• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.101-110
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• 2014

This study tried to identify the effects of ergonomic risk factors for absence from work of fire fighters in Korea. A self-administered questionnaire was prepared for this study. The questionnaire consisted of several parts such as 'general information', 'work-related factors', 'physical & chemical risk factors', 'ergonomic risk factors', and 'absence information'. A total of 7,098 fire fighters participated in this study. The data obtained from the survey was mainly analyzed by logistic regression. A total of 856 out of 7,098 fire fighters experienced absence from work. The risk factors such as gender, age, marital status, education level, total work year, work area. position, job rotation, noise, dust, organic solvent, skin contact with chemical substance, toxic waste, regional vibration, manual material handling, continuous standing posture, awkward working posture were associated with absence from work. Specifically, awkward working posture and manual material handling from ergonomic risk factors were major risk factors for absence from work.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.681-691
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• 2008

Taking into consideration both the inconveniences reported with current working uniform for the aircraft mechanics and the subjects' requirements mentioned in preceded survey, the researchers designed an ergonomic sample garments with improved motional flexibility and comfort. To improve motional flexibility, extra folds were added to the back of the garments to allow for ease of motion of limbs, so that the material would not be drawn up by the motion of the arms. Darts were added to the elbow, hip, the knee. Furthermore, by increasing the length of the waist centerline, the hip region would not be drawn up. For improved comfort, $CoolMax^{(R)}$ was used as lining material for the armpit and back region to discharge swear promptly. Subjects and panels were asked to evaluate the sample garment that followed an ergonomic design and pattern. According to the results, the sample garment was evaluated more highly than the existing working uniform in appearance and motional flexibility. The field tests by three aircraft mechanics working in the Office of Forestry were also demonstrated that the sample garment was advanced in terms of motional flexibility and comfort.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.489-500
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• 2014

In this study, remote handling strategies for a large-scale argon cell facility were considered. The suggested strategies were evaluated by several types of field test. The teleoperation tasks were performed using a developed remote handling system, which enabled traveling over entire cell area using a bridge transport system. Each arm of the system had six DOFs (degrees of freedom), and the bridge transport system had four DOFs. However, despite the dexterous manipulators and redundant monitoring system, many operators, including professionals, experienced difficulties in operating the remote handling system. This was because of the lack of a strategy for handling the installed camera system, and the difficulty in recognizing the gripper pose, which might fall outside the FOV (field of vision) of the system during teleoperation. Hence, in this paper, several considerations for the remote handling tasks performed in the target facility were discussed, and the tasks were analyzed based on ergonomic factors such as the workload. Toward the development of a successful operation strategy, several ergonomic issues, such as active/passive view of the remote handling system, eye/hand alignment, and FOV were considered. Furthermore, using the method for classifying remote handling tasks, several unit tasks were defined and evaluated.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2007

The objective of this study was to investigate the validity of the digital ergonomic simulation (DES) method as a prospective alternative to the ergonomic analyses conducted by experts. The DES method utilizes commercial digital manufacturing software, and can compute the RULA scores continuously throughout the simulated work cycle. It was shown in a case study that the accuracy and objectivity of the DES method are superior to those obtained by experts. Also, it was demonstrated that the DES method has a distinct capability to simulate and validate a proposed work plan. Major limitations of the current DES method lie in the extensive time and efforts required for accurate digital simulation, which may be overcome through an automatic module for RULA data acquisition and a motion capture system.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.105-120
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• 1992

An expert system was developed as a framework of integrating diverse and multifactored ergonomic knowledge to investigate its effectiveness in ergonomic workplace design and evolution. Although numerous computer-assisted approaches have been made to overcome the lack of integrated design principles, those models being used require very specific information of various design activities that may not be available in the design stage. On the other hand, an expert system would be an effective design aid that is capable of guiding the designer to solve a problem. However, most expert systems lack detailed evaluation capabilities due to a qualitative nature of inference mechanisms. Furthermore, those approaches were independently developed, focusing mostly on a single aspect such as biomechanics, physiology, etc. In this paper, a design framework was developed which takes advantage of expert system metholologies, a relational data base and existing ergonomic models. The pattern-directed, rule-based expert system allows the designer to gradually formulate and subsequently evaluate workplace design. A comprehensive and modularized knowledge base was built incorporating biomechanics, physiology and psychophysics, which is, in turn, capable of accessing not only qualitative knowledge but complex analytic evaluation models and massive information in the data base through an interface. A conflict resolution strategy using multiple criteria decision-making schemes was also employed to reconcile multiple design alternatives.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.138-143
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the ergonomic risk factors in beekeeping, and to evaluate the effectiveness of assistive device hive lift. Methods: This study included 30 subjects of beekeeper in Pocheon, Korea. We assessed the ergonomic risk of main task in beekeeping with NLE, OWAS and evaluate the effectiveness of hive lift. We also surveyed prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among the subjects based on the Korea Working Condition Survey. Results: Moving to different floral origin, internal inspection of beehives, feeding syrup is the most burdensome to musculoskeletal system (NLE LI value=2~3. OWAS action category=4). The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms (lower and upper extremities) among the subjects was over 80 %. The introduction of assistive devices in the three hazardous tasks has dramatically reduced the risk by removing manual lifting hives (OWAS action category<1). Conclusions: Beekeeping is a heavy workload on the musculoskeletal system because it has a lot of manual lifting task. As a result of applying the hive lift, the burden could be reduced.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.69-86
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• 2017

Objective: The present study is intended to develop an improved bus seat armrest design by evaluating various bus armrest designs from ergonomic aspects. Background: An ergonomic armrest design which considers the sitting postures and body shapes of passengers can improve the convenience and comfort of a bus seat. Method: Subjective satisfaction of each of five design dimensions (length, width, height from seatpan, shape, and angle) was evaluated for seven bus seat armrest designs in various sizes and shapes by 58 participants (28 males and 33 females) using a 7-point scale (1: very dissatisfied, 4: neutral, and 7: very satisfied). Improved bus seat armrest designs adjustable in length and rotatable to the left or right (sliding and rotating armrest, SRA) with a concave, flat, or convex shape of the upper part were developed by considering the preferred design features and the body size and shape in sitting posture and needs of passengers and then compared with a conventional armrest. Results: A bus seat armrest with a wide width (40~50mm), a long length (360mm), a lower height (213mm), and a curved shape was found significantly preferred in terms of comfort. The proposed armrest designs (SRA-convex, SRA-flat, and SRA-concave) improved satisfaction by 46~62% for length suitability, 184~216% for width suitability, 205~214% for angle suitability, 138~181% for contact area suitability, and 49~64% for height suitability, 138~174% for comfort, and 93~111% for overall satisfaction. Conclusion: The preferred design features and passengers' needs of bus seat armrest were identified and the SRA designs were recommended for better usability. Application: The ergonomic design process of bus seat armrest employed in the present study can be applied to designing armrests in various vehicles for better convenience and comfort.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.499-523
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• 2017

Objective: This study is to provide a foundation for developing comprehensive ergonomic design guidelines for in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) by giving an overview of existing researches as well as setting further research directions. Background: The drivers get much more information recently while interacting with new safety functions of the cars. To avoid cognitive overload of the drivers, IVIS should be deigned appropriately by considering various human factors and task conditions. Method: We gathered, analyzed, and summarized ergonomic researches concerned with IVIS design conducted inside and outside Korea according to a categorization system proposed in the study. Frequency analysis was conducted for figuring out what kind of issues took major part of the researches, and their trends across time and regions. Results: Compared to domestic researches, those done in overseas tend to deal with more variety of independent, dependent and extraneous variables. The overseas researches also showed a tendency to get ahead in making ergonomic guidelines for IVIS design by adapting and integrating the results from previous researches. Conclusion and Application: There have been many researches regarding with ergonomic IVIS design, but some of their results became old-fashioned as the technology evolved. Not many researches have considered diverse human factors regarding the drivers' characteristics except age and gender. It is expected that researchers and designers take advantage of this study to find and review relevant results and set out issues of their own for more progressive researches of the field.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.122-132
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to present the basic materials of a developmental counterplan by assessing prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and characteristics of work-related ergonomic risk factors. The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms of 64 vineyard workers was investigated by using a self-reported questionnaire. And the vineyard workers' tasks were also collected and analyzed during 9-month period by observing and videotaping methods to identify the ergonomic risk factors. The prevalence rate of musculoskeletal symptoms of female(84.4%) was much higher than that of male(62.5%) and a total prevalence rate was 73.4%. There was no different prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms between age over 60 years and under 60 years. The prevalence rates of musculoskeletal complaints for each body part were 48.4%, 42.2%, and 35.9% for the wrist, legs/knee, and shoulder, respectively. In postural risk analysis, 7 works(REBA score) represented the high risk tasks such as delivering harvest boxed(12), picking cluster(11) and so on. The main works(exposure score) were orderly ranked as picking cluster(1590), pruning branch(388), and cluster thinning(327). The risk factors of vineyard work were identified as follows: shoulder flexion(${\geq}45^{\circ}$), wrist Flex./Ext.(${\geq}15^{\circ}$), hand force(power/pinch-grip), and prolonged standing(${\geq}4hr$). The engineering solutions including an improvement of hand tools, working process, and working environment should be applied to the high risky tasks in order to resolve the ergonomic problems. The administrative solutions such as improving a distribution of resting time, an exercise cure, an early recognition of symptoms and rehabilitation might be another solution for reducing musculoskeletal symptoms in vineyard workers.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.443-451
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• 2017

This paper's objectives are to investigate the criteria for ergonomic evaluation of indoor bike coordinated with virtual images, and to compare HMD-based VR bike with 2D-based one. 12 experts performed delphi method with an aim to determine ergonomic evaluation criteria that were classified into 4 categories(Usability, Emotion, User Values, Reality). 2D-based bike and HMD-based one were compared according to part of final criteria through fuzzy-logic question performed by 20 subjects. Though there were no confidential difference in usability, HMD-based VR bicycle resulted in greater scores than 2D-based one in elements related with emotion, user value and reality statistically. It is expected that this research results will be used as references to evaluate ergonomic design of other indoor exercise equipments combined with VR or AR.