| 1. |
- Abeysekera, John D.A., et al.
(författare)
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Ergonomics assessment of selected dust respirators : their use in the tropics
- 1987
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-6870 .- 1872-9126. ; 18:4, s. 266-272
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The suitability and effectiveness of four different types of British made respirators were studied with respect to comfort, convenience and fit on wearers in Sri Lanka (a developing country). Objective and subjective assessments were made to evaluate the degree of discomfort and interferences to the use of senses. The study revealed that factors such as breathing resistance, work-rate and activity period affected the physiological responses. The weight of the respirator and the skin temperature had no direct relationship with the cardiovascular stress. Positive-pressure respirators that gave lower face temperatures than negative-pressure masks gave this type of respirator an additional advantage in hot environments. Respirators that restricted jaw movement affected the speech intelligibility of the wearer. Orinasal masks restricted vision more than the other types. The problem of fit was found negligible though head and face dimensions significantly differed between the British and the Sri Lankans. Subjective assessment correlated well with objective tests.
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| 2. |
- Abrahamsson, Lena
(författare)
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Production economics analysis of investment initiated to improve working environment
- 2000
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - 0003-6870 .- 1872-9126. ; 31:4, s. 1-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article describes the results of an evaluation of a new work place for ladle preparation at Swedish Steel in Luleå, Sweden. The company initiated a development project related to ladle service work, in order to come to grips with the difficult working environment and problems associated with absenteeism due to illness and occupational injuries. The evaluation was performed for the first three years after implementation of the project and it shows that the new work place considerably improved working conditions and increased both the quality and efficiency of production. The purpose of this article is also to discuss some methodological problems. The follow-up of the various changes in working environment and personnel statistics was fairly simple to carry out. But in terms of production effects, the company's in-house production follow-up system proved to be too unspecified and oversimplified. It was also difficult to decide which changes should count as effects of the new work place and to value these in monetary terms. The profitability calculation shows that an investment initiated to improve the working environment can yield good profitability.
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| 3. |
- Abrahamsson, Lena
(författare)
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Restoring the order : gender segregation as an obstacle to organisational development
- 2002
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - 0003-6870 .- 1872-9126. ; 33:6, s. 549-557
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper raises questions about the links between gender and organisational changes. The empirical base for the discussion is a qualitative study of the effects of organisational changes in the pulp and paper industry, the electronics industry, the food industry and the laundry industry in Sweden during the mid-1990s. At the studied companies, restoration responses in the work organisations brought the organisation back into its original form and function. The study shows that gender exerts an influence both on the existing work organisation and in the organisational change. The modern organisation, with its focus on integration and decentralisation, challenges the gender order, which is a strong system, built on segregation and hierarchy. The conclusion from the study is that gender segregating and stereotypic gender-coding of workplaces and work tasks were strong restoring mechanisms and obstacles to strategic organisational changes.
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| 4. |
- Ahlström, Christer, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in glance behaviour when using a visual eco-driving system : A field study
- 2017
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-6870 .- 1872-9126. ; 58, s. 414-423
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While in-vehicle eco-driving support systems have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save fuel, they may also distract drivers, especially if the system makes use of a visual interface. The objective of this study is to investigate the visual behaviour of drivers interacting with such a system, implemented on a five-inch screen mounted above the middle console. Ten drivers participated in a real-world, on-road driving study where they drove a route nine times (2 pre-baseline drives, 5 treatment drives, 2 post-baseline drives). The route was 96 km long and consisted of rural roads, urban roads and a dual-lane motorway.The results show that drivers look at the system for 5–8% of the time, depending on road type, with a glance duration of about 0.6 s, and with 0.05% long glances (>2s) per kilometre. These figures are comparable to what was found for glances to the speedometer in this study. Glance behaviour away from the windscreen is slightly increased in treatment as compared to pre- and post-baseline, mirror glances decreased in treatment and post-baseline compared to pre-baseline, and speedometer glances increased compared to pre-baseline. The eco-driving support system provided continuous information interspersed with additional advice pop-ups (announced by a beep) and feedback pop-ups (no auditory cue). About 20% of sound initiated advice pop-ups were disregarded, and the remaining cases were usually looked at within the first two seconds. About 40% of the feedback pop-ups were disregarded. The amount of glances to the system immediately before the onset of a pop-up was clearly higher for feedback than for advice.
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| 5. |
- Arcuri, R., et al.
(författare)
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On the brink of disruption : Applying Resilience Engineering to anticipate system performance under crisis
- 2022
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier. - 0003-6870 .- 1872-9126. ; 99
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As COVID-19 spread across Brazil, it quickly reached remote regions including Amazon's ultra-peripheral locations where patient transportation through rivers is added to the list of obstacles to overcome. This article analyses the pandemic's effects in the access of riverine communities to the prehospital emergency healthcare system in the Brazilian Upper Amazon River region. To do so, we present two studies that by using a Resilience Engineering approach aimed to predict the functioning of the Brazilian Mobile Emergency Medical Service (SAMU) for riverside and coastal areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the normal system functioning. Study I, carried out before the pandemic, applied ethnographic methods for data collection and the Functional Resonance Analysis Method - FRAM for data analysis in order to develop a model of the mobile emergency care in the region during typical conditions of operation. Study II then estimated how changes in variability dynamics would alter system functioning during the pandemic, arriving at three trends that could lead the service to collapse. Finally, the accuracy of predictions is discussed after the pandemic first peaked in the region. Findings reveal that relatively small changes in variability dynamics can deliver strong implications to operating care and safety of expeditions aboard water ambulances. Also, important elements that add to the resilient capabilities of the system are extra-organizational, and thus during the pandemic safety became jeopardized as informal support networks grew fragile. Using FRAM for modelling regular operation enabled prospective scenario analysis that accurately predicted disruptions in providing emergency care to riverine population.
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| 6. |
- Arvidsson, Inger, et al.
(författare)
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Neck postures in air traffic controllers with and without neck/shoulder disorders.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-9126 .- 0003-6870. ; 39:2, s. 255-260
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Prolonged computer work with an extended neck is commonly believed to be associated with an increased risk of neck–shoulder disorders. The aim of this study was to compare neck postures during computer work between female cases with neck–shoulder disorders, and healthy referents. Based on physical examinations, 13 cases and 11 referents were selected among 70 female air traffic controllers with the same computer-based work tasks and identical workstations. Postures and movements were measured by inclinometers, placed on the forehead and upper back (C7/Th1) during authentic air traffic control. A recently developed method was applied to assess flexion/extension in the neck, calculated as the difference between head and upper back flexion/extension. Results: cases and referents did not differ significantly in neck posture (median neck flexion/extension: −10° vs. −9°; p=0.9). Hence, the belief that neck extension posture is associated with neck–shoulder disorders in computer work is not supported by the present data.
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| 7. |
- Arvidsson, Inger, et al.
(författare)
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Rationalization in meat cutting - Consequences on physical workload.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-9126 .- 0003-6870. ; 43:6, s. 1026-1032
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Meat cutting is associated with several ergonomic risk factors and a high risk of musculoskeletal disorders. The development of new production systems points to an increased degree of mechanization; instead of subdividing split carcasses of pigs with a knife, the halves are trisected by an electrical saw into 'sixth-parts', resulting in shorter work cycles for the workers. Recently, machine-directed line-production systems have been implemented. This study evaluates differences in the physical workload between the production systems. The postures and movements (inclinometry and goniometry) and muscular load (electromyography) of workers in the split-carcass- (five subjects), sixth-part- (ten) and line-production systems (five) were recorded. Most measures showed a statistically significant trend of declining physical exposure with increasing degrees of mechanization. For example, movement velocities of the upper arm were higher in the split-carcass system (50th percentile: mean 209°/s) than in the sixth-part (103°/s) and line production (81°/s). However, the latter two were not statistically significantly different. A novel method for quantifying posture variation, based on inclinometry, showed that the split-carcass system implied the highest variation of the upper arm postures "within-minute" (i.e., a high range of motion each minute), but the lowest "between-minute" (i.e., a low variation during the course of the workday). In conclusion, the physical workload in the line-production system was significantly lower than in the split-carcass one, and tended also to be lower than in the sixth-part system. However, there may be disadvantages in line production, such as machine-directed work pace and shorter work cycles.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Arvidsson, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Organizational climate in air traffic control - Innovative preparedness for implementation of new technology and organizational development in a rule governed organization
- 2006
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-9126 .- 0003-6870. ; 37:2, s. 119-129
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A positive and innovative organizational climate is of great importance in order to manage and adapt to change. Such a climate seldom evolves in organizations closely governed by rules and regulations. Because of ongoing organizational and technical changes within the Swedish Air Navigation Services Provider, a study concerning the organizational climate for changes and innovations was conducted to investigate the organization's capacity to cope with changes. Study locations were the two Swedish main air traffic control centers and parts of the civil aviation administration headquarters. In the study 390 subjects took part and the CCQ questionnaire was used to measure the organizational climate. The results show that the organizational climate is quite positive despite the rule-governed work. The results also show that administrative personnel assess the organizational climate as more positive than operative personnel. Comparisons between management positions did not result in any differences. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 10. |
- Ayas, Ebru, et al.
(författare)
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Affective engineering evaluation of non-linear trigger switch mechanisms
- 2011
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - 0003-6870 .- 1872-9126.
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The trigger switch mechanisms of nutrunners are important for operators to perceive feedback while tightening bolt joints. Previous studies focus on associations between discomfort evaluations and powered tool operation. This paper addresses how operator preferences are linked with functionality requirements from trigger switch mechanisms. Subjects evaluated five switch mechanism prototypes regarding perceptions of quality, feedback, firmness, and distinctness. Results suggest that loading and unloading phases of trigger operation are significant predictors of perceptions of quality. The trigger switch mechanism with a combination of high peak-drop-bottom forces was perceived with better quality, feedback, and distinctness in comparison to the other mechanisms. The study also revealed that when the switch mechanism was designed to give more distinctness and feedback, higher quality is perceived.
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