• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.749-755
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• 2011

Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the reducing effect of workload on developed electro-motion scissors. Methods: To achieve this, we measured the pressure distribution, Joint angle of fingers and JSI(Job Strain Index) for electro-motion scissors and hand-operated scissor in objective assessment and surveyed the uncomfortable degree in subjective assessment. Results: As a result, The peak of pressure in the electro-motion scissors was generally lower than the hand-operated scissors. JSI and overall joint angle of fingers for the electro-motion scissors were remarkably lower than the hand-operated scissors. Also, the subjective uncomfortable degree showed that the uncomfortable point of electro-motion scissors were generally lower than the hand operated scissors. Conclusion: The impact of reducing the work load as well as distributing the pressure around the hand by using electro-motion scissors during grapes pinching was confirmed.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.371-378
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• 2014

Manual materials handling tasks are the main risk factors for the work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Many assistant tools for manual materials handling are being used in various kind of industries. One of them is a 4-wheeled cart which is widely used in manufacturing factories, hospitals, etc. The major force required to control the 4-wheeled cart is pushing and pulling. There are two types of handles being used for the 4-wheeled cart : vertical type (two vertical handles), and horizontal type (one horizontal handle). This study tried to investigate the pushing forces and subjective discomforts (hand/writst, shoulder, low back, and overall) of the two handle types with different handle height and distance conditions. Twelve healthy male students (mean age = 23.4 years) participated in the experiment. The independent variables were handle angle (horizontal, vertical), handle height (low, medium, high), and handle distance (narrow, medium, wide). The full factorial design was used for the experiment and the maximum pushing forces were measured in 18 different conditions ($2{\times}3{\times}3$). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure was conducted to test the effects of the independent variables on the pushing force and discomfort levels. Handle height and angle were found to be the critical design factors that affect the maximal pushing forces and subjective discomfort. In the middle height, subjects exerted higher pushing forces, and experience lower discomfort levels compared to the high, and low height. There was no statistical influence of the handle distance to the pushing forces and subjective discomfort levels. It was found out that the effects of the handle angle (horizontal and vertical) on both pushing force and subjective discomfort were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The vertical handle revealed higher pushing force and lower discomfort level than the horizontal handle. The reason for that was thought to be the different postures of the hand when grasping the handles. The horizontal handle induced pronaton of the hand and made hand posture more deviated from the neutral position.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.164-170
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• 2005

Purpose: The present study attempted to find subjective musculoskeletal symptoms of operating room nurses (OR nurses) and then to use them as basic data for prevention and management of musculoskeletal symptoms of OR nurses. Method: This study was an exploratory research, and data were collected from OR nurses working in 8 polyclinics in Korea from July 26 to August 19, 2004, using a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire contains items concerned with subjective musculoskeletal symptoms include ones with the presence of symptoms and with the degree of discomfort, in the joints such as neck, shoulder, arm/elbow, hand/wrist/finger and waist. For data collection, the aim of the study was explained to the operating room managers to obtain their help, and these questionnaires were sent to hospitals, and were retrieved by post. 271(90.3%) questionnaires were returned among those sent to 300 nurses. 249 questionnaires excluding 22 insufficient ones such as no response were used for data analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 12.0. Subjective musculoskeletal symptoms were analyzed in the number and percentage. Result: 187(75.1%) nurses said they 'had' subjective musculoskeletal symptoms and 62 (24.9%) said they had 'nothing'. 130(52.2%), 125 (50.2%), 113 (45.4%), 86(34.5%), and 42 (16.9%) nurses had subjective musculoskeletal symptoms in waist, shoulder, hand/wrist/finger, neck, and arm/elbow, respectively. 51(27.3%) and 136 (72.7%) nurses complained of the pain in one site, and in two or more sites, respectively. In particular, 51% and 47.4% nurses said that they were 'discomforted' due to the pain in waist and in shoulder, respectively. Conclusion: Subjective musculoskeletal symptoms which OR nurses complained of were significant. This may cause difficulty in nursing tasks in the operating room. So various arrangements have to be made for OR nurse with subjective musculoskeletal symptoms at an early stage.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.209-215
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to determine whether there are differences in hand muscle activities (APB : abductor pollicis brevis, ED : extensor digitorum, ECU : extensor carpi ulnaris, and EI : extensor indicis) and subjective discomfort according to the three mouse sizes (small, medium, large) and two task types (pointing and scrolling). The mouse size and task type showed significant interaction effects on the total NEMG (p = 0.004) and on the NEMG of the abductor pollicis brevis muscle (p = 0.001). The total NEMG and the NEMG of APB showed the highest value in the 'scrolling' task using the 'small' mouse. However, the NEMG of the EI was different according to the mouse size, and the 'small' mouse showed the lowest value. The subjective discomfort was the lowest in the 'medium' mouse, and all nine subjects preferred the 'medium' size. The hand-size related anthropometric variables showed different correlations according to the task type and mouse size with the NEMGs and subjective discomfort. The results of this study could be used as a basic information for the determination of the proper mouse size according to the hand size.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.469-474
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to develop an ergonomic design of magic saw handle considering user experiences. Background: Frequent use of hand tool can cause musculoskeletal disorders by inadequate wrist posture, excessive strength, repetitiveness, friction and pressure, vibration, etc. A hand tool that is inappropriately designed has higher risk causing musculoskeletal disorders. Complaints for the design of magic saw handle has been raised by many users according to the increasing use of magic saw. Method: Hand tool has to be designed considering worker's characteristics and task condition to prevent worker's musculoskeletal disorders. For this, user experiences for magic saw handle were measured through questionnaire survey and observation. Results: An ergonomic design of magic saw handle considering user experiences was proposed and then its design suitability was evaluated in comparison with the existing handle design using EMG and subjective evaluation. Conclusion: The proposed handle design showed higher satisfaction and lower muscular fatigue. Application: The results of this study can be effectively used to develop a new magic saw.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.173-178
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• 2000

Subjective correspondence among visual variables, auditory variables and vibratory feedback to a hand was experimentally examined to improve usability of a remote controller. First, we studied the correspondence among visual variables represented on a screen or auditory variables and the duration of vibratory stimulus to the subjects' hand by subjective evaluation. Subjective rating method was used in ten items; suitability, comprehensibility, ease-to-use, naturalness, variety, activity, usualness, interest, wish-to-use and feeling of pleasure. Second, to show the effects of multi-modal interface using visual sense, the sense of auditory and vibratory sense, we combined positive stereotype of visual variables and auditory variables provided with the first experiment. The results showed some stereotype between visual variables or auditory variables and duration of vibratory stimulus. Some of the variables such as size, direction of motion, hue, brightness of color and volume of sound had high correspondence with the duration of vibration.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.429-439
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• 2000

This study was aimed to investigate the handle and mechanical properties of silk woven fabrics according to the fabric structure and yarn types 56 male and female students evaluated 16 black specimens with semantic differential scale of 20 hand adjectives. Mechanical parameters such as surface properties, bending properties and compression properties were tested using by KES-FS system. Data were analyzed through factor analysis, pearson correlation coefficient and t-test using PC SAS package. The results were as follows: The hand adjectives were grouped as 4 'surface roughness', 'flexibility', ;sense of thermal', and 'dryness'. 'Surface roughness' was highly sensed at satin fabrics of hard-twist yarn, noil yarn and spun yarn, while it was not at the fabrics of normal satin and twill at all. 'Flexibility' was reverse to 'surface roughness'. Thermal sense was felt highly at satin fabrics of noil-yarn, while low at plain fabrics of normal yarn. 'Dryness' was high at satin fabrics of hard-twist yarn and while it was low at normal satin fabrics. Predicted equations for subjective hand from mechanical properties of fabrics were developed using Stevens's law and stepwise regression and the coefficients of determination were high.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1108-1118
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of hand acupuncture therapy on sleep quality by means of a sleep questionnaire, polysomnography and a cerebral blood flow test in $30{\sim}59$ year old adults. Methods: The study was a sham controlled design. Twenty-two adults were assigned to the pellet stimulating group (11) or sham group (11). The pellet stimulating group received hand acupuncture therapy using New Seoam Press Pellets number 1 for 4 weeks. On the other hand, the sham group used the same Adhesive tape in terms of shape, size and quality as New Seoam Press Pellets number 1 for 4 weeks. A Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography and Carotid Duplex Ultrasonography examination were used for evaluating cerebral blood flow. Data was analyzed using the SPSS 12.0 version program with $X^2-test$, Fisher's exact test and Mann Whitney U-test. Results: In the pellet stimulating group, subjective sleep quality significantly improved more than that of the sham group. Among the sleep indices of the polysomnography, total sleep time and sleep latency of the sham group significantly improved. The cerebral blood flow test didn't show any differences. Conclusion: These results suggest that hand acupuncture therapy is effective for subjective sleep improvement only, not polysomnographical sleep indices and cerebral blood flow.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2009

The directions of the road are divided into two, the right-hand side and left-hand side of the road, by the convention and specific native method in the world. This paper deals with the characteristics and behaviors of drivers who are accustomed to driving on right-hand side of the road, drive with a handle on the left-hand side, and comparing with left-hand side drivers. The driver's eye movements were measured by eye camera and questionnaires were used for measuring subjective evaluation such as driving mental workload. The experimental results indicated even if the experts who had much experience on right-hand side driving, they had lower driving skill than novice driver, accustomed to driving on left-hand side. In terms of mental workload, MCH rating scale and MNASA-TLX, the right-hand side drivers were in lower stress condition than the left-hand side drivers because of having much driving experience. However, they conducted a few mistakes by confusing the position of turn signal and windshield wiper because of their driving habit or traits and it lead to operation mistakes. These results can be applied effectively to develop the driving support information with changed environments.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.59-65
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• 2007

In this study, six grip spans (45mm-65mm) were tested to evaluate the effects of handle grip span and user's hand size on maximum grip strength, individual finger force, and subjective ratings of comfort using a digital dynamometer with individual force sensors. Forty-six males were assigned into three hand size groups according to their hand lengths. Results showed that overall 55mm and 50mm grip spans were the most comfortable sizes and associated with the highest grip strength in the maximum grip force exertions, whereas 65mm grip span was rated as the least comfortable size as well as the lowest grip strength. In the interaction effect of grip span and hand size, small and middle hand sized participants rated the best preference and the least preference grip spans differently with large hand sized participants. With respect to the analysis of individual finger force, the middle finger force was the strongest and the highest contribution to the total finger force, followed by ring, index and little fingers. In addition, it was noted that each finger had a different optimal grip span for exerting maximum force resulting in a bowed contoured shaped handle for two-handle hand tools. Thus, the grip spans for two-handle hand tools might be designed according to the users' hand and finger anthropometrics to maximize performance and subjective perception of comfort.