• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제8권4호
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• pp.378-385
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• 2017

Background: The present rapid shift of industrialization from developed to developing countries requires developing countries to understand issues related to work organization, management, and working conditions. There are many factors slackening production, of which working conditions is part. A complete inquiry into the workers' working conditions can enable managements to reduce risks in the workplaces and improve productivity. Understanding and awareness of the benefits of workplace research and a probe into the working conditions in the Ugandan apparel assembly plants are urgently required. Methods: A total of 103 (70 women and 33 men) workers from five different plants were interviewed. Together with the top management of various plants, questionnaires about the workers' opinions of their physical working conditions were prepared. Data was collected using two methods: (1) questionnaire; and (2) observation of the workers during their work. Results: The results indicated that poor plant working conditions were mainly contributed by the workers' social factors and the management policies. Conclusion: The government, together with the management, should work to improve the working conditions in the apparel assembly plants, as it greatly affects both.

• 대한인간공학회지
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• 제34권5호
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• pp.541-548
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• 2015

Objective: We introduce a hand gesture segmentation method using a wrist-worn wearable device which can recognize simple gestures of clenching and unclenching ones' fist. Background: There are many types of smart watches and fitness bands in the markets. And most of them already adopt a gesture interaction to provide ease of use. However, there are many cases in which the malfunction is difficult to distinguish between the user's gesture commands and user's daily life motion. It is needed to develop a simple and clear gesture segmentation method to improve the gesture interaction performance. Method: At first, we defined the gestures of making a fist (start of gesture command) and opening one's fist (end of gesture command) as segmentation gestures to distinguish a gesture. The gestures of clenching and unclenching one's fist are simple and intuitive. And we also designed a single gesture consisting of a set of making a fist, a command gesture, and opening one's fist in order. To detect segmentation gestures at the bottom of the wrist, we used a wrist strap on which an array of infrared sensors (emitters and receivers) were mounted. When a user takes gestures of making a fist and opening one's a fist, this changes the shape of the bottom of the wrist, and simultaneously changes the reflected amount of the infrared light detected by the receiver sensor. Results: An experiment was conducted in order to evaluate gesture segmentation performance. 12 participants took part in the experiment: 10 males, and 2 females with an average age of 38. The recognition rates of the segmentation gestures, clenching and unclenching one's fist, are 99.58% and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: Through the experiment, we have evaluated gesture segmentation performance and its usability. The experimental results show a potential for our suggested segmentation method in the future. Application: The results of this study can be used to develop guidelines to prevent injury in auto workers at mission assembly plants.