• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.35-48
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to find injurious factors and to propose an improvement plan on workers' musculoskeletal disorders at a bakery workplace through analyzing the symptom, work posture and quantitative estimate. For this study, a survey and ergonomic estimate methods were adopted. According to the survey, it was analyzed that 429 workers corresponding to 68.2% of the response have been experienced the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders such as an ache, prickle and numbness. The result of QEC analysis shows that shoulder and waist are highly exposed to musculoskeletal disease. The result of RULA analysis shows that injurious factors of muscle, weight and repeated operations are a little higher than those of operation posture. The result of SI estimate shows that pre-treatment of making bread requiring highly repeated operation gets the highest point of 81, on the other hand, chocolate-coating job requiring relatively low speed and short time gets the point of 4.5. Based on the analyzed results, improvement plan to prevent the musculoskeletal disorders against injurious working process of a bakery workplace. The goal of this study is to propose the improved scheme that prevents the workers against musculoskeletal disorders. A questionnaire and an ergonomic assessment method were adopted to analyze the symptoms of workers' musculoskeletal disorders, and an analysis of working postures and a quantitative assessment on various processes were performed to find out harmful factors of workplace.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.15-28
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• 1993

Proper ergonomic design of a passenger seat for the highspeed train is one of the essential design components that is directly related to passenger comfort. This study investigated a systematic approach to the ergonomic passenger seat design and evaluation for the Korean highspeed train. To design an ergonomic passenger seat that improves passenger confort, Korean anthropometric data, pas- senger activities in the coach, body postures, body contours and seat dimensions were considered. By analyzing the interredlationship of such factors, resultant seat dimensions were suggested. To properly ecaluate the suggested dimensions, four prototypes were subsequently made and iteratively tested in the laboratory. It is expected that this approach is readily applicable to the passenger seat design of other transport vehicles as well as a train.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.153-157
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to establish a systematic ergonomic program for the prevention and control of work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) in a machinery manufacturing company. The steps such as looking for the signs of WMSDs problems, setting the stage for action, training-building in-house expertise, gathering and examining the evidence of WMSDS, developing controls of health care management, and proactive ergonomic interventions were applied. The primary success factors were management commitment and encouragement, and harmonious union-management relations.

• Proceedings of the ESK Conference
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• 1993.04a
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• pp.124-133
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• 1993

Porper ergonomic design of a passenger seat for the highspeed train is one of the essential design components that is directly related to passenger comfort. This study investigated a systematic approach to ergonomic passenger seat design and evaluation for the Korean highspeed train. To design an ergonomic passenger seat that improves passenger comfort, seat dimensions, Korean anthropometry, passenger activities in the coach, body postures and body contours were considered. The interrelationship of these factors was analyzed and seat dimensions were suggested. To properly evaluate the dimensions suggested, four prototypes were made and iteratively evaluated as a feedback procedure. This approach is expected to be applicable to the passenger seat design of other transport vehicles as well as a train.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2007

Ergonomic methods have been effectively applied to design and evaluation of functional clothing. The goals of the present study are to: (1) develop an ergonomic evaluation system for the systematic analysis of functional clothing and (2) examine the usefulness of the proposed evaluation system by applying to flame-proof clothing. Based on the survey of literature and the brainstorming of experts in clothing design and ergonomics, factors considered for clothing evaluation were selected, classified, and complemented, resulting in an ergonomic clothing evaluation system consisting of four factor categories (clothing construction, user, work and environment, and user response). Using the proposed system, a field survey and a laboratory experiment were conducted for flame-proof clothing to identify its design problems. The field survey to workers found a comprehensive set of problems on the flame-proof clothing design in terms of pattern, textile, and color. The laboratory experiment identified additional design problems using a questionnaire that was developed based on an analysis on the relationship between clothing design components and ergonomic evaluation measures. The present study showed the ergonomic evaluation system and the relationship analysis of clothing design components and ergonomic evaluation measures are of use to identify design problems of functional clothing in a comprehensive and analytic manner.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.11 no.2 s.23
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• pp.33-40
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• 2005

According to the development of technology of the navigational equipments, many bridge equipments have been improved, however, marine accidents by human error have not been reduced. Therefore, a matter of primary concern is focused on whether bridge equipments of ships are ergonomically arranged to reduce errors due to human factors. As part of a design of IBS(Integrated Bridge System) standard, rules of the conning display to save time and additional movements to obtain important informations of a ship should be established as soon as possible. In the present study, ergonomic design factors for the conning display are studied through the survey of related works, heuristic evaluations, sketch method tests as well as questionnaires. Using these factors, new conning display was designed and the ergonomic indices were evaluated by comparing tests of the existing conning displays. It is found that the designed conning display obtained high ergonomic index showed better performance, therefore, the ergonomic index studied in the present paper can be used as a useful design standard in the conning display design procedures.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.183-196
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• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this research was to assess the agreement between job physical risk factor analysis by ergonomists using ergonomic methods and physical examinations made by occupational physicians on the presence of musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities. Background: Ergonomics is the systematic application of principles concerned with the design of devices and working conditions for enhancing human capabilities and optimizing working and living conditions. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent injuries and physical and emotional stress. The major types of ergonomic injuries and incidents are cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs), acute strains, sprains, and system failures. Minimization of use of excessive force and awkward postures can help to prevent such injuries Method: Initial data were collected as part of a larger study by the University of Utah Ergonomics and Safety program field data collection teams and medical data collection teams from the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (RMCOEH). Subjects included 173 male and female workers, 83 at Beehive Clothing (a clothing plant), 74 at Autoliv (a plant making air bags for vehicles), and 16 at Deseret Meat (a meat-processing plant). Posture and effort levels were analyzed using a software program developed at the University of Utah (Utah Ergonomic Analysis Tool). The Ergonomic Epicondylitis Model (EEM) was developed to assess the risk of epicondylitis from observable job physical factors. The model considers five job risk factors: (1) intensity of exertion, (2) forearm rotation, (3) wrist posture, (4) elbow compression, and (5) speed of work. Qualitative ratings of these physical factors were determined during video analysis. Personal variables were also investigated to study their relationship with epicondylitis. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association between risk factors and symptoms of epicondyle pain. Results: Results of this study indicate that gender, smoking status, and BMI do have an effect on the risk of epicondylitis but there is not a statistically significant relationship between EEM and epicondylitis. Conclusion: This research studied the relationship between an Ergonomic Epicondylitis Model (EEM) and the occurrence of epicondylitis. The model was not predictive for epicondylitis. However, it is clear that epicondylitis was associated with some individual risk factors such as smoking status, gender, and BMI. Based on the results, future research may discover risk factors that seem to increase the risk of epicondylitis. Application: Although this research used a combination of questionnaire, ergonomic job analysis, and medical job analysis to specifically verify risk factors related to epicondylitis, there are limitations. This research did not have a very large sample size because only 173 subjects were available for this study. Also, it was conducted in only 3 facilities, a plant making air bags for vehicles, a meat-processing plant, and a clothing plant in Utah. If working conditions in other kinds of facilities are considered, results may improve. Therefore, future research should perform analysis with additional subjects in different kinds of facilities. Repetition and duration of a task were not considered as risk factors in this research. These two factors could be associated with epicondylitis so it could be important to include these factors in future research. Psychosocial data and workplace conditions (e.g., low temperature) were also noted during data collection, and could be used to further study the prevalence of epicondylitis. Univariate analysis methods could be used for each variable of EEM. This research was performed using multivariate analysis. Therefore, it was difficult to recognize the different effect of each variable. Basically, the difference between univariate and multivariate analysis is that univariate analysis deals with one predictor variable at a time, whereas multivariate analysis deals with multiple predictor variables combined in a predetermined manner. The univariate analysis could show how each variable is associated with epicondyle pain. This may allow more appropriate weighting factors to be determined and therefore improve the performance of the EEM.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.57-63
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• 2005

Ergonomic intervention techniques were adopted to assess and control potential risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) in the automated light assembly manufacturing system. Ten different kinds of assembly workstations implemented with a conveyor system and twelve female workers were observed and evaluated with careful video film analysis. Several close examinations using sets of checklists established by qualified safety and health organizations, such as NIOSH, OSHA, and ANSI, were conducted and every workers and staffs in the site participated in the self-report questionnaires and off-line interviews. Typical risk factors and symptoms of the upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders were found and categorized into specific parts of body. To reduce risk factors of WMSDs and improve system productivity new revised workstation standards, physical dimensions, were suggested accordant with anthropometric characteristics of workers and a heuristic decision strategy of rotating shift work schedules according to work contents has proposed to mitigate cumulative physical stress. Finally, ergonomic programs of entire company to prevent WMSDs were structured.

• Bulletin of the Korean Institute for Industrial Safety
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2003

In recent years, work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are one of major issues in occupational safety and health in Korea, since the number of injured workers has rapidly increased and the related regulation was amended to improve the work conditions. Main risk factors of WMSDs in Korean industries include manual handling of heavy weight loads, awkward postures, repetitive tasks, prolonged static muscle contraction, and so on. in this article, some ergonomics case studies for identifying the risk factors of WMSDs and far their prevention were introduced. They include a biomechanical analysis for the heavy-weight handling task in a machine-repair shop, physiological evaluation of backpack-carrying tasks in a beverage delivery job, and a set of psychophysical studies to evaluate static-postural load. These studies showed that there are several different ergonomic approaches to identifying and evaluating risk factors of WMSDs and to eliminating them or reducing their levels, and that it is important to select proper methods and apply them in improving the work conditions according to the characteristics of the task. In addition, it needs to develop practical and effective ergonomic tools to prevent WMSDs and to provide these tools to the safety managers in the field so that they can improve the tasks by themselves.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.31-38
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• 2020

The study evaluated the accuracy and intra-rater reliability for OWAS (Ovako Working posture Analysing System), RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment), REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) to improve their evaluation accuracy and reliability. Participants (n = 163) with undergraduate degree were recruited in this study and trained for 6 hours about the ergonomic assessment methods. Ergonomic assessments were conducted using OWAS, RULA, and REBA for a representative work with dynamic posture found in manufacturing industries. The study compared action categories (overall level) and detailed evaluation scores for individual body part. Action categories of the participants significantly differed from the golden reference defined by ergonomic experts. The participants underrated or omitted scores for truck (37.4% of the participants) and legs (52.8%) in OWAS. Similarly, the participants underrated or omitted additional scores for all body parts except the hand and wrist in RULA (53.5%) and REBA (54.8%). On the other hand, the participants overrated scores for the hand and wrist in RULA (55.2%) and REBA (39.9%). The results found in this study can help of selecting focus points and parts during assessment and education to improve accuracy and reliability of the ergonomic assessment methods.