Ergonomic analysis of construction worker's body postures using wearable mobile sensors

Abstract

Construction jobs are more labor-intensive compared to other industries. As such, construction workers are often required to exceed their natural physical capability to cope with the increasing complexity and challenges in this industry. Over long periods of time, this sustained physical labor causes bodily injuries to the workers which in turn, conveys huge losses to the industry in terms of money, time, and productivity. Various safety and health organizations have established rules and regulations that limit the amount and intensity of workers' physical movements to mitigate work-related bodily injuries. A precursor to enforcing and implementing such regulations and improving the ergonomics conditions on the jobsite is to identify physical risks associated with a particular task. Manually assessing a field activity to identify the ergonomic risks is not trivial and often requires extra effort which may render it to be challenging if not impossible. In this paper, a low-cost ubiquitous approach is presented and validated which deploys built-in smartphone sensors to unobtrusively monitor workers' bodily postures and autonomously identify potential work-related ergonomic risks. Results indicates that measurements of trunk and shoulder flexions of a worker by smartphone sensory data are very close to corresponding measurements by observation. The proposed method is applicable for workers in various occupations who are exposed to WMSDs due to awkward postures. Examples include, but are not limited to industry laborers, carpenters, welders, farmers, health assistants, teachers, and office workers.

Analysis of manual material handling activity to increase work productivity (Case study: manufacturing company)

“…On the REBA score, REBA score of Double Sizer worker has decreased from 10 to 4, reducing the risk of injury. The amount of angles on the shoulders and elbows due to manual lifting movements is the cause of the high risk of injury [12]. In addition, the bending back position also causes the high risk of injury [13].…”

Ethical and Social Considerations for the Introduction of Human-Centered Technologies at Work

“…This enthusiasm is explained by the potential these technologies have to address the growing problem of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MDSs) by reducing workers exposure to biomechanical MSDs risk factors [4], [5], [6]. Wearable sensors that monitor a person's physical state are another promising technology which may help decrease the prevalence of MSDs [7], [8].…”

“…Collaborative robots and exoskeletons directly help a human operator performing a task, either by providing physical assistance or by acting as a partner and performing part of the task [1], [2], [3]. Conversely, wearable sensors can provide feedback about the physical or physiological state of the operator to help her/him identify dangerous situations [7], [8]. Despite their different modes of action, these systems share a common goal: improving health at work.…”

A Study on the Lumbar Burden Evaluation of Work using One Smartphone

“…This paper examines whether the proposed system can be realized with one smartphone. As related research [1][2][3][4][5], there are the lumbar burden of construction workers [1,2], walking measurement in the home [3], walking measurement and posture estimation using smartphones [4,5]. However, all of these studies are indoor studies, and in the study of construction workers it is not an estimation of the lumbar burden of a state with heavy working machines such as agricultural work.…”