An Ergonomic Analysis on Working Postures of Construction Site Workers

Risk factors related to work activity and ergonomics can enhance the probability that some persons may develop a MSD (musculoskeletal disorder). Usually the MSD develops due to high task repetition, forceful exertion, and repetitive/sustained awkward postures. MSD is also found in some cases where workers are engaged with working in awkward postures, cold temperatures, contact stress, heavy load, static postures, and vibration, etc. Many studies explain the problems for MSD, but in this chapter an effort is taken to rank the maximum body movement and body parts as per the different types of work flow system such that ergonomics design can be planned. Physical disorders can be avoided by finding and ranking the difficult task and the affected body part due to that kind of work. The prioritization of task will help the organization to think of sustainable designs of working procedure or instruments or machines to provide maximum comfort to humankind. It may also help to frame policies for occupational safety and hazards in workplace.

Tree shaping catalogs: formation and nature of garden chair applications

Purpose: Tree shaping catalog development of practical use: garden chair category; study of the ergonomic aspects of their design, calculation of the time for the formation of tree shaping objects with regard to the plant types. A deeper study of the formation of natural and artistic objects of architectural space, i.e., tree shaping.Design/methodology/approach: Ergonomic analysis, analysis of woody plants compositions in tree shaping, visual-anthropometric analysis, modeling, comparative analysis.Originality/value: 1. Proposed tree shaping catalogs in the category of garden chairs. These catalogs have no analogues in are Russia. 2. The selected woody plants of the West Siberian region, most adapted to humane correction of growth, with the ecological specification in accordance with the following parameters: gas resistance, growth rate, life cycle of a woody plant. 3. Diagrams are suggested for the garden chair dimensions (chair back height, seat width, chair leg height) depending on the woody plant (willow, Tatar maple, bird cherry).Findings: Many identified aspects are can be used in tree shaping: compositional complexity of tree shaping, woody plant type, growth characteristics, and the growing conditions.Practical implications: The obtained results can be used as in a deeper study of new approaches to the formation of open architectural spaces with plant materials.

Ergonomic Analysis of the Impacts of Covid-19 on Production Engineering Professors at UFAM

In the contemporaries of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the working from home was adopted as a health prevention measure. This article aims to analyze the ergonomic, emotional, and psychological aspects arising from this new way of working with professors of the Production Engineering Department of the Federal University of Amazonas - UFAM. The study is descriptive and was elaborated by literature review, and data survey through online interviews. The participants answered a questionnaire in which it was verified the points that directly interfere in the quality of life and performance of the professors in their professional activities. According to the results obtained, it was found that the reality faced by the workers is divergent from the standards established by ergonomic norms. It was also observed that the sharing of personal and professional life caused worries, stress, and anxiety, impacting on the educators' emotional health. Finally, we recommended possible solutions to mitigate the negative effects of this new way of working.

The WGD—A Dataset of Assembly Line Working Gestures for Ergonomic Analysis and Work-Related Injuries Prevention

This paper wants to stress the importance of human movement monitoring to prevent musculoskeletal disorders by proposing the WGD—Working Gesture Dataset, a publicly available dataset of assembly line working gestures that aims to be used for worker’s kinematic analysis. It contains kinematic data acquired from healthy subjects performing assembly line working activities using an optoelectronic motion capture system. The acquired data were used to extract quantitative indicators to assess how the working tasks were performed and to detect useful information to estimate the exposure to the factors that may contribute to the onset of musculoskeletal disorders. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed indicators can be exploited to early detect incorrect gestures and postures and, consequently to prevent work-related disorders. The approach is general and independent on the adopted motion analysis system. It wants to provide indications for safely performing working activities. For example, the proposed WGD can also be used to evaluate the kinematics of workers in real working environments thanks to the adoption of unobtrusive measuring systems, such as wearable sensors through the extracted indicators and thresholds.

The impacts of the lack of ergonomic vision in mining equipment design projects on the health of workers in the maintenance sector

This study aims to analyze the impacts of the lack of ergonomic view in the projects of equipment design on workers’ health from the maintenance sector, in the mining industry context. To understand the operators’ health, maintenance activities of three types of equipment were analyzed: pump, crusher and sieve. The methodological strategy of Ergonomic Analysis of the Workplace (EWA) was used. Thus, changes in these activities are required, since some postures adopted for their performance were considered severe and with high risk. Bearing weight above the shoulders and uncomfortable positions are conditions resulted from failures in the equipment designs. To alleviate the problem, it is suggested the adoption of innovative tools or the creation of new supportive devices to improve working conditions of these maintenance professionals.

Simulation model for evaluation of ergonomic load in the use of exoskeletons

For the analysis of musculoskeletal workload and associated potential hazardous working conditions as well as musculoskeletal symptoms in worker populations among various occupations different approaches are taken, and extensive data collection studies are being accomplished. Questions are targeted on musculoskeletal workload and associated potentially hazardous working conditions can be categorized into seven indices (force, dynamic and static load, repetitive load, climatic factors, vibration and ergonomic environmental factors). Evaluation focus on standing, sitting, walking and uncomfortable postures, the indices constitute a brief overview of the main findings on musculoskeletal workload and associated potentially hazardous working conditions. The validity of the findings is fair when compared with an index of psychosocial working conditions and discomfort during exposure to physical loads. Worker groups with contrasting musculoskeletal loads can be differentiated on the basis of the indices and other factors. It appears that most indices and factors show significant associations with low back and/or neck-shoulder symptoms. This simulation model NIOSH analysis can be used as a simple and quick approach to identify worker groups in which a more thorough ergonomic analysis indicates possible improvements in load factor using particular exoskeletons at work.