There is a growing population of older people around the world and the population of older drivers is increasing in parallel. UK government figures in 2012 reported that there were more than 15 million people with a driving license aged over 60; more than 1 million of these were over 80. The aim of this thesis is to determine the requirements of older users for an improved driving experience leading to recommendations for the automotive industry. Initially it was necessary to understand some of the key issues concerning the driving experiences of older drivers; therefore a questionnaire survey of drivers of all ages (n=903) was conducted supplemented by interviews with drivers aged ≥ 65 years (n=15). Areas covered included: musculoskeletal symptoms, the vehicle seat, driving performance and driving behaviour. Respondents reported that they were dissatisfied with adjusting specific seat features, for example the head rest height and distance from the head; females reported more difficulty than males. Reaching and pulling the boot door down to close was difficult for 12% of older females. Older males and females also reported more difficulties with parallel parking and driving on a foggy day than younger drivers (p < 0.01). Nearly half of the sample (47%) reported that other drivers lights restrict their vision when driving at night. An in depth study was conducted to compare participants own vehicle (familiar) and a test vehicle (unfamiliar) to understand how design of the vehicle cab impacts on posture, comfort, health and wellbeing in older drivers (n=47, ≥ 50 years). The study involved functional performance assessments, seat set-up process evaluation (observations and postural analysis), ergonomics and emotional design based evaluations of car seat controls. Many issues were identified related to the seat controls such as operating, accessing, reaching and finding, particularly for the head rest height and lumbar support adjustments. Approximately 40% of the participants had difficulty turning their head and body around to adjust the head rest height, and the majority of these were over 80. This led to a series of workshops (including a participatory design exercise) with 18 participants (4 groups, ≥ 65 years).The aim was to explore the optimum positioning and operation of controls for older drivers. This research has provided foundational data and makes design recommendations for the automotive industry with a focus on making seat controls more inclusive (operation, location, type, size, colour and materials) and meet the requirements of older drivers.

With more legislation being enforced to achieve a reduction in road transport CO2 emissions, automotive companies are having to research and develop technologies that deliver greener driving . Whilst emissions from passenger vehicles have dropped over recent years, there has been an increase in emissions from light commercial vehicles (LCVs). The nature of LCV delivery work is a routine of ingress/egress of the vehicle, changing from a standing to a seated posture repetitively throughout the day. One research focus is packaging occupants in to a smaller vehicle space, in order to reduce the amount of vehicle emissions over its lifecycle. For LCVs, benefits from space saving technology could be an increase in overall loading space (with the same vehicle length) or a reduction in the overall length/weight of the vehicle. Furthermore, an elevated seat posture could reduce the strain on drivers during ingress/egress, as it is closer than that of a conventional seat to a standing posture. Whilst space saving technology has obvious benefits, current driving conventions and standards are not inclusive of new and novel seated postures when packaging a driver in to a vehicle. The fundamental purpose of a vehicle driver s seat is to be comfortable and safe for the occupant and to facilitate driving. It has been shown that a seat needs both good static and dynamic factors to contribute to overall seat comfort. Additionally, comfortable body angles have been identified and ratified by studies investigating comfortable driving postures; however, this knowledge only applies to conventional driving postures. For an elevated posture , defined as having the driver s knee point below the hip point, there is little research or guidance. The overall aim of this thesis is to identify the ergonomic requirements of a wide anthropometric range of drivers in an elevated driving posture for LCVs, which was investigated using a series of laboratory based experiments. An iterative fitting trial was designed to identify key seat parameters for static comfort in an elevated posture seat. The results showed that in comparison with a conventional seat: Seat base length was preferred to be shorter (380mm compared with 460mm); Seat base width was preferred to be wider (560mm compared with 480mm); Backrest height was preferred to be longer (690mm compared with 650mm). These findings provided a basis for a seat design specification for an elevated posture concept seat, which was tested in two subsequent laboratory studies. A long-term discomfort evaluation was conducted, using a driving simulator and a motion platform replicating real road vibration. Discomfort scores were collected at 10-minute intervals (50-minutes overall) using a body map and rating scale combination. The results indicated that in comparison with the conventional posture, the elevated posture performed as well, or better (significantly lower discomfort for right shoulder and lower back; p<0.05, two-tailed), in terms of long-term discomfort. Furthermore, the onset of discomfort (i.e. the time taken for localised discomfort ratings to be significantly higher than the baseline ratings reported before the trial) occurred after as little as 10 minutes (conventional posture) and 20 minutes (elevated posture) respectively. A lateral stability evaluation was conducted using low-frequency lateral motion on a motion platform (platform left and right rolls of 14.5°). Stability scores were reported after each sequence of rolls, comparing scores on a newly developed lateral stability scale between three seats: Conventional posture seat; Elevated posture concept seat (EPS1); Elevated posture concept seat with modifications aimed at improving stability (EPS2). Participants reported being more unstable in EPS1, compared with the conventional posture seat (p<0.05, Wilcoxon). However, the EPS2 seat performed equally to the conventional posture seat. These findings suggest that the elevated posture seat developed in this research is a feasible and comfortable alternative to a conventional posture seat. Furthermore, the final elevated seating positions showed that real space saving can be achieved in this posture thus allowing for more compact and lighter vehicles and potentially reducing strain on drivers during ingress/egress.

Human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) plays a crucial role in business success but is particularly vital to the furniture manufacturing industry. Unfortunately, the furniture manufacturing industry suffers from occupational injuries and illnesses resulting from ergonomically poorly designed systems. This thesis’s objective was to better understand HF/E through the furniture manufacturing industry’s managerial knowledge and opinions in order to design more productive, safer, and healthier systems. The study also aimed to raise manager awareness in the industry and introduce the potential HF/E benefits by providing current literature. Sixtyour American furniture manufacturing industry managers participated in a web-based questionnaire survey. The survey revealed that managers’ demographic properties and companies’ characteristics were some factors that affect managers’ awareness, knowledge, and opinions on HF/E. In general, managers were unfamiliar with HF/E and lacked a broad background on and knowledge of HF/E. In addition, companies, particularly small companies, lacked sufficient resources for HF/E.

Les facteurs humains et l’ergonomie (HF/E) sont devenus une discipline scientifique fournissant des contraintes pour la conception d’interaction entre l’homme et le système (le produit). La plupart des études sur HF/E couvrent non seulement les aspects d’ergonomie physique, mais aussi les sciences cognitives et organisationnelle. De nombreux travaux attestent que l’intégration insuffisante d’informations HF/E mène à une conception « pauvre ». Intégrer que ces informations de la phase de conception peuvent améliorer la performance du produit ou du système et de l’expérience utilisateur. Les méthodes existantes pour l’intégration de l’information HF/E (HF/EII) sont catégorisées par deux types de conception : la conception Centrée sur la Technologie (TCD) et la conception Centrée sur l’Utilisateur (UCD). Les méthodes TCD intègrent des informations HF/E dans la phase de conception détaillée ou plus tard, ce qui peut causer des modifications et des itérations de conception. Par contre, les approches UCD prennent en considération les informations HF/E dès la première phase de conception et sont consommatrices de temps à cause de l’intégration des exigences HF/E. L’objectif de cette thèse est de développer une nouvelle méthodologie de conception et un outil pour l’intégration de HF/E dès la première phase de conception dans le but de réduire le temps de conception, notamment en ayant moins de boucles itératives. Au cours de ce travail de recherche, un cadre « fonction-tâche-comportement » (FTB) a été développé, fournissant un guide systématique et détaillé pour l’intégration de HF/E dès la première phase de conception. Une étude de cas est présentée pour valider la faisabilité de la méthode et permettre une assistance pour la mise en œuvre. Ainsi, un module de Centre de Conception d’Interaction (IDC) a été développé et intégré dans un logiciel de CAO pour aider le travail de conception, en fournisant une procédure pratique de mise en œuvre du cadre FTB. Il permet aux concepteurs (1) d’intégrer les exigences fonctionnelles et non fonctionnelles dès la première phase de conception, et (2) de les convertir en des paramètres de conception pour effectuer au mieux le travail de conception. En utilisant le module d’IDC, les modifications et les boucles d’itération de conception peuvent être significativement réduits, fournissant ainsi une expérience utilisateur plus satisfaisante lors du respects les exigences fonctionnelles. De plus, les méthodologies actuelles de génération de solutions de conception s’appuient trop sur l’expérience des concepteurs, c’est pourquoi un « modèle de d’aide à la génération de solution » a commencé à être développé pour produire les solutions de conception recherchées. Différentes approches de résolution de problèmes existent, ce modèle proposé est plus facile à appréhender et à utiliser par les concepteurs. Ce modèle offre une pensée divergente pour la génération de solution de conception basée sur la tâche de conception individuelle. En résumé, dans les conclusions, les contributions majeures et les limitations de notre étude sont présentées et les perspectives de recherche future sont proposées. / Human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) as a scientific discipline provide constraints for the engineering design of human and system (product) interactions. Most existing studies on HF/E cover the specialization of physical, cognitive, and organizational ergonomics. Numerous evidences show that insufficient consideration of HF/E information leads to poor design, and fully considering this information in the design phase can improve both the user experience and system performance. Existing methods for HF/E information integration (HF/EII) can be categorized into two types: Technology-Centred Design (TCD) and User-Centred Design (UCD). TCD methods integrate HF/E information from the detailed design phase or later, which may cause design modifications and iterations. UCD approaches address HF/E information from the early design phase, which are time-consuming for HF/E requirements collection. The objective of this thesis is dedicated to a new design methodology and tool for HF/EII from the early design phase in a systematic, time-saving, less expensive, and less iteration way. In this thesis, a function-task-behaviour framework has been developed, which provides a systematic and detailed guide for HF/EII from the early design phase. A case study has been presented to validate its feasibility, which offers the theoretical support for method implementation. Thus, an Interaction Design Centre (IDC) module was developed and integrated in CAD software to aid the design work, which provides a practical way for the implementation of FTB framework. It enables designers to (1) catch both functional requirements and non-functional requirements from the early design phase, and (2) convert them into design parameters to carry out the design work. By using IDC module, design modifications and iterations due to belated effort for HF/E consideration can be significantly reduced, thereby providing a satisfactory user experience in the case of meeting the functional requirements. Regarding current method of design solution generation overly relies on designers’ experience, a design solution generation model is developed for producing design solution. Different from current problem solving approaches, this model is easy for designers to cognize and operate. It offers a divergent thinking for design solution generation based on the individual design task. Finally, the major contributions and limitations of our study are presented and the future studies are previewed.

Introduction: Falls are the leading cause of death due to injury among the elderly. Every 24 minutes an older adult dies from a fall related injury. Studies using 3 different methods were performed at a large urban, academic medical center in the US. Aim #1: Understand the advantages and disadvantages of QI methodologies (Lean and Six Sigma) and HFE when applied to fall prevention in the acute care setting: o Evaluate the contribution of QI and HFE to fall prevention with a focus on reducing falls with serious injury. o Use studies with different methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma) to develop and implement an intervention with the goal of decreasing total falls and falls with injury. o Compare methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma and HFE) to understand their benefits and limitations. Aim #2: Develop recommendations for fall prevention: o Investigate interventions and assess success of fall prevention. o Develop an understanding of interventions that prevent falls resulting in injury. Methodology and Results: Study #1 (Method = Lean, Intervention = Standard Work): Study #1 used Lean techniques such as standard work to improve fall risk assessment and intervention selection. Total falls decreased by 22%. At first glance this appears successful but a deeper evaluation of the serious injuries revealed more improvement is needed. There were still 15 falls with serious injuries that occurred among the three oncology divisions. These rare but serious injuries result in a longer hospital stay and increased cost of treatment that is not reimbursed. Due to a climate of increasing financial pressure further reduction of serious injury was desired. Study #2 (Method = Six Sigma, Intervention = Patient Partnering: Study #2 used Six Sigma tools to investigate root causes of falls. An intervention called Patient Partnering was developed to encourage patients to call for help and participate in preventing their own falls. There were no falls with serious injury for over 14 consecutive months. However, the intervention was difficult to sustain due to resistance from nurses and patients. Falls with injuries resumed as the intervention ceased. Study #3 (Method = Qualitative HFE, Intervention = Patient Interview): Study #3 was a qualitative study based on Human Factors principles to understand patient s perception of fall risk. It was found that patients did not think they would fall and felt particularly safe and protected while in hospital. They found it difficult to get around with IV tubes and crowed spaces. They wanted information and assistance when they need it, in the format they prefer (customized for each individual patient). Impact on society: Falls prevention interventions need to be designed for all the stakeholders (patients and staff). Patients think nurses will keep them safe and are willing to participate with fall prevention if they feel it is tailored to their needs. Until all perspectives are taken into account it is unlikely that there will be sustained and embedded improvements. Key message: Falls with injury are rare events with complex root causes that require agile solutions with constant revision to align with rapidly changing conditions and interactions. Reducing injury will take a balance between safe environment, organization, processes, tasks and behaviors from staff and patients.

[pt] Veículos autônomos ou Higly Automated Vehicles (HAVs) vêm trazendo novos paradigmas para o campo da ergonomia automotiva. A partir do momento em que motoristas se encontram fora de um loop contínuo de tomada de decisão, suas capacidades de retomada de controle manual do veículo durante situações de emergência são comprometidas. Para mitigar este problema, muitos autores acreditam que um maior entendimento dos padrões de aquisição de informação durante retomadas de controle em automação veicular pode fornecer insumos para a concepção de ferramentas designadas a auxiliar o motorista nesta tarefa, ao fornecer informações relevantes em momentos de necessidade. Baseado nestas questões, esta pesquisa visou categorizar o acesso de motoristas a diferentes informações oferecidas em interfaces de veículos autônomos durante a retomada de controle em diferentes níveis de automação. A pesquisa abordou o problema por meio de experimentos em simuladores de condução, onde motoristas foram expostos a diferentes cenários de retomada de controle, e seu seus padrões de olhar foram avaliados, para se testar a hipótese de que eles geralmente acessam a informação presente na interface apenas durante a retomada de controle em si, para checar o estado do sistema. Os resultados sugerem que o olhar do motorista está sujeito a influência de dois fatores: nível de automação e tarefa desempenhada. Foi observado que uma maior a quantidade de informação oferecida na interface aumenta concentração de olhares do motorista nesta região. Informações ativas sobre o ambiente melhoraram o desempenho do motorista durante as retomadas, porém tal benefício não se refletiu em uma maior usabilidade percebida. / [en] Highly automated vehicles (HAVs) are bringing new perspectives for the field of automotive ergonomics. By the time the driver is not constantly on the decision-making loop of the task, his/her performance for resuming control of the automation in safety-critical situations seems to be diminished. To mitigate this problem, many authors believe that by understanding drivers information scanning patterns and decision-making process during transitions of control in vehicle automation it is possible to design tools better adapted to support them in this activity, by providing relevant information in appropriate times. Based on this issue, this research aimed to categorize driver s reliance on the different information provided by the system s HMI during transitions of control in different levels of automation. The research followed a driving simulator experimental approach, where drivers were exposed to different take-over scenarios and their gaze behaviour was measured to test the hypothesis that they generally rely on information on the road to gain situation awareness, and only access the information on the HMI in cases of transitions of control, to check the system status. The results suggest that driver s gaze behaviour patterns are susceptible to influence of two main factors: the level of automation and the task in hand. It was observed that the more information presented on the HMI, the more drivers will look at it. Active information about the road environment have enhanced drivers performance during transitions of control, but it was not reflected in terms of perceived usability of the systems.

<p>Surface electromyography (sEMG) has been used to monitor muscle activity and predict fatigue in the workplaces. However, objectively measuring fatigue is challenging in complex work with unpredictable work cycles, where sEMG may be influenced by the dynamically changing posture demands. The sEMG is affected by various variables and substantial change in mean power frequencies (MPF), and a decline over 8-9% is primarily considered musculoskeletal fatigue. These MPF thresholds have been frequently used, and there were limited efforts to test their appropriateness in determining musculoskeletal fatigue in live workplaces (which predominantly consist of complex tasks). In addition, the techniques that consider both muscular and postural measurements that incorporate dynamic posture changes observed in complex work have not yet been explored. The overall objective of this work is to leverage both postural and muscular cues to identify musculoskeletal fatigue in complex tasks/jobs (i.e., tasks involving different levels of exertions, durations, and postures). The work was completed in two studies.</p> The first study aimed to (1) predict subjective fatigue using objective measurements in non-repetitive tasks, (2) determine whether the musculoskeletal fatigue thresholds in non-repetitive tasks differed from the previously reported threshold, and (3) utilize the empirically calculated thresholds to test their appropriateness in determining musculoskeletal fatigue in live surgical workplaces. The findings showed that the multi-modal measurements indicate better sensitivity than single-modality (sEMG) measurements in detecting decreases in MPF, a predictor of fatigue. In addition, the results showed that the thresholds in dynamic non-repetitive tasks, like surgery, are different than the previously reported 8% threshold. Additionally, implementing muscle-specific thresholds increased the likelihood of more accurately reporting subjective fatigue. The second study aimed to develop a multi-modal fatigue index to detect musculoskeletal fatigue. A controlled laboratory study was performed to simulate the non-repetitive physical demands at different postures. A series of experiments were conducted to test the effectiveness of various metrics/models to identify subjective fatigue in complex tasks. Next, the composite fatigue index (CFI) function was developed using the time-synced integration of both muscular signals (measured with sEMG sensors) and postural signals (measured with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors). The variables from sEMG (amplitude, frequency, and the number of muscles showing signs of fatigue) and IMU (the prevalence of static and demanding postures and the number of shoulders in static/demanding posture) sensors were integrated to generate the CFI function. The prevalence of static/demanding postures was developed using the cumulative exposures to static/demanding postures based on the material fatigue failure theory. The single value fatigue index was obtained using the resultant CFI function, which incorporates both muscular and postural variables, to quantify the muscular fatigue in dynamic non-repetitive tasks. The findings suggested that the propagation of musculoskeletal fatigue can be detected using the multi-modal composite fatigue index in complex tasks. The resultant CFI function was then applied to surgery tasks to differentiate the fatigued and non-fatigued groups. The findings showed that the multi-modal fatigue assessment techniques could be utilized to incorporate the muscular and postural measurements to identify fatigue in complex tasks beyond single-modality assessment approaches.