• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
• /
• v.1997 no.11
• /
• pp.455-458
• /
• 1997

We are exposed to the various external stimuli input from the environment, which cause emotional changes based on the characteristics of the stimuli. Unfortunately, there are no quantitative results on relationship between human sensibility and the characteristics of physiological signals. The objective of this study was to quantify EEG signals evoked by visual stimulation based on the assumption that the analysis of the variability on the characteristics of the EEG waveform may provide the significant information regarding changes in psychological states of the subject. Seven university students were participated in this study. The experiment was devised with eleven experimental conditions, which are control and ten different types of visual stimulation based on IAPS (International Affective Picture Systems). Wavelet transformation was employed to analyze the EEG signals. Most positive and negative emotional response were compared in pairs. The results showed that the reconstructed signals at the decomposition level revealed the different energy value on the EEG signals. Also, general patterns of EEG signals in rest state compare with positive and negative stimulus were found. This study could be extended to establish an algorithm which distinguishes psychophysiological states of the subjects exposed to the visual stimulation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.56
• /
• pp.45-53
• /
• 2000

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of body posture and of different types of common non-powered hand tools on maximum volitional torque exertion capabilities of Korean. Fifteen males and 15 females were participated in the experiment. Each subject exerted maximum volitional torque in 15 different body postures while using five different common non-powered hand tools. Results of the data analysis showed that, for both males and females, the magnitude of torque exertion is significantly affected by the type of tool and posture. Also the result indicated that females exerted only about 51.5% of torque when compared to that of males. This result is different with the general findings in the field of ergonomics that the muscular strength of female is usually 65% to 75% of male. It suggests that application of same profile of muscular strength of female as in the western population should be carefully considered in oriental countries since females in this region may possess less physical capability compare to that of western females in terms of percentage muscular strength of males. Profiles of maximum torque capabilities of Koreans are provided.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.375-379
• /
• 2011

Control Banding (CB) strategies to prevent work-related illness and injury for 2.5 billion workers without access to health and safety professionals has grown exponentially this last decade. CB originates from the pharmaceutical industry to control active pharmaceutical ingredients without a complete toxicological basis and therefore no occupational exposure limits. CB applications have broadened into chemicals in general - including new emerging risks like nanomaterials and recently into ergonomics and injury prevention. CB is an action-oriented qualitative risk assessment strategy offering solutions and control measures to users through "toolkits". Chemical CB toolkits are user-friendly approaches used to achieve workplace controls in the absence of firm toxicological and quantitative exposure information. The model (technical) validation of these toolkits is well described, however firm operational analyses (implementation aspects) are lacking. Consequentially, it is often not known if toolkit use leads to successful interventions at individual workplaces. This might lead to virtual safe workplaces without knowing if workers are truly protected. Upcoming international strategies from the World Health Organization Collaborating Centers request assistance in developing and evaluating action-oriented procedures for workplace risk assessment and control. It is expected that to fulfill this strategy's goals, CB approaches will continue its important growth in protecting workers.

• Proceedings of the ESK Conference
• /
• 1992.10a
• /
• pp.46-53
• /
• 1992

Finger movements in the sagittal plane mainly consist of flexion and extension about the metacarpophalangeal(MCP) and proximal interphalangeal(PIP) joints. A kinematic finger model was developed with the assumption of constant tendon moment arms. Equations of static equilibrium were derived for the finger model using the principle of virtual work. Equations of static equilibrium for the finger model were indeterminate since only three equations were available for five unknown variables(forces). The number of variables was reduced based on information on muscular activities in finger movements. Then the amounts of forces which muscles exerted to maintain static equilibrium against external loads were computed from the equilibrium equations. The muscular forces were expressed mathematically as functions of finger positions, tendon moment arms, lengths of phalanges, and the magnitude and direction of external load. The external finger strength were computed using the equations of muscular forces and anatomical data. Experiments were performed to measure finger strengths. Measurements were taken in combinations of four finger positions and four directions of force exertions. Validation of the finger models and of procedure to estimate finger strengths was done by comparing the results of computations and experiments. Significang differences were found between the predicted and measured finger strengths. However, the trends of finger strengths with respect to finger positions were similar inboth the predicted and measured. These findings indicate that the finger model and the procedure to predict finger strengths were correctly developed.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.565-575
• /
• 2014

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of weight of load and time on the physical workload of repetitive upper-limb tasks with handling light weight loads using EMG and perceived discomfort, and to investigate the relationship between EMG and perceived discomfort for those repetitive tasks of moving light weight loads. Background: Repetitive upper-limb motion is known as one of the main risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders, and a lot of repetitive tasks are carried out while handling light weight loads in the industry. In evaluating the workload of repetitive tasks handling light weight loads, EMG and perceived discomfort can be used, though their relationship in those work conditions are not much investigated. Method: A laboratory experiment with 18 healthy males were conducted to record EMG signals from 5 muscle sites of the right arm and shoulder and rate perceived discomforts for the body parts and the whole body while carrying out repetitive materials-handling tasks for 52min. The subjects were divided into 3 groups which handled the loads of 1kg, 2kg and 3kg, respectively. ANOVAs were conducted to analyze the effects of the weight and time on RMS of EMG amplitude (normalized RMS: NRMS), median frequency of power spectrum of EMG (normalized MDF: NMDF) and perceived discomfort. The correlations between NRMS and NMDF and perceived discomfort were also analyzed. Results: Statistically significant muscular fatigue effects were not found from NRMS and NMDF in most muscles, while there were significant increases of discomfort as the task time elapsed. It was shown that there were an increasing trend of the muscular activity as the weight of load increased and a decreasing trend of median frequency of EMG of upper and lower arms as time elapsed. It was found that there were significant negative correlations between NMDFs from the lower arm and discomfort ratings, though the relationships were weak. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the working conditions adopted in this study were not enough to induce muscular fatigue, while there was significant increase in perceived discomfort. A further study is necessary to integrate the objective and subjective measures for more reliable and sensitive evaluation of workload of repetitive tasks of handling light weight loads. Application: This study can be used as a basic study for the evaluation of workload of repetitive tasks handling light weight loads.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.347-353
• /
• 2016

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relation between key strike forces and musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS). Moreover, this study presents a key strike force measurement method to be used in a workplace setting. The correlation between key strike force characteristics and MSS was previously studied, but the measurement methods used either a single-key switch or force platforms applied under the keyboard. Most of the studies were conducted in a laboratory setting. The uniqueness of measurement methods in the current study is their ability to measure forces applied to a specific key in a workplace setting and to provide more information about specific key strike forces during typing. Methods: Twenty-four healthy computer workers were recruited for the study. The demographic questionnaire, and self-reported questionnaires for psychosocial status (General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work) and for detecting MSS were filled up, which later helped in dividing the participants into two groups (12 participants with pain and 12 without pain). Participants typed a predetermined text that utilized the instrumented keys multiple times. The dynamic forces applied to the keys were recorded and collected, using four thin and flexible force sensors attached to the preselected keys according to their location. Results: The results demonstrated that participants with high levels of MSS, specifically in the back and neck, in the last year exerted significantly higher key strike forces than those with lower levels of symptoms (p < 0.005). Conclusion: The key strike force exerted while typing on a keyboard may be a risk factor for MSS, and should therefore be considered in ergonomic evaluations and interventional programs.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.164-171
• /
• 2018

Background: In recent years, the interest in health and safety in the workplace has increased. Agriculture is one of the human work activities with the highest risk indexes. Studies on risk perception of agricultural workers are often referred to as specific risk factors (especially pesticides), but the risk perception plays an important role in preventing every kind of accident and occupational disease. Methods: The aim of this research is to test a new method for understanding the relation between risk perception among farmers and the main risk factors to which they are exposed. A secondary aim is to investigate the influence of training in risk perception in agriculture. The data collection was realized using a questionnaire designed to investigate the risk perception; the questionnaire was given to a sample of 119 agricultural workers in central Italy. Through the use of the "principal components analysis" it was possible to highlight and verify the latent dimensions underlying the collected data in comparison with scales of attitudes. Results: Results show that the highest percentage of strong negative attitude is among the people who have worked for more years, while farmers who have worked for fewer years have a marked positive attitude. Conclusion: The analysis of the questionnaires through the synthetic index method (Rizzi index) showed that agricultural workers involved, in particular the elderly workers, have a negative attitude towards safety; workers are hostile to safety measures if they have not attended special training courses.

• Proceedings of the ESK Conference
• /
• 1997.04a
• /
• pp.56-60
• /
• 1997

The study of human erroneous actions has traditionally taken place along two different lines of approach. One has been concerned with finding and explaining the causes of erroneous actions, such as studies in the psychology of "error". The other has been concerned with the qualitative and quantitative prediction of possible erroneous actions, exemplified by the field of human reliability analysis (HRA). Another distinction is also that the former approach has been dominated by an academic point of view, hence emphasising theories, models, and experiments, while the latter has been of a more pragmatic nature, hence putting greater emphasis on data and methods. We have been developing a method to make predictions about error modes. The input to the method is a detailed task description of a set of scenarios for an experiment. This description is then analysed to characterise thd nature of the individual task steps, as well as the conditions under which they must be carried out. The task steps are expressed in terms of a predefined set of cognitive activity types. Following that each task step is examined in terms of a systematic classification of possible error modes and the likely error modes are identified. This effectively constitutes a qualitative analysis of the possibilities for erroneous action in a given task. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the predictions, the data from a large scale experiment were analysed. The experiment used the full-scale nuclear power plant simulator in the Halden Man-Machine Systems Laboratory (HAMMLAB) and used six crews of systematic performance observations by experts using a pre-defined task description, as well as audio and video recordings. The purpose of the analysis was to determine how well the predictions matiched the actually observed performance failures. The results indicated a very acceptable rate of accuracy. The emphasis in this experiment has been to develop a practical method for qualitative performance prediction, i.e., a method that did not require too many resources or specialised human factors knowledge. If such methods are to become practical tools, it is important that they are valid, reliable, and robust.