• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.53-58
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• 2017

The rebound hammer test and the measurement of ultrasonic pulse velocity(UPV) have been widely used for the physical properties & condition evaluation of reinforced & prestressed concrete structures for a long time, but the acoustoelastic effects by the prestressing in the prestressed concrete structures on the rebound number and ultrasonic pulse velocity have not been studied clearly. Therefore, this study investigated the data distribution of the rebound numbers and ultrasonic pulse velocities in reinforced and prestressed concrete slabs of $3000{\times}3000mm$ with a thickness of 250 mm. Also, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test was done in order to identify statistical consistency and reliability. The statistical analysis results show that the rebound number and ultrasonic pulse velocities increased about 1.9% and 2.5%, respectively when prestressing was applied. As expected, the UPV shows better statistical reliability and potential for in situ evaluation than the RB because the RB are more sensitive to testing posture, surface condition, temperature and humidity so on. The experimental data in this study can be used for the condition assessment of reinforced and prestressed concrete structures by the rebound number and ultrasonic pulse velocity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2017

This study was intended to find methods of fire extinguishing system designs that can improve the equipment's usability. In this study, the fire suppression experiment through fire extinguishers and the data drawn through the experiment were analyzed, and then the guideline for the improvement of designs was presented. The procedure is as follows. A fire suppression experiment with the use of fire extinguishers was done by 43 average adults. The whole process of the fire suppression was videotaped, and then captured major scenes were analyzed with the use of RULA, a human engineering measurement tool. The analyzed data were divided into 4 steps, and then the guideline for design improvement was presented. The summary of the study is as follows. Step 1, Fire extinguisher distance step. To reduce overload occurring at the process of holding fire extinguishers suddenly, wheels are attached to the body of extinguishers, or pedestals are installed. Step 2, Fire extinguisher transportation step. The length of hose is extended, or fire fighting water is sprayed far, so that overload of legs occurring at the process of travel can be reduced. In addition, the weight of fire extinguisher shouldn't be over 2 kg. Step 3, Safety pin removal stage. Safety pins should be applied with button type, so that excessive posture of lower limbs and excessive twisting of wrists won't happen during safety pin removal process. Besides, safety pins should be designed for easy identification and operation. Step 4, Fire extinguishing agent spraying step. To reduce overload occurring at sudden spraying of fire fighting water, pressure should be increased gradually until high pressure. With the above study results applied to existing fire extinguisher design, it may contribute to reducing any fire damage.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.325-341
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• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this study is to suggest the guidelines of operation phases to minimize injuries and musculoskeletal disorders in manual material handling (MMH) tasks through literature reviews. The guidelines are presented as the preparing phase, lifting phase, carrying phase, and lowering phase. Also, we summarized the non-numerical general guidelines for MMH tasks. Background: Manual material handling is still a main cause to musculoskeletal disorders. Method: Procedures of a literature review are classified into database selection, keyword search, title review, abstract review related to literature selection, guideline review and arrangement. A total 48 papers and books were analyzed in detail by title and abstract reviews. Results: In the preparing phase, we suggested the basic conditions in MMH, preparing procedure, clothing and protective equipment, and education. In the lifting and carrying phases, we recommended maximal acceptable weight by frequency and body posture. In the lowering phase, we suggested the lowest weight and safety body postures. Finally, we recommended general guidelines and guideline items for MMH. General guidelines are presented to suggest worker selection, technical education, and work design parts. Conclusion: We suggested the guidelines on the four operation phases of MMH tasks such as preparing, lifting, carrying, and lowering phases. Application: The findings of this study can be utilized as guidelines for proactive recommendations according to workers in MMH tasks.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.211-216
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• 2010

Fire service personnel and ambulance paramedics suffer musculoskeletal disorders as they lift and carry patients while performing Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The objective of the current study was performed to examine the association between working environment and musculoskeletal disorders of 119 paramedics and to analysis the EMS activities for them through basic survey (including task characteristics, risk factors, symptoms and illnesses). Observational job analysis of EMS activities indicated the squatting posture during first-aid performed on floor and the abrupt use of force during carrying heavy load including stretcher with patients on as hazard factors, and excessive low back twisting and bending during stairway transfer was observed. In addition, work-physiological assessment revealed various but rather high lumbar muscle usage rate among the study subjects, being 14.6~32.8% compared with Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC) during patients transfer work. Resting heart rate showed 65/min, on the other hand, heart rate on mobilization indicated maximum 124~156/min. Therefore, the results of analysis to the EMS activities, rescuer activities and medical tasks were accompanied with high possibility of accident and musculoskeletal disorders. Also, EMS activities indicated high muscle fatigue and energy consumption, and accumulated muscle fatigue with during continued work.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.511-516
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• 2016

Guaranteeing the safety of human workers around robots has become an important issue with the increasing demand for human-robot collaboration in industrial production lines. This study proposes a robot manipulator equipped with a counterbalancing mechanism that reduces the power of actuators required to drive the robot, thus keeping a human worker safer in a human-robot collaborative environment. A counterbalancing torque that exactly cancels out the gravitational torque in the proposed mechanism is generated by restoring the force of a spring in the counterbalancing mechanism. A prototype design and experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of smartphone usage and posture of users during using smartphone. A survey was conducted for 983 smartphone users to understand the association between smartphone usage and including subjective symptoms associated with musculoskeletal disorders. Main results from the survey were as follows; 1) 18.8% of the subjects experienced musculoskeletal symptoms at least at one of body parts. Specifically, 8.1%, 5.6%, 4.1%, and 11.3% of the subjects experienced musculoskeletal symptoms at neck, shoulder, elbow, and hand respectively, 2) The symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders were also associated with amount of text message and time for daily usage of smartphone. Specifically, relative risks of musculoskeletal disorders at hand/wrist/fingers in terms of "amount of text message" and "time for daily usage" for experienced user were 1.425 and 1.368 respectively to inexperienced user. This study identified 'amount of text message' and 'time for daily usage' as the major risk factors of smartphone usage in terms of musculoskeletal symptoms. The results of the study provided a good basis in order to remove or reduce the risks associated with musculoskeletal symptoms due to smartphone usage.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.40-49
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• 2017

This study presents an online estimation of an excavator's rotational inertia by using recursive least square with forgetting. It is difficult to measure rotational inertia in real systems. Against this background, online estimation of rotational inertia is essential for improving safety and automation of construction equipment such as excavators because changes in inertial parameter impact dynamic characteristics. Regarding an excavator, rotational inertia for swing motion may change significantly according to working posture and digging conditions. Hence, rotational inertia estimation by predicting swing motion is critical for enhancing working safety and automation. Swing velocity and damping coefficient were used for rotational inertia estimation in this study. Updating rules are proposed for enhancing convergence performance by using the damping coefficient and forgetting factors. The proposed estimation algorithm uses three forgetting factors to estimate time-varying rotational inertia, damping coefficient, and torque with different variation rates. Rotational inertia in a typical working scenario was considered for reasonable performance evaluation. Three simulations were conducted by considering several digging conditions. Presented estimation results reveal the proposed estimation scheme is effective for estimating varying rotational inertia of the excavator.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2013

Crane operators usually work with their necks bent forward in a seating position for a long period. They have complained of their musculoskeletal stress at their necks. The objective of this study was to find the level of stress at the neck when crane operators bend their neck forward during their work. Experiments were conducted in the laboratory where subjects bent their necks forward for 1 minute and took a rest for 0.5 minute and repeated this performance for 60 minutes. Subjective evaluation using Borg's CR-10 scale and electromyography (EMG) were used to check the level of the stress at the neck. Subjects reported that the level of pain at the end of 60 min. experiment was close to the extreme pain(level 8.95). The EMG level(amplitude) increased 80% on the average and the center frequency of EMG shifted to the lower frequency level which indicated fatigue of neck muscles. Thus, it was found that there is quite much neck stress for crane operators when they maintain their neck posture of bending forward for a long time during their work. This information will be a basis in searching for an intervention measure for the crane operators' neck stress.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.93-105
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate drivers' postures in different car pedal systems and skilled levels under fatigue. Twenty four subjects participated in this experiment. For three-dimensional analyses, six cameras (Proreflex MCU-240, Qualisys) were used to acquire raw data. The parameters were calculated and analyzed with Visual-3D. In conclusion, ROAs of two leg-pedal system were less than one leg pedal system by pattern analysis. Through statistical tests, skilled levels have effects on ROAs(X, Y, Z) of ankle joint at breaking a pedal and ROAs(Y, Z) of ankle joint at accelerating a pedal. Also, car pedal systems have effects on ROAs(Y, Z) of ankle joint, and ROA(Z) of knee joint at accelerating a pedal. In addition, skilled levels and car pedal systems (cross effects) have an effect on ROA(Z) of ankle joint. These findings suggested that we should improve a present single pedal system.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.254-260
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• 2023

A sensor system has been developed that uses an ultrasonic sensor to detect the downhill slope on the side of a forest road and prevents a vehicle-type forest machine from rolling down a mountainside. A specular reflection of ultrasonic wave might cause severe issues in measuring distances to targets. By investigating the installation angle of the sensor to minimize the negative effects of specular reflection, the installation angle of lateral monitoring ultrasonic sensor could be determined based on the width of road shoulder. Obstacles such as small rocks or piece of log in a forest road may cause the forest machine to be overturned while the machine riding over due to excessive its posture change. It was determined that the laser sensor could be a part of a sensor system capable of specifying the location and size of small obstacles. Not only this sensor system including ultrasonic and laser sensors can issue a warning of dangerous sections to drivers in forest forwarders currently in use, but also it can be used as a driving safety sensor in autonomous forest machine or remote-control forest machine in the future.