Design of heavy earthmoving equipment is based primarily on feedback from drivers. Most design studies on ingress and egress focus on the motion itself and rely heavily on experimental data. This process requires physical construction of expensive (in terms of time and money) mockups before any feedback can be obtained. Post-feedback design changes and the analysis of those changes are again expensive processes. Although the design of heavy vehicles requires consideration of human safety and comfort, very little attention has been given to simulating ingress and egress movement for these vehicles. This thesis describes the development of a virtual model to perform ingress and egress motions for heavy equipment and its applications to study the responses of operators with different anthropometries to different cab designs. Different performance measures are suggested and used with predictive dynamics to study human performance since human motion is not governed by a single performance measure. Optimizing multiple performance measures allows the full range of motion for all 55 degrees of freedom to be considered for simulating the task. Once the relevant performance measure was established, case studies were performed on seven different cab designs and digital human models with three different anthropometries. Finally, several different cab design metrics for propensity of injury, comfort, and accessibility were proposed. These design metrics were evaluated for each of the case studies. Finally, each cab design was ranked based on the design metrics to identify the best design for a range of anthropometries. These results help designers make decisions and plan further design changes.

Entre os fatores ergonômicos que prejudicam os operadores das máquinas, a vibração se destaca entre os principais, embora ainda haja poucos trabalhos desenvolvidos para a avaliação desse parâmetro e suas implicações na saúde ocupacional. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os níveis de vibração emitidos por tratores agrícolas com diferentes potências, comparando-se os resultados com a norma vigente (ISO 2631), além de avaliar esses níveis em três diferentes tipos de terreno (asfalto, terra e campo). O projeto foi realizado na Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA), localizada no município de Pirassununga, e em sua metodologia foram avaliados sete tratores, denominados A, B, C, D, E, F e G, sendo eles de mesma marca, com potências que variam de 75 cv até 215 cv, sendo a faixa de frequência escolhida para estudo de 5 Hz até 10 Hz, com o tempo total de aquisição de dados sendo de 20 minutos e com os tratores operando em condições semelhantes, sendo realizadas cinco repetições em cada tratamento (trator x terreno), todos os tratores foram alocados na Prefeitura Administrativa do Campus USP Fernando Costa de Pirassununga. Todos os tratores estudados em algum momento dentro da faixa analisada apresentou níveis de vibração superiores aos limites estabelecidos pela ISO 2631 (1978) em pelo menos algum dos seus três parâmetros, Nível de Conforto Reduzido, Nível de Eficiência Reduzida ou Limite de Exposição, para o período de trabalho de 8 horas diária, expondo os operadores a problemas de saúde e diminuição de produtividade vinculados à faixa de frequência considerada. Este estudo demonstra por que mais pesquisas são necessárias em relação à mecanização agrícola e como as vibrações desses tratores afetam a saúde dos operadores. Estudar esses fatores pode ajudar a reduzir os problemas de saúde causados pela vibração desses tratores aos seus operadores. / Between the ergonomic factors that affect the operator machine, vibration stands out as one the principle concerns, however, few studies indicate vibration as an implication for occupational health. This study aims to evaluate the emitted vibration levels of the agricultural tractors when set at different powers, and then comparing the results with the current regulation, and evaluating these levels in three different types of terrain (asphalt, ground and agricultural field). The project was done at the Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA), located in the city of Pirassununga, and in its methodology were evaluated seven tractors named A, B, C, D, E, F and G, being of the same brand, with power ranging from 75 cv up to 215 cv, being the frequency range chosen for study from 5 Hz to 10 Hz, the total time of data acquisition was 20 minutes, with tractors operating under similar conditions, with five replications in each treatment (tractor x terrain), all the tractors were allocated on the administrative campus hall at USP - Pirassununga. All tractors studied at some point within the analyzed range presented vibration levels higher than the limits established by ISO 2631 (1978) in at least one of its three parameters, Reduced Comfort Level, Reduced Efficiency Level or Exposure Limit for the 8-hour work period, demonstrating that the diminished health of the operators, caused by the vibration, contributed to decreased productivity correlated to the frequency of the bands that were considered. This study demonstrates why more research is necessary regarding agricultural mechanization and how the vibrations of these tractors effect the health of the operators. Studying these factors can help reduce the health problems caused by the vibration of these tractors to their operators.

The lifting associated with childcare has been linked to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in mothers (Griffin & Price, 2000; Sanders & Morse, 2005). The purpose of the current study was to investigate, for the first time through observation, the lifting of young children by mothers in the home environment to identify risk factors which might give rise to MSDs. Twenty five mothers with one or two children weighing between 9 and 15kg (n = 30) completed a self-report survey modified for the New Zealand context (The Ergonomics of Caring for Children (Sanders & Morse, 2005)). They also took part in a structured observation of lifting in the home using a checklist based on the New Zealand Manual Handling Hazard Control Record NZMHHCR (OSH & ACC, 2001). Modifications were derived from careful consultation of current literature to enable contributory factors related to the load, the mother, the environment and the task to be assessed and a rating of low, medium, or high risk to be assigned to each factor. A protocol to guide risk assessment was developed to accompany the tool. The modified observational checklist was named the OMLITH (Observing Mothers Lifting In The Home). Survey data identified the mothers as aged between 28 and 40 years, predominantly NZ European, and of average height (χ = 1.69cm) and weight (Body Mass Index = 24). The children in the sample weighed between 9 and 14.5kg and had an average age of 17months. All the mothers were either married (n=20) or living with a significant other (n=5) and their partners frequently (n=13) or always (n=12) helped with childcare. The mean time mothers spent per week on the following activities were: sleep, 6.8hrs (n=25), housework, 14.9hrs (n=25), exercise, 2.9hrs (n=22), watching television or using the home computer, 4.3hrs (n=22), hobbies, 2.2hrs (n=19), gardening or home maintenance, 2.9hrs (n=18). Thirteen of the mothers worked (3 full-time, 10 part-time) and 20 mothers used childcare services. Ratings of the physical stress associated with 50 childcare tasks showed that mothers differentiated between tasks in terms of physical stress to a significant degree (p.000), typically rating ‘Bending while carrying a child’ as almost twice as stressful as the average rating. Other categories rated significantly above the average stress rating were: ‘Use of a backpack to carry infant/child’, ‘Use of baby jogger’, ‘Carrying child on your shoulders’, ‘Standing bent over to wash child in bath or sink’, ‘Lifting child into or out of cot’, ‘Prolonged squatting or stooping while playing with child’, and ‘Placing child in car seat or removing child from car seat’. Mothers reported experiencing MSDs most commonly in the low back (n=16), and the neck, shoulder and upper back (n=8 each). Data from the 87 observations using the OMLITH showed that children were a challenging load due to their moving centre of gravity, and were often unpredictable or awkward to handle. The grip required to lift a child more often than not fell outside the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendation. In 72.9% of tasks the child’s weight created a high risk level. The lifting tasks involved horizontal and vertical lift distances that presented a moderate to high risk level in 82.8% of situations. Lifting while twisting and side-bending was assigned a moderate to high risk level in 72.4% of tasks. Risk associated with working at an externally controlled pace; and handling children while seated or kneeling/crouching was also observed. The home environment presented risk associated with obstacles, a variety of floor surfaces and stairs or slopes. Mothers were also observed lifting in confined spaces. Individual factors identified as important considerations were: a mismatch between mothers’ strength and fitness and the lifting requirements, pain or injury, pregnancy, and fatigue. The structured checklist proved to be an appropriate tool to identify the contributory risk factors present when mothers lift in the home and to make an assessment of the level of risk. Results suggest a notable number of risk factors which might give rise to MSDs are present when mothers lift their children at home. The author concludes that further research is warranted to quantify risks, to identify prevention strategies for MSDs in this population, and to guide health providers with regard to treatment and rehabilitation of mothers with MSDs.

A medical examination couch is a primary piece of equipment in the health care delivery system. Unfortunately, the current design of examination couches used by Australian general and nursing practitioners is inadequate. Incompatibility of the couches with physical (anthropometric) dimensions and a majority of medical procedures contribute to risks of Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs) or musculoskeletal problems among practitioner-users. The inappropriate height, width and gynaecological attachments of the existing couches also cause patient discomfort. This research aimed to develop a new examination couch design in order to improve practitioners' effectiveness, efficiency, health and safety while enhancing patient comfort. Ergonomics and user inclusivity were implemented in the vital stages of the couch development process. Practitioner and patient surveys, reviews of patient positions, medical procedures and equipment, Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) and an ergonomic analysis of couches in the Australian market were conducted to develop design criteria. The design criteria development demonstrated that adjustable height, head, body and foot sections were the major features, and adjustable gynaecological footpads and instrument placement (drawers) were the most important attachments. A wide variety of anthropometric data was applied to the development of design specifications and adjustments. To produce a prototype for a new examination couch design developed from the ergonomic research and initial user surveys, the researcher collaborated with a medical couch manufacturer, Metron Medical Australia Pty Ltd. Through this collaboration, the developed criteria and specifications were applied to actual production processes. User trials (a focus group, practitioner and patient surveys and personal communication) were conducted to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of the couch prototype in a real clinical environment. From the trials, modifications to particular couch features were identified if they were considered difficult to operate, unnecessary or uncomfortable for patients. For example, the mechanism of the gynaecological footpads, which comprised three different adjustment controls, had to be simplified in order to avoid confusion and time consumption. The footpads had also to be equipped with straps or half a shoe to increase patient comfort and security. The collaborating manufacturer will need to adapt the design modifications from the user trials and conduct more extensive engineering research and value analysis for a final production couch model. Nevertheless, this research succesfully demonstrated the significance of ergonomics and user-centred design in developing design criteria more effectively, detecting usability problems before the couch is brought to the market, and in saving the manufacturer's overall product development costs.

<p>Arbetslivet ställer allt högre krav på stresstolerans när kraven på flexibilitet ökar. Inom vissa yrkesområden har hög stresstolerans av naturliga skäl alltid varit ett grundläggande krav. Då stresstolerans förefaller mångfacetterat var syftet att göra en kvalitativ undersökning om hur professionella bedömare vid rekrytering och urval till yrken och yrkesutbildningar med höga krav på stresstolerans definierar och kartlägger denna egenskap samt vilka metoder de använder. Datainsamlingen genomfördes genom sju halvstrukturerade intervjuer med rekryterare samt psykologer knutna till försvarsmakten, flyg, brandförsvar, polis, räddningsverksamhet och kustbevakning. Resultatet som tolkades med induktiv tematisk analys, visar att detta genomförs med hjälp av typbestämning av stresstolerans, hypotesskapande testning, hypotesprövande helhetsbedömning samt kontroll av inre och yttre resurser. Slutsatsen är att stresstolerans betraktas både som en stabil och en situationsbunden egenskap och att bedömaren i huvudsak fungerar som instrument. Fler studier behövs genomföras, framför allt inom andra yrkesområden, för att säkerställa att stresstolerans inte bedöms enbart med fingertoppskänsla.</p>

<p>The visual design of twelve mobile telephones was studied and compared. Thirteen university students completed sorting tasks and were also interviewed. Significant correlations were found for most phones between ranks of beauty and desire to possess. Preferences varied among participants. Multi Dimensional Scaling of pile sorting data implied that phones were compared on the basis of prototypicality and trendiness. Four themes were found in the motivations of possession ranks: aesthetic judgements, symbolic perceptions and associations, conclusions of functions and practical conclusions. The results suggest that making sense of visual design determines aesthetic experiences and partly desire to possess, thus giving support to the applicability of appraisal theories of emotion to the study of design.</p>

<p> </p><p>Internet har utvecklats till att bli den enskilt största källan för information och tjänster från myndigheter och företag. Webbsidor produceras dock sällan med användbarhet i fokus. Detta innebär en risk för att informationssökning och utnyttjande av tjänster försvåras eller omöjliggörs för stora grupper av befolkningen. I denna uppsats fokuseras på äldres problem med att tillgodogöra sig information via Internet på grund av syn-, koordinations- och kognitiva problem, dess bakomliggande orsaker och hur detta kan och bör åtgärdas.</p><p>Sammanlagt 65 webbsidor har studerats och vi konstaterar att ingen av dessa uppfyller de krav och rekommendationer som finns för att producera användarvänliga webbsidor. Vidare konstaterar vi att de riktlinjer som World Wide Web Consortium utvecklat och som bland annat rekommenderas av Verket för förvaltningsutveckling inte ger någon garanti för att webbsidor blir mer användarvänliga.</p><p>Uppsatsen avslutas med några rekommendationer för att skapa mera användarvänliga webbsidor.</p><p> </p> / <p> </p><p>Internet has grown to the biggest individual source of information and service from governmental authorities as well as companies. Web pages are, despite of this, rarely produced with usability in mind. This leads to a risk that information and use of services will be more complicated or even impossible to reach for large groups of people in the community. This thesis focuses on older people's problem using Internet because of reduced sight and problems with coordination and cognition. We also discuss the cause of those problems and how Internet pages should be designed to meet the needs of those affected.</p><p>Within the work 65 web pages has been analyzed and we establish that none of those pages fulfil the requirements and recommendations that are in use. We also establish that the guidelines that World Wide Web Consortium has developed and that is recommended by the Swedish Administrative Development Agency, is not a guarantee for usability of web pages.</p><p> </p>

<p>Today, the use of simulators is very common and is used in many different areas, for example research, development and education. This trend has progressed due to simulators provide a cost efficient and safe platform for a large set of applications. </p><p>The assignment was given by the Division of Industrial Ergonomics and was titled “Haptic Feedback”. The purpose of this master thesis was how to add more realism into a fixed base car simulator by stimulating the human haptic perception. </p><p>When performing tasks in a substitute environment, the achieved data can differ in validity dependent on how “true” a simulator is. Therefore it is very important to resemble the actual environment as much as possible if one want data consistent with the real world. With the use of devices such as electrical motor and frequency converter, vibrations are created to simulate the vehicles contact with the surface of the road. The goal is not to recreate the real world physics – the goal is to add more realism in analogue with the present visual and audio setup. </p><p>To solve this problem many different subject areas are involved. Knowledge about software development, mechanics, construction, electronics and ergonomics are areas that are concerned in this master thesis. </p><p>Although this report will give a good overview of the haptic feedback concept, it is recommended that you visit the Virtual Reality-laboratory at the University of Linköping and try this application hands on in the simulator environment.</p>

<p>I Volvo Personvagnars tillverkningsanläggning i Torslanda utanför Göteborg tillverkas personbilar av flera modeller och en mängd olika varianter av varje modell. I dagsläget är produktivitetskraven höga vilket medför risker för belastningsbesvär eller skador för</p><p>operatörerna som monterar ihop bilen. Således blir belastningsergonomi en viktig del i arbetsmiljöarbetet.</p><p>Man har på Volvo Personvagnars slutmonteringsanläggning i Torslanda utvecklat en beräkningsmodell för att beskriva belastningsergonomin i tillverkningen som man kallar BME (Beräknings Modell Ergonomi). Problemet består i att utvärdera validiteten hos BME utifrån ett</p><p>personalekonomiskt perspektiv, det vill säga huruvida kostnader relaterade till sjukfrånvaro,sjukskrivningar, rehabilitering, personalomsättning och omplaceringar kan knytas till belastningsergonomi med hjälp av BME. Genom litteraturstudier, undersökningar om hur den belastningsergonomiska situationen förändrats sedan BME infördes samt genom studier av hur sjukdomsbilden ser ut kunde samband ställas upp mellan belastningsergonomisk tyngd och</p><p>förekomst av skador.</p>

<p>Den ökade konsumtionen i samhället gör att vi producerar allt större mängder avfall. För att minska avfallets negativa effekter på hälsan och den omgivande miljön behövs en god avfallshantering. Ett steg mot ökade möjligheter att återanvända och återvinna material togs under 1980-talet, då befintliga soptippar började utvecklas till återvinningscentraler.</p><p>Syftet med detta examensarbete är att jämföra utformningen och arbetsmiljön vid två nya återvinningscentraler, och även jämföra dem med tidigare studerade återvinningscentraler i Sverige. Dessutom ska ett förslag på utformning av framtidens återvinningscentral tas fram.</p><p>Genom intervjuer och enkäter till besökare och anställda, samt observationer av besökare och av anläggningarna, kunde skillnader identifieras. I jämförelse med besökarna på de tidigare studerade återvinningscentralerna, så ansåg besökarna på de två nya att det var lättare att veta vilken container avfallet skulle placeras i. De ansåg även att det var lättare att lokalisera var på området den aktuella containern var placerad. Besökarna var mycket positiva till servicen och var mer intresserade av att få information om vilken nytta sorteringen har gett. De anställda på de nya återvinningscentralerna ansåg att den fysiska tröttheten var lägre efter en arbetsdag än de anställda på de tidigare studerade, och färre ansåg att hanteringen av farligt avfall utgjorde en skaderisk.</p><p>Resultaten visar på att både besökare och anställda är mycket nöjda med de nya återvinningscentralerna, men samtidigt kan hela tiden förbättringar göras. Studiens resultat, tillsammans med ett arbete med idéframtagning, ledde till ett förslag på utformning av framtidens återvinningscentral. Förslaget fokuserar på att guida besökaren rätt med hjälp av en tydlig utformning som ger en bra överblick. Information i form av väl synlig skyltning och frågeterminaler ska ytterligare förenkla för besökaren att sortera rätt och på så sätt underlätta för de anställda. Hjälpmedel placeras synligt för att de ska användas och minska skaderisker vid lyft, och för att öka återanvändning ges även Myrornas container en tydlig placering.</p>