Panel Discussion In Honor of Dr Tom Waters The NIOSH Lifting Equation - Part I

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 961-962
Author(s):  
Robert R. Fox ◽  
Wayne S. Maynard ◽  
Jay M. Kapellusch ◽  
W. Gary Allread ◽  
Jim Potvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Panel Discussion ◽  
Work Force ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Manual Lifting ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Industrial Systems ◽  
Exposure Response ◽  
Job Assessment ◽  
Working Populations ◽  
Niosh Lifting Equation

The NIOSH Lifting Equation, specifically the 1991 Revised Lifting Equation or RLE (Waters et al., 1993) is used worldwide by occupational ergonomists, industrial engineers and safety specialists to assess and (re)design manual lifting tasks and industrial systems that involve either single or repetitive lifting. Since the initial publication of the RLE, there have been a number of published studies on its usability, effectiveness and validation. The purpose of this panel discussion will be to critically review these RLE-related studies and examine implications of applying the RLE in various occupational settings and working populations. The first of four presentations will summarize recent epidemiological studies that have quantified exposure-response relationships between the RLE and incidence of low-back pain-related care and medication use issues, and discuss the RLE implications for job surveillance, intervention, and design approaches. The second presentation discusses practical relevance of the RLE and issues surrounding its sensitivity and specificity in correctly identifying hazardous lifting tasks. The third presentation will critically examine the conservativeness of the recommended weight limit derived from RLE by comparing the output of the RLE with the output from the specific biomechanical, psychophysical and physiological criteria utilized in its initial development of the lifting equation. Although application of the RLE has exponentially grown since its inception, the final presentation explores its feasibility in applying it to a non-US work force. The primary audience for this session will be occupational ergonomists who utilize the NIOSH equation for job assessment and (re)design, although the discussion should be of interest to researchers as well. The overall goal of this Part 1 symposium is to provide RLE users with some practical suggestions and recommendations.

Panel Discussion In Honor of Dr Tom Waters The NIOSH Lifting Equation - Part II

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 963-964
Author(s):  
Robert R. Fox ◽  
Rammohan V. Maikala ◽  
Enrico Occhipinti ◽  
Daniela Colombini ◽  
Enrique Alvarez-Casado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Failure Process ◽  
Panel Discussion ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Patient Handling ◽  
Manual Lifting ◽  
Materials Handling ◽  
Lift Index ◽  
Frictional Surfaces ◽  
Niosh Lifting Equation

With the introduction of the NIOSH Lifting Equation, specifically after the publication of the Revised Lifting Equation (RLE) (Waters et al., 1993), occupational health and safety professionals across the world have successfully utilized the RLE to evaluate the risks associated with lifting and lowering tasks in the workplace. Although the RLE takes into consideration of various job task variables to determine recommended weight limits for a variety of task combinations, a number of articles and peer reviewed publications have appeared with a notion of either extending or modifying the RLE to address manual handling situations that the original equation was not able to assess comprehensively. The purpose of this panel discussion will be to provide an overview to ergonomics practitioners and researchers of these extensions and beyond, thus exploiting the full potential of this lifting equation. The first presentation will discuss the Variable Lift Index (VLI) for highly variable manual lifting tasks, whereas the second presentation describes the Sequential Lift Index (SLI) in assessing a sequence of lifting tasks that workers perform while they rotate to different tasks over a workday. In addition to the inherent variability in lifting tasks assumed by the RLE, we often encounter materials handling scenarios associated with one-handed lifting, team lifting, lifting of people (e.g., patient handling), lifting while seated or kneeling, lifting on improper frictional surfaces, lifting unstable loads, or lifting for more than 8 hours. To this effect, the third presentation examines the wider application of the RLE by adding new multipliers to the equation. Extending further on quantifying typical lifting task-related variables and associated risk on the lower back, the final presentation explores the fatigue failure process experienced by the lumbar spine when performing multiple and varied lifting tasks. This innovative approach is nascent in ergonomics literature, especially in ergonomics risk assessment, and has great potential in injury prevention at the workplace.

scholarly journals The Effect of Random Error in Exposure Measurement upon the Shape of the Exposure Response

Dose-Response ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. dose-response.0 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenny S. Crump
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Error ◽  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Random Errors ◽  
Exposure Measurement ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Exposure Response ◽  
Log Normal ◽  
Normally Distributed

Although statistical analyses of epidemiological data usually treat the exposure variable as being known without error, estimated exposures in epidemiological studies often involve considerable uncertainty. This paper investigates the theoretical effect of random errors in exposure measurement upon the observed shape of the exposure response. The model utilized assumes that true exposures are log-normally distributed, and multiplicative measurement errors are also log-normally distributed and independent of the true exposures. Under these conditions it is shown that whenever the true exposure response is proportional to exposure to a power r, the observed exposure response is proportional to exposure to a power K, where K < r. This implies that the observed exposure response exaggerates risk, and by arbitrarily large amounts, at sufficiently small exposures. It also follows that a truly linear exposure response will appear to be supra-linear—i.e., a linear function of exposure raised to the K-th power, where K is less than 1.0. These conclusions hold generally under the stated log-normal assumptions whenever there is any amount of measurement error, including, in particular, when the measurement error is unbiased either in the natural or log scales. Equations are provided that express the observed exposure response in terms of the parameters of the underlying log-normal distribution. A limited investigation suggests that these conclusions do not depend upon the log-normal assumptions, but hold more widely. Because of this problem, in addition to other problems in exposure measurement, shapes of exposure responses derived empirically from epidemiological data should be treated very cautiously. In particular, one should be cautious in concluding that the true exposure response is supra-linear on the basis of an observed supra-linear form.

The Fabric of Control: Slavery in Antebellum Southern Textile Mills

1981 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall M. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Work Force ◽  
Textile Mill ◽  
Textile Mills ◽  
Poor Whites ◽  
Industrial Systems ◽  
Agricultural Work ◽  
Human Aspects ◽  
The American South ◽  
Marginal Improvement ◽  
Disciplinary System

The factory system in one of its earliest forms—the textile mill—made limited strides in the American South during the closing decades of the slave era. While bondsmen were put to work in mills almost from the beginning, the problem of adapting an agricultural work force to the factory system was one that had to be solved simultaneously with the development of the factory system itself. Since then, historians have wondered whether the use of slaves in early industry was an intensification of the human aspects of bondage or whether it represented a marginal improvement in their physical and spiritual welfare. Professor Miller offers no answer to these questions, nor to those of how widespread or how successful was the use of slaves as factory operatives. He demonstrates, however, that apart from the fact that bondsmen took to factory work more readily than poor whites, the problems to be solved by managers, before a successful degree of efficiency could be achieved, were common to all new industrial systems; clearly, the development of an intelligent disciplinary system, enlightened motivation, and good working conditions were as important in using slaves as in using free labor.

scholarly journals Exposure–Response Relationship and Doubling Risk Doses—A Systematic Review of Occupational Workload and Osteoarthritis of the Hip

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (19) ◽  
pp. 3681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Sun ◽  
Annette Nold ◽  
Ulrich Glitsch ◽  
Frank Bochmann
Keyword(s):  
Hip Osteoarthritis ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Quality Level ◽  
Response Relationship ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Osteoarthritis Of The Hip ◽  
Workplace Interventions ◽  
Exposure Response ◽  
Occupational Workload

In this review, we critically evaluated the evidence of exposure–response relationships between occupational workload and the risk of hip osteoarthritis. The existing evidence was evaluated in order for us to extrapolate possible doubling risk doses for hip osteoarthritis. Comprehensive searches for epidemiological studies of hip osteoarthritis and occupational workload were performed in literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Work and Google Scholar) and recent reviews up to February 2019. In total, 85 papers met the preliminary inclusion criteria, and 10 studies indicating an exposure-response relationship between occupational workload and hip osteoarthritis were identified. All studies were assessed on the basis of their study design, defined quality scores and relevant confounders considered. An exposure–response relationship between heavy lifting and the risk of hip osteoarthritis is consistently observed among the male populations but not among the female populations. We quantified the doubling risk doses in two studies in which both an exposure–response relationship and cumulative exposure doses were stated. These two studies provided the highest quality level of all studies published to date. The estimated doubling risk doses in these two studies lie between 14,761 and 18,550 tons (daily lifting 2.2–2.8 tons, 220 days/year for 30 years). These results can be used for workplace interventions to prevent hip osteoarthritis.

Digoxin exposure and prostate cancer mortality: A matched cohort study.

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e13096-e13096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Flahavan ◽  
Kathleen Bennett ◽  
Linda Sharp ◽  
Thomas Ian Barron
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Proportional Hazards ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factor ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards ◽  
Response Analysis ◽  
Covariate Balance ◽  
Exposure Response

e13096 Background: Digoxin (DIG) exposure has been associated with reduced prostate cancer (PC) incidence in epidemiological studies. Preclinical data suggests that this anti-cancer effect is mediated through the inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α by DIG. This retrospective cohort study examines associations between DIG exposure and mortality in men with PC. Methods: Men diagnosed with PC during 2001–2006 were identified from National Cancer Registry Ireland records and linked prescription claims data. Propensity scores for DIG exposure in the 90 days prior to PC diagnosis were estimated. DIG exposed and unexposed men were matched (1:1) within a calliper of 0.2 standard deviations of the propensity score logit, using greedy matching without replacement. Standardized differences were used to assess covariate balance (z-score <0.1) between matched cohorts. Hazard ratios (HR) for associations between DIG exposure and all-cause (ACM) or PC-specific (PCM) mortality were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, comorbidity, tumour stage and grade. Categorical exposure-response analyses were carried out using tertiles of exposure (low, intermediate, high) in the 90 days pre-diagnosis. Results: 5734 PC cases were identified from the linked database. 395 cases received DIG in the 90 days pre-diagnosis, of which 391 were matched to unexposed controls. Matched covariate balance was acceptable. In adjusted analyses, DIG exposure was not associated with ACM (HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.88-1.27) but was associated with a small but non-significant reduction in the risk of PCM (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.68-1.17). In the exposure-response analysis, DIG exposure in the highest tertile, but not in the intermediate or lower tertiles, was associated with a reduced risk of PCM approaching statistical significance (HR 0.69, 95% CI 0.47-1.01, p=0.059). Men in the high DIG exposure group received a supply of DIG for 98% of their eligible follow up in the year post diagnosis. Post diagnostic DIG exposure in the intermediate and lower tertiles was 94% and 80% respectively. Conclusions: DIG exposure was associated with a non-significant decrease in PCM. Stratification by exposure suggests the presence of an exposure-response relationship.

scholarly journals Induction of micronuclei and superoxide production in neuroblastoma and glioma cell lines exposed to weak 50 Hz magnetic fields

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (114) ◽  
pp. 20150995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kavindra Kumar Kesari ◽  
Jukka Juutilainen ◽  
Jukka Luukkonen ◽  
Jonne Naarala
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Dna Integrity ◽  
C6 Cells ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Mitochondrial Superoxide ◽  
Exposure Response

Extremely low-frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MF) have been associated with adverse health effects in epidemiological studies. However, there is no known mechanism for biological effects of weak environmental MFs. Previous studies indicate MF effects on DNA integrity and reactive oxygen species, but such evidence is limited to MFs higher (greater than or equal to 100 µT) than those generally found in the environment. Effects of 10 and 30 µT fields were studied in SH-SY5Y and C6 cells exposed to 50-Hz MFs for 24 h. Based on earlier findings, menadione (MQ) was used as a cofactor. Responses to MF were observed in both cell lines, but the effects differed between the cell lines. Micronuclei were significantly increased in SH-SY5Y cells at 30 µT. This effect was largest at the highest MQ dose used. Increased cytosolic and mitochondrial superoxide levels were observed in C6 cells. The effects on superoxide levels were independent of MQ, enabling further mechanistic studies without co-exposure to MQ. The micronucleus and mitochondrial superoxide data were consistent with a conventional rising exposure–response relationship. For cytosolic superoxide, the effect size was unexpectedly large at 10 µT. The results indicate that the threshold for biological effects of ELF MFs is 10 µT or less.

scholarly journals A Review of the NIOSH Lifting Equation and Ergonomics Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 214-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Hafeezah Kamarudin ◽  
Siti Anom Ahmad ◽  
Mohd. Khair Hassan ◽  
Rosnah Mohd Yusuff ◽  
Siti Zawiah Md Dawal
Keyword(s):  
Automatic System ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Manual Lifting ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Niosh Lifting Equation ◽  
New System ◽  
Safe Working ◽  
Ergonomic Intervention ◽  
The Ideal

The revised NIOSH Lifting Equation developed in 1991 is an ergonomic intervention assessment tool that used to calculate the recommended weight limit (RWL) for lifting tasks and to identify the hazardous lifting tasks. But this equation application is limited to those conditions for which it was designed and the different populations have different anthropometric distributions. This research will propose a solution to determine the effect of different manual lifting tasks on biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical limitation and develop the new automatic system tool to calculate the ideal RWL for Malaysian people for the working tasks perform. This new system tool which design according to the criteria of Malaysian people can increase the safe working environment for the workers.

NATIONAL AND STATE BENEFITS FROM OFFSHORE PETROLEUM

1971 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
A. Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Work Force ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Discounted Cash Flow ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Multiplier Effects ◽  
The Right ◽  
Offshore Oil

A simulated cash flow for three sizes of offshore field (100 MMB, 250 MMB and 1,000 MMB) can be made for a 20 -year period. The objective is to estimate not only the revenues of the producer but also to derive the probable expenditure patterns in the National and State economy and the flow of tax moneys to the respective governments.On the values selected the 100 MMB field would not be produced if the company gave proper importance to the result of the discounted-cash-flow exercise. For the 250 MMB field the governments' share of royalty and company tax would be 31 per cent of the gross value of the barrel (at an Australian supply price of $2.06); while for the 1,000 MMB field the share would be 36 per cent. These are conservative estimates of the cash flow going into the public purse. Of total expenditures in Australia it seems likely that only 65 per cent are retained in Australian accounts. The rest is import content. In a particular State the retention would be around 20 per cent at the exploration stage in offshore work, 50-60 per cent for development and some 80 per cent for operational expenses. On this sort of figuring a table of direct expenditures, including royalties, can be computed for the State over the whole period. For a 250 MMB field the annual contribution to State spending is significant. It has, of course, multiplier effects also. Labour multipliers, as distinct from income multipliers, are often significant. They are variable depending on the initial development of the region and the contribution offshore oil can make to the regional economy. If close to the capital city the oil field, at all stages, may employ existing engineering services, shipping, supply and labour. New jobs in these supporting services are therefore transfers from other industries if the unemployment rate is low. Thus, for the capital city the job multiplier may be as low 1.03 (3 per cent is the normal rate of growth of the work force) with only minor additions created by oil workers and staff brought in from other States. At the other extreme a discovery on an isolated stretch of coast could require a new port, and port-town development for treatment plant and other oil field services. The job multiplier for the area (number of jobs created for each new one in the oil industry) could well be three or four. In time, and supposing that such a settlement became a port for other traffic, e.g. minerals, and that fuel-and- power-using and chemical industries became attracted to the facilities (consider Port Hedland, Kwinana and Westernport Bay) the regional job multiplier could in time reach a value of 15-20. Offshore oil, in the right location, can be a costless, efficient vehicle for decentralisation policy.

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