Review of Construction Employer Case Studies of Safety and Health Equipment Interventions

Lowe, Brian D.; Albers, James; Hayden, Marie; Lampl, Michael P.; Naber, Steven; Wurzelbacher, Steven J.

doi:10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0001782

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A requirement of the SIG program is that grant awardees (employers) submit a follow‐up case study report at least 1 year after the award to describe experiences with the intervention equipment. In previous work, we reviewed case studies reporting on the intervention equipment purchased by construction industry employers through the SIG program (Lowe et al, 2020). The present analysis has a focus on advanced (programmable) automation equipment implemented by employer grant awardees in manufacturing industries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are not aware of a large collection of case studies of employer experiences with health/safety interventions, like that of the OHBWC SIG program, collected in a generally structured and consistent manner (Miller et al, 2018). Details of the SIG program are described in previous publications of these data (Lowe et al, 2020;Wurzelbacher et al, 2014Wurzelbacher et al, , 2020. The key element of the Ohio SIG program is that awardees receive matching funds as a multiple of 2:1, 3:1, or 4:1 of their initial investment for the purchase of equipment expected to positively affect employee safety/health and that the funds matching total is capped at $40,000 per grant award (nominal US dollars [USD]).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Case studies of robots and automation as health/safety interventions in small manufacturing enterprises

Lowe

Hayden

Albers

et al. 2022

Hum Ftrs & Erg Mfg Svc

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article reviews the experiences of 63 case studies of small businesses (<250 employees) with manufacturing automation equipment acquired through a health/ safety intervention grant program. The review scope included equipment technologies classified as industrial robots (n = 17), computer numerical control (CNC) machining (n = 29), or other programmable automation systems (n = 17). Descriptions of workers' compensation (WC) claim injuries and identified risk factors that motivated the acquisition of the equipment were extracted from grant applications.Other aspects of the employer experiences, including qualitative and quantitative assessment of effects on risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), effects on productivity, and employee acceptance of the intervention were summarized from the case study reports. Case studies associated with a combination of large reduction in risk factors, lower cost per affected employee, and reported increases in productivity were CNC stone cutting system, CNC/vertical machining system, automated system for bottling, CNC/routing system for plastics products manufacturing, and a CNC/Cutting system for vinyl/carpet. Six case studies of industrial robots reported quantitative reductions in MSD risk factors in these diverse manufacturing industries: snack foods; photographic film, paper, plate, and chemical; machine shops; leather goods and allied products; plastic products; and iron and steel forging. This review of health/safety intervention case studies indicates that advanced (programmable) manufacturing automation, including industrial robots, reduced workplace musculoskeletal risk factors, and improved process productivity in most cases.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Case studies of robots and automation as health/safety interventions in small manufacturing enterprises

Lowe

Hayden

Albers

et al. 2022

Hum Ftrs & Erg Mfg Svc

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The main objective of this paper is to evaluate workers satisfaction on MHE at warehouse operation through usability study because most of the high significant task related to ergonomics exist at warehouse and few studies show that warehouse personnel experienced body discomfort and pain (Menzel, 2001;Snook & Webster, 2007), despite some prior research that indicates ergonomic material handling equipment can reduce biomechanical risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders (Lowe et al, 2020;Mirka et al, 2002;Bongers, 2001). In this study, usability evaluation will help workers to measure how effectively a product can accomplished their goal and function.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evaluation of worker satisfaction on usability of manual material handling equipment among manufacturing warehouse workers in Malaysia

Rahman¹

2022

Usability and User Experience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Numerous researchers have found that heavy physical demand and improper posture when performing the tasks in various sectors such as manufacturing and warehouse might contribute to the musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) especially when the tasks involving lifting, pushing and pulling activities. In order to reduce high risk manual handling activities, effectives and usable manual handling equipment (MHE) should be introduce to lower the physical demand of manual material handling (MMH) activities. However, most of the MHE studies previously is not really focus on usability evaluation. So, this study intends to evaluate the usability of current MHE used in manufacturing warehouse operation in term of efficiency, comfortability, energy expenditure, safety aspect, design, productivity, effectiveness and user friendliness. A usability survey was conducted among warehouse workers in manufacturing company at southern region of peninsular Malaysia. Besides that, the prevalence of back pain among the warehouse workers was measured through Modified Nordic Discomfort Assessment tools that are incorporate in the usability survey. Result for the most least agreement in user usability for pallet jack was energy expenditure (3.73), efficiency (3.96) and comfortability (3.99); for load carrying cart was energy expenditure (3.62), design (3.74) and comfortability (3.90); for forklift was comfortability (3.87), design (3.93) and safety (4.08); for pallet stackers was energy expenditure (3.79), design (3.82) and user friendliness (3.82); for conveyor system was productivity (3.50), comfortability (4.00) and safety (4.00). It was also found that the highest prevalence of MSDs among warehouse workers was lower back, followed by legs (left and right) and shoulders (left and right). In conclusion, most MHE available in manufacturing warehouse operation lacking in term of energy expenditure, efficiency, comfortability, design and user friendliness. It is clear that the first stage in design criteria for MHE should be developing an understanding of the user usability requirement to ensure the aids are suitable for the tasks.

show abstract

“…The planning and choice of right material handling equipment rely on materials to be handled, quantities and distances to be moved, routing and workplaces facilities dan layout. Based on the study by Wurzelbacher et al [13], additional research that examines the effectiveness of ergonomic engineering interventions need to be conducted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The devices such as trolley, hydraulic pallet lifter, conveyor system and vacuum assist device will be considered at manufacturing's warehouse operation. For the future, this study target to evaluate workers satisfaction on manual handling devices at warehouse operation because most of the high significant task related to ergonomics exist at warehouse and few studies show that warehouse personnel experienced body discomfort and pain [14,15], despite some prior research that indicates ergonomic material handling equipment can reduce biomechanical risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders [7,13,16,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Survey Instrument for Measuring Workers Satisfaction on Usability of Manual Handling Equipments at the Warehouse: A Pilot Study

Rahman

Azis

Mahmood

et al. 2021

Human-Centered Technology for a Better Tomorrow

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scientific evidence show that manual handling devices are one of the effectives controls that can lower the physical demands of manual material handling (MMH) activities. Incidence and severity of the musculoskeletal injuries might happen to workers while company's productivity, product quality, and overall business competitiveness also will be affected. However, few studies had been done regarding on manual handling devices provided in the industries especially in term of user satisfaction on the usability of the devices when performing their job and task. The aim of this study is to develop a survey instrument for the evaluation of worker satisfaction on usability of manual handling device among warehouse worker in manufacturing industry. A set of questionnaires was developed which consist of three sections; demographic profile of respondent, work nature and discomfort survey and worker satisfaction on the usability of the manual handling devices. The content of the questionnaire was derived through extend literature reviews and expert's opinions. A pilot study was conducted at four manufacturing companies in their warehouse's operation. The reliability and validity of the instrument were determined through Cronbach's Alpha, face validity and content validity. Cronbach's Alpha values for each section of the questionnaire range from 0.937 and 0.961 while the value for Cronbach's Alpha for all 35 standardized items is 0.921. The finding shows that the survey instrument has face and content validity at acceptable level. In conclusion, finding indicated that this instrument had acceptable and adequate reliability and

show abstract

Review of Construction Employer Case Studies of Safety and Health Equipment Interventions

Cited by 12 publications

References 9 publications

Case studies of robots and automation as health/safety interventions in small manufacturing enterprises

Case studies of robots and automation as health/safety interventions in small manufacturing enterprises

The evaluation of worker satisfaction on usability of manual material handling equipment among manufacturing warehouse workers in Malaysia

Development of a Survey Instrument for Measuring Workers Satisfaction on Usability of Manual Handling Equipments at the Warehouse: A Pilot Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About