Search results for "Human Factors and Ergonomics"
showing 10 items of 586 documents
A multi-agent safety response model in the construction industry.
2014
BACKGROUND: The construction industry is one of the sectors with the highest accident rates and the most serious accidents. A multi-agent safety response approach allows a useful diagnostic tool in order to understand factors affecting risk and accidents. The special features of the construction sector can influence the relationships among safety responses along the model of safety influences. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to test a model explaining risk and work-related accidents in the construction industry as a result of the safety responses of the organization, the supervisors, the co-workers and the worker. METHODS: Sample: 374 construction employees belonging to 64 small Spa…
A correlation linking the predicted mean vote and the mean thermal vote based on an investigation on the human thermal comfort in short-haul domestic…
2015
Abstract The results of an experimental investigation on the human thermal comfort inside the cabin of some Airbus A319 aircrafts during 14 short-haul domestic flights, linking various Italian cities, are presented and used to define a correlation among the predicted mean vote (PMV), a procedure which is commonly used to assess the thermal comfort in inhabited environments, and the equivalent temperature and mean thermal vote (MTV), which are the parameters suggested by the European Standard EN ISO 14505-2 for the evaluation of the thermal environment in vehicles. The measurements of the radiant temperature, air temperature and relative humidity during flights were performed. The air temper…
Can We Study Autonomous Driving Comfort in Moving-Base Driving Simulators? A Validation Study.
2016
Objective: To lay the basis of studying autonomous driving comfort using driving simulators, we assessed the behavioral validity of two moving-base simulator configurations by contrasting them with a test-track setting. Background: With increasing level of automation, driving comfort becomes increasingly important. Simulators provide a safe environment to study perceived comfort in autonomous driving. To date, however, no studies were conducted in relation to comfort in autonomous driving to determine the extent to which results from simulator studies can be transferred to on-road driving conditions. Method: Participants ( N = 72) experienced six differently parameterized lane-change and de…
Comparisons of Musculoskeletal Complaints and Data Entry Between a Sitting and a Sit-Stand Workstation Paradigm
2009
Background: Seated working positions are often regarded as a cause for discomfort in the musculoskeletal system. Performing work in different working positions—that is, alternating between sitting and standing (sit-stand workstation paradigm)—could help reduce physical complaints. Objective: The questions were whether performing office work partly in a standing position leads to reduced complaints and whether standing would change the efficiency of data entry office work. Method: We investigated the effect of a sit-stand workstation paradigmd during experimental data entry office work on physical and psychological complaints and data entry efficiency by conducting a randomized controlled t…
Pleasant music as a countermeasure against visually induced motion sickness.
2013
Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a well-known side-effect in virtual environments or simulators. However, effective behavioral countermeasures against VIMS are still sparse. In this study, we tested whether music can reduce the severity of VIMS. Ninety-three volunteers were immersed in an approximately 14-minute-long video taken during a bicycle ride. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups, either including relaxing music, neutral music, stressful music, or no music. Sickness scores were collected using the Fast Motion Sickness Scale and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Results showed an overall trend for relaxing music to reduce the severity o…
Analysis of Injury Incidences in Male Professional Adult and Elite Youth Soccer Players: A Systematic Review
2016
Context: The incidence of injury for elite youth and professional adult soccer players is an important concern, but the risk factors for these groups are different. Objective: To summarize and compare the injury incidences and injury characteristics of male professional adult and elite youth soccer players. Data Sources: We searched MEDLINE and Web of Science using the search terms elite, international, European, soccer, football, injury, injuries, epidemiology, incidence, prevalence, not female, not American football, and not rugby. We also used the search terms professional for studies on professional adult soccer players and high-level, soccer academy, youth, adolescent, and young for st…
Effectiveness of Occupational Injury Prevention Policies in Spain
2009
Objective. We examined the effectiveness of preventive interventions against occupational injuries (preferential action plans [PAPs]) developed by Spanish regional governments starting in 2000. Methods. We included 3,252,028 occupational injuries with sick leave due to mechanical causes occurring between 1994 and 2004 in manufacturing and private service companies. Time trends for occupational injury rates were estimated before and after implementation of PAPs in each region, with a control group defined for those regions in which no PAPs were implemented (e.g., Galicia, Madrid, and Cataluña). We determined annual change percentages and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) through a negativ…
The relation between cycling time to exhaustion and anaerobic threshold.
1990
This study investigated whether the anaerobic threshold (AnT) could be used to predict prolonged work capacity measured as cycling time to exhaustion (= endurance time) and which factors, in addition to relative exercise intensity, could explain variation in endurance time. Theoretical exercise intensities corresponding to certain endurance times were also calculated. The hyperbolic and exponential functions between cycling time and relative work rate (WR[%]), as well as between cycling time and relative oxygen uptake (VO2[%]) were fitted to the pooled data (n = 45) of 17 subjects. The WR(%) and VO2(%) were expressed as a percentage of the subject's own AnT- and maximum-values. At WR corres…
Prevalence of and potential influencing factors for alcohol dependence in Europe.
2014
Alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and alcohol dependence (AD) in particular, are prevalent and associated with a large burden of disability and mortality. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of AD in the European Union (EU), Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland for the year 2010, and to investigate potential influencing factors. The 1-year prevalence of AD in the EU was estimated at 3.4% among people 18-64 years of age in Europe (women 1.7%, men 5.2%), resulting in close to 11 million affected people. Taking into account all people of all ages, AD, abuse and harmful use resulted in an estimate of 23 million affected people. Prevalence of AD varied widely between European countries, and…
Contextual Factors Related to Alcohol Abuse Among Intimate Partner Violence Offenders.
2016
The association between alcohol consumption and intimate partner violence (IPV) has been reiterated in numerous studies. Some authors have found higher levels of risk factors in intimate partner violence offenders (IPVOs) with alcohol problems than in IPVOs without such problems.The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship of contextual variables with harmful alcohol use in a sample of IPVOs.This cross-sectional research analyzes data from 231 IPVOs. In addition to demographic data, information was collected on alcohol use, ethnicity, accumulation of stressful life events and perceived social support and rejection. The sample was divided into hazardous and nonhazardous alcohol users…