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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied ergonomics Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. 525 - 534
Main Authors: de Looze, M.P., Urlings, I.J.M., Vink, P., van Rhijn, J.W., Miedema, M.C., Bronkhorst, R.E., van der Grinten, M.P.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2001
Elsevier
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects:
Applied physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Case studies
Equipment Design
Ergonomics
Ergonomics - methods
Ergonomics. Work place. Occupational physiology
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology
Humans
Manual materials handling
Medical sciences
Musculoskeletal Diseases - prevention & control
Occupational health
Occupations
Participatory ergonomics
Physical load
Product development
Stress
Stress, Physiological - prevention & control
Work - physiology
Workload
Physical load
Product development
Manual materials handling
Participatory ergonomics
Human
Musculoskeletal diseases
Participation
Lumbar spine
Diseases of the osteoarticular system
Manual activity
Occupational exposure
Stress
Workload
Prevention
Improvement
Ergonomics
Shoulder
Risk factor
Worker
Working condition
Handling
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Summary: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 itself, but also on the process of product development and implementation. In this paper, seven cases are described where products have been developed to reduce the physical load on scaffolders, bricklayers, bricklayer's assistants, roofworkers, aircraft loaders, glaziers and assembly line workers. These products are described with special reference to the physical load problem in the occupational task, the process of product development, the nature of the product, the potential effects on physical load and the opinion of workers. From these cases, a list of key factors in product development contributing to the success of a product is composed. These concern among others a direct participation of workers, a wide analysis of risks, an analysis of potential negative side effects, and a systematic stepwise approach.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Case Study-3
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 23
ObjectType-Review-1
ObjectType-Feature-5
ObjectType-Report-2
ObjectType-Article-4
ISSN:0003-6870
1872-9126
DOI:10.1016/S0003-6870(01)00018-7