonnet, Hugues Nélisse, Marcos A.C. Nogarolli, Jérémie VoixAbstractWhile personal noise exposure assessments are necessary to prevent noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace, standard personal noise dosimeters are limited when measuring the noise exposure of individuals wearing hearing protection devices (HPD). To overcome the difficulties in assessing the attenuation provided by HPDs, continuous monitoring systems of an individual's noise exposure under the HPD show promise. However, these systems can b...
Source: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics - November 12, 2019 Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research