Artifacts annotations in anesthesia blood pressure data by man and machine

Physiologic data from anesthesia monitors are automatically captured. Yet erroneous data are stored in the process as well. While this is not interfering with clinical care, research can be affected. Researchers should find ways to remove artifacts. The aim of the present study was to compare different artifact annotation strategies, and to...

Development of a non-expert risk assessment method for hand-arm related tasks (HARM)

To support health and safety practitioners in their obligation of risk assessment the 'Hand Arm Risk Assessment Method' (HARM) was developed. This tool can be used by any type of company for risk assessment of developing arm, neck or shoulders symptoms (pain) resulting from light manual tasks.This paper describes the development of HARM1.0. A...

Office task effects on comfort and body dynamics in five dynamic office chairs

In the present study, we investigated the effect of office tasks on posture and movements in field settings, and the comfort rating for chair characteristics and correlation with type of task. The tasks studied were: computer work, telephoning, desk work and conversation. Postures, movements, chair part inclinations and comfort rating data were...

Electromyographical manifestations of muscle fatigue during different levels of simulated light manual assembly work

The purpose of this study was to determine whether objective electromyographical manifestations of muscle fatigue develop in the upper trapezius muscle in two assembly tasks involving contractions of different low-intensity levels (8% and 12% MVC) and whether these indications of fatigue are homogeneously distributed across different muscle...

The effects of mechanised equipment on physical load among road workers and floor layers in the construction industry

This study describes the impact of the use of mechanised equipment on physical load and workers' health among road workers and floor layers by comparing the traditional manual work method with frequently occurring scenarios of use of this new equipment. Continuous direct measurements of postures were linked to real-time observations of tasks and...

One set of pliers for more tasks in installation work: The effects on (dis)comfort and productivity

In installation work, the physical workload is high. Awkward postures, heavy lifting and repetitive movements are often seen. To improve aspects of the work situation, frequently used pliers were redesigned to make them suitable for more cutting tasks. In this study these multitask pliers are evaluated in comparison to the originally used pliers...

Influence of inspiratory resistance on performance during graded exercise tests on a cycle ergometer

Due to more stringent requirements to protect personnel against hazardous gasses, the inspiratory resistance of the present generation of respiratory protective devices tends to increase. Therefore an important question is to what extent inspiratory resistance may increase without giving problems during physical work. In this study the effects...

Gender differences in the relations between work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors and musculoskeletal complaints

Gender differences in the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints might be explained by differences in the effect of exposure to work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors. A systematic review was conducted to examine gender differences in the relations between these risk factors and musculoskeletal complaints. Several electronic...

High physical and psychological load at work and sickness absence due to neck pain

Objectives This study investigates the relationship between physical and psychosocial load at work and sickness absence due to neck pain. Methods A prospective cohort study with a follow-up period of 3 years (1994-1998) was performed among a working population. At the beginning of the study, physical load at work was quantified by means of video...

Towards successful physical stress reducing products: An evaluation of seven cases

Lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling at work are assumed to be related to increased risks of musculoskeletal injury, mainly in the low back and shoulder region. The implementation of products to reduce the physical load in heavy work is a well-known strategy to attack this problem. The success of these products depends not only on the product...

Fault management in supervisory control: The effect of false alarms and support

Automation has changed the role of human operators from direct manual control to supervision. Their main task is to monitor whether system performance remains within pre-specified ranges and intervention is only required in unusual situations. One of the consequences is a loss of situation awareness, which significantly affects performance in...

Do you think that your health or safety are at risk because of your work? A large European study on psychological and physical work demands

A secondary analysis was performed on a large scale cross-sectional survey (n = 12,500) by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The analysis investigates (1) 'strain', i.e. whether or not employees in 12 European Union (EU) member states considered their health or safety to be at risk because of their...