Psychoacoustic parameters, being closely related to sound perception, are usually applied in prod... more Psychoacoustic parameters, being closely related to sound perception, are usually applied in product sound quality and, recently, also in environmental soundscape analysis or at workplace, to investigate its potential in describing acoustic comfort. Lexicons of descriptive words of perceptual sound attributes are available in literature, but the language is often a crucial issue. This paper describes two experiments dealing with such words in Italian and the evaluation of their association with psychoacoustic parameters. For these experiments, 12 sounds recorded in three different environments (at workplace, in nature and in the community) were selected and processed to determine some psychoacoustic parameters. These sounds were randomly played in a quiet room at the same equivalent level Leq (dB) by headphone to a group of subjects. Multidimensional scaling and correlation have been applied to compare their responses with some acoustic and psychoacoustic descriptors.
Noise in hospital wards adversely affects the physiological processes of both patients and staff ... more Noise in hospital wards adversely affects the physiological processes of both patients and staff and it is a potential risk for communication breakdowns and errors, causing discomfort and problems regarding the healing of patients, as well as stress, fatigue, and annoyance for staff. Several noise sources are present in the wards, such as HVAC systems, alarms, paging, speech, calls, diagnostic equipment, medical devices, and so forth. This paper describes two surveys carried out at an Italian hospital in Rome to investigate the noise in some wards and to collect self-reported assessments from staff about their working environments, even if such assessments were not required for occupational noise exposure evaluation. Self-reported staff evaluations of the working environment quality and the effects of noise on their performances should be investigated. For this purpose, in this study, questionnaires were designed and submitted to staff members. In addition, noise measurements were t...
Human Factors in Accessibility and Assistive Technology
Almost 460 million world people live with moderate to severe hearing loss (HL), with noise the mo... more Almost 460 million world people live with moderate to severe hearing loss (HL), with noise the most common cause, particularly in the workplace. Noise-induced HL is still one of the most prevalent recognized occupational diseases, but in Italy, it is no longer at the first ranks, thanks to technical and organizational solutions adopted to reduce noise in the work environment after 2008. In particular, Italian surveillance system data show that Construction is the work sector in which HL is most present (28% of cases), followed by Manufacture (17%). HL can compromise social life, causing isolation, frustration, depression, and even cognitive decline, while in the workplaces could affect workers’ safety, representing an important injury risk factor. The use of hearing aids (HA) represents an effective preventive action. In Italy, there are at least 7 million hearing-impaired people, but only 29.5% wear an HA (2018 data). Their use appears to be more widespread in the older age groups,...
We have investigated about the heat stress of workers in vegetable greenhouses located in the sou... more We have investigated about the heat stress of workers in vegetable greenhouses located in the southern of Italy. This type of production technique is very widespread in the region and so is useful search the evaluation model that can better describe the condition of risk. We have investigated on WBGT index and on PHS model in order to check which of the two models is more functional and applicable to the specific context. The research allowed bringing out lights and shadows of the two predictive models. In the first place, we have verified that, although in the vegetable greenhouses there is a vertical gradient of temperature, is sufficient to make measures in the middle height (abdomen) to describe the microclimatic condition of occupants. Second, we have verified that to evaluate the WBGT index is necessary refer to an exposition as an external environment, not confined. With statistical data obtained from measures conducted over all seasons except winter, we have valued that the ...
Proceedings of the 33rd European Modeling & Simulation Symposium, 2021
Every now and then, it is possible to hear about world-famous accidents occurred in industrial pl... more Every now and then, it is possible to hear about world-famous accidents occurred in industrial plants. Indeed, many of these facilities are characterized by multiple risk factors, such as areas with excessive temperature or noise level, presence of dust, chemical agents or other hazardous materials. On the other hand, there are numerous and less known minor accidents and near-misses involving operators that in other circumstances could lead to more or less serious injuries. In this study authors propose addressing of the problem of safety by creation of an interactive environment representing dangerous areas, such as confined spaces, in order to improve preparation of operators. In particular, it is studied use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in joint connection with immersive, interoperable, cyber-physical system including a wearable solution in order to increase the perception and the ability to contribute to the management and control of the process
Giornale italiano di medicina del lavoro ed ergonomia
The Italian law, through a specific government decree (d.p.r. 37/97), recommends the minimal tech... more The Italian law, through a specific government decree (d.p.r. 37/97), recommends the minimal technological, structural and organising requirements that surgery rooms of public hospitals must assure. Nevertheless, thermal comfort is usually evaluated by the indices PMV and PPD (Fanger's indices). Microclimatic data, acquired inside 80 surgery rooms over 20 public hospitals located in South of Italy, have been reviewed taking into account the new version of the international standard UNI EN ISO 7730. This version enables to classify the workers in three categories, A, B and C each one related to a different value of the acceptable number of dissatisfied people PPD. Considering the particular task which surgeons and nurses are involved in, a percentage of dissatisfied < 6% appears more realistic and conservative respect to the 10% prescribed in the old version of the standard. So the calculations show that, in this case, less than 17% of the staff would considered the thermal co...
... These machines are commonly used during the noisier stages of the woodworking process, whethe... more ... These machines are commonly used during the noisier stages of the woodworking process, whether it is a cutting, planing, or moulding operation. ... Il contesto descritto depone per una necessaria azione di ti-po tecnico, organizzativo o procedurale che miri a salva-guardare la ...
Psychoacoustic parameters, being closely related to sound perception, are usually applied in prod... more Psychoacoustic parameters, being closely related to sound perception, are usually applied in product sound quality and, recently, also in environmental soundscape analysis or at workplace, to investigate its potential in describing acoustic comfort. Lexicons of descriptive words of perceptual sound attributes are available in literature, but the language is often a crucial issue. This paper describes two experiments dealing with such words in Italian and the evaluation of their association with psychoacoustic parameters. For these experiments, 12 sounds recorded in three different environments (at workplace, in nature and in the community) were selected and processed to determine some psychoacoustic parameters. These sounds were randomly played in a quiet room at the same equivalent level Leq (dB) by headphone to a group of subjects. Multidimensional scaling and correlation have been applied to compare their responses with some acoustic and psychoacoustic descriptors.
Noise in hospital wards adversely affects the physiological processes of both patients and staff ... more Noise in hospital wards adversely affects the physiological processes of both patients and staff and it is a potential risk for communication breakdowns and errors, causing discomfort and problems regarding the healing of patients, as well as stress, fatigue, and annoyance for staff. Several noise sources are present in the wards, such as HVAC systems, alarms, paging, speech, calls, diagnostic equipment, medical devices, and so forth. This paper describes two surveys carried out at an Italian hospital in Rome to investigate the noise in some wards and to collect self-reported assessments from staff about their working environments, even if such assessments were not required for occupational noise exposure evaluation. Self-reported staff evaluations of the working environment quality and the effects of noise on their performances should be investigated. For this purpose, in this study, questionnaires were designed and submitted to staff members. In addition, noise measurements were t...
Human Factors in Accessibility and Assistive Technology
Almost 460 million world people live with moderate to severe hearing loss (HL), with noise the mo... more Almost 460 million world people live with moderate to severe hearing loss (HL), with noise the most common cause, particularly in the workplace. Noise-induced HL is still one of the most prevalent recognized occupational diseases, but in Italy, it is no longer at the first ranks, thanks to technical and organizational solutions adopted to reduce noise in the work environment after 2008. In particular, Italian surveillance system data show that Construction is the work sector in which HL is most present (28% of cases), followed by Manufacture (17%). HL can compromise social life, causing isolation, frustration, depression, and even cognitive decline, while in the workplaces could affect workers’ safety, representing an important injury risk factor. The use of hearing aids (HA) represents an effective preventive action. In Italy, there are at least 7 million hearing-impaired people, but only 29.5% wear an HA (2018 data). Their use appears to be more widespread in the older age groups,...
We have investigated about the heat stress of workers in vegetable greenhouses located in the sou... more We have investigated about the heat stress of workers in vegetable greenhouses located in the southern of Italy. This type of production technique is very widespread in the region and so is useful search the evaluation model that can better describe the condition of risk. We have investigated on WBGT index and on PHS model in order to check which of the two models is more functional and applicable to the specific context. The research allowed bringing out lights and shadows of the two predictive models. In the first place, we have verified that, although in the vegetable greenhouses there is a vertical gradient of temperature, is sufficient to make measures in the middle height (abdomen) to describe the microclimatic condition of occupants. Second, we have verified that to evaluate the WBGT index is necessary refer to an exposition as an external environment, not confined. With statistical data obtained from measures conducted over all seasons except winter, we have valued that the ...
Proceedings of the 33rd European Modeling & Simulation Symposium, 2021
Every now and then, it is possible to hear about world-famous accidents occurred in industrial pl... more Every now and then, it is possible to hear about world-famous accidents occurred in industrial plants. Indeed, many of these facilities are characterized by multiple risk factors, such as areas with excessive temperature or noise level, presence of dust, chemical agents or other hazardous materials. On the other hand, there are numerous and less known minor accidents and near-misses involving operators that in other circumstances could lead to more or less serious injuries. In this study authors propose addressing of the problem of safety by creation of an interactive environment representing dangerous areas, such as confined spaces, in order to improve preparation of operators. In particular, it is studied use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in joint connection with immersive, interoperable, cyber-physical system including a wearable solution in order to increase the perception and the ability to contribute to the management and control of the process
Giornale italiano di medicina del lavoro ed ergonomia
The Italian law, through a specific government decree (d.p.r. 37/97), recommends the minimal tech... more The Italian law, through a specific government decree (d.p.r. 37/97), recommends the minimal technological, structural and organising requirements that surgery rooms of public hospitals must assure. Nevertheless, thermal comfort is usually evaluated by the indices PMV and PPD (Fanger's indices). Microclimatic data, acquired inside 80 surgery rooms over 20 public hospitals located in South of Italy, have been reviewed taking into account the new version of the international standard UNI EN ISO 7730. This version enables to classify the workers in three categories, A, B and C each one related to a different value of the acceptable number of dissatisfied people PPD. Considering the particular task which surgeons and nurses are involved in, a percentage of dissatisfied < 6% appears more realistic and conservative respect to the 10% prescribed in the old version of the standard. So the calculations show that, in this case, less than 17% of the staff would considered the thermal co...
... These machines are commonly used during the noisier stages of the woodworking process, whethe... more ... These machines are commonly used during the noisier stages of the woodworking process, whether it is a cutting, planing, or moulding operation. ... Il contesto descritto depone per una necessaria azione di ti-po tecnico, organizzativo o procedurale che miri a salva-guardare la ...
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Papers by Maurizio Diano